One of the best things about living on an island in Belize is meeting people from all over. People you would never have known otherwise. People who are available to go on an adventure at a moment’s notice. It’s an added bonus if they are fun, energetic, and genuinely nice people! I’ve met my fair share of these people and I’m so happy to call them friends.
One of our retired friends wanted to take his boat to Caye Caulker, the neighboring island, and we had planned to hop on the water taxi a day later, so we jumped at the chance to ride with him instead. We took off from the canal behind his condo on the back side of the island and went around the southern end to head out on our adventure.
Caye Caulker was cut in half by a hurricane years ago and the famous place to hang out is called the “split”. We have not been over there for two years, and boy has it changed!
I heard that the Lazy Lizard now has some “competition” across the split and they had to up their game. I was amazed to see a brand new concrete sea wall, lots of lounge chairs, new palapas, expansive sandy areas, umbrellas, and a sand volleyball court.
A huge crowd of people were hanging out, listening to music, relaxing, swimming, and snorkeling. I could sit there all day, but I was eager to see any changes on the rest of the Island.
There exists one main road on the south end of the island. More and more little shops and food tents are lining both sides of the sandy street. I have never seen so many of them.
Caye Caulker reminds me of Ambergris Caye when we first started coming down over thirteen years ago….No cars speeding by and most people travel on bikes or on foot.
I like the nostalgic feeling I get when I arrive on the island. For the most part, the beach is kept clean and the majority of the properties are maintained. The islanders show so much pride for their little piece of paradise.
I took way too many photos, but everything is too cute not to share. We walked the entire road and returned along the beach, back to the split, to eat lunch.
Most budget travelers and backpackers stay on Caye Caulker. There are many more affordable options and hostels than we have on our island. I admit that I felt a little old while walking around!
For anyone wanting a change of pace from San Pedro, this is the perfect day trip. Pack a towel, money, and sunscreen and you will be all set for the day.
Just like San Pedro, there are lots of stray dogs wandering around the island. Most resorts and businesses have one or two resident potlickers.
We left the boat tied up at the sea wall and it was still there waiting for us. We purchased frozen sardines from a local store and headed to the lagoon to find the tarpon.
Tarpon fishing is not allowed near the island. In other parts of Belize, they are catch and release only. A grand slam in fly fishing involves catching a tarpon, a permit and a bonefish in the same day. Avid fishermen pay a lot of money to come here and try their hand at a grand slam.
Click below to watch a short video clip when the tarpon devours his meal:
Once we ran out of sardines, we loaded up into the boat and headed across the split to the north side of the island. Koko King is a relatively new attraction for visitors and they will shuttle people back and forth.
The restaurant and bar sits over the water, but the rest of the lounge chairs and hammocks are on the beach. My ankles were bothered by noseeums so I preferred to sit on the front of the boat after walking around.
If you don’t have a private boat to get there, Koko King owns a couple of shuttle boats that pick up on the south side of the split. One looks like an old water taxi and carries a lot of passengers.
I am truly amazed that all of this was built since we left for Roatan almost three years ago. It seems like nothing goes up very fast in Belize, because everyone is on “island time.”
We could barely find an empty chair and some palapa covered floating beds required a fee. The place was packed! It was a Sunday, so there could have been more locals relaxing there than on a week day.
If we had planned to stay all day, I might have paid $35 Belize to use the pool. It looked so refreshing and not crowded at all, with just a couple of kids playing in one end.
Once it got close to 4pm, we needed to head back to our Island. The air was chilly and the waves kept splashing over the bow of the boat. What a great day it was!
