You Better Belize It: Four Days in Caye Caulker, Belize

If you wish Tulum, Mexico was what it was 10-15 years ago, you may want to consider Caye Caulker in Belize for your next Caribbean vacation.

While planning a recent girls trip with seven of my friends, we were considering Mexico simply for the ease of getting there. It’s a non-stop, 3.5 hour flight to Cancun from New York and with endless all-inclusive opportunities, it’s great for groups.

But when vacation time in New York City jobs is limited, why go somewhere you’ve been before!? That’s when we discovered Belize. A friend who recently visited had stressed how cheap it is there and there’s nothing a bunch of struggling NYC 20-somethings like more than a cheap vacation!

We chose to stay on the island of Caye Caulker instead of Belize City or San Pedro and I would definitely recommend it.  The island isn’t quite as developed as San Pedro but that’s what we loved about it. All of the locals were constantly telling us to, “Go slow.” You can walk everywhere on the island and there are only a couple golf carts taking people back and forth to the airport. The island isn’t crowded, even during their busy season from Christmas to April, so it’s the perfect place for a winter getaway.

Some things to know about Caye Caulker:

• Everyone on the island speaks English.
• They accept US dollars.
• There is cell phone service on the island. I have Verizon which charges you $10 a day to use full functionality of your phone.

Getting to Caye Caulker

Located in Central America, Belize City is a little over 100 miles from the Mexican border. And it’s only a five hour drive to Tulum! That’s less than the drive from Manhattan to my hometown of Rochester, NY.

From New York, we had a connecting flight on Delta through Atlanta and then a 10 minute puddle jumper plane from Belize City to Caye Caulker. There is also a ferry option from Belize City to Caye Caulker but the flight on Tropic Air was less than $90 a person and the views out the window alone were well worth the price.

Total flight time was only about 5.5 hours, maybe less. There is a non-stop flight option from New York but it was almost double the price, if not more, than our connecting flights.

Pro-tip for the puddle jumper flight! Try to be one of the last ones to board the plane. I sat in the pilot’s seat on the way to Caye Caulker because it was the only spot left. It was so fun to watch him fly the plane and get a view of our landing!

Once we landed in Caye Caulker, two golf carts were waiting at the end of the airstrip to take us to our hotel. We organized this with the hotel ahead of time but there were also “taxi” golf carts waiting for anyone who didn’t have a prearranged pick up.

Where We Stayed

Because we were a group of eight on this trip, we considered staying at an Airbnb in Caye Caulker. We ended up finding the Island Magic Hotel and were so happy we chose that instead! It was the cutest hotel with the kindest staff. Our rooms were large with two double beds, AC and even a kitchen with a full sized fridge. They gave us fresh bath towels every day as well as beach towels. There was even sunscreen in the lobby to use! We also took full advantage of the onsite pool and bar/restaurant. I recommend staying at a hotel over an Airbnb simply for the convenience it brings on this island.

Where We Ate

You don’t have to look too hard for an amazing and affordable meal in Caye Caulker. Everything from the seafood to the nachos to even the Italian food was delicious. We never paid more than $20 a person for a meal. And that’s including appetizers, drinks and tequila shots – which we had a lot of!

Maggie’s – This spot in the center of the island is home to some of the best barbecue chicken I’ve ever had. Our dinner at Maggie’s was one of the best we had on the island. While all of the food on Caye Caulker tasted fresh, the chicken and ribs at Maggie’s were some of the freshest I’ve ever had in my life. We literally wondered throughout the weekend if they got the chickens from out back after we ordered. It was delish! But it’s also crazy popular so expect a long wait time, even in terms of island time. You’ll have to do as the locals do and “go slow!”

Barefoot Caribe – We happened upon Barefoot Caribe while trying to find a spot for dinner. Even though it was busy season on the island, it was surprisingly easy to find tables open for a group of eight. Our only real issue when picking a restaurant was paying. A lot of the restaurants on the island only take cash and while they do take American, we didn’t always have that much on us. Barefoot accepts credit cards and you can sit with your feet in the sand just off the water. It was perfect on a warm breeze night!

Pasta Per Caso – This little piece of Italian heaven in Caye Caulker is proof that the island is an up and coming Tulum. The decor is super trendy, there are only four tables, and there are only two dinner options to choose from. Each night the owners make two kinds of pastas and those are your only options. We had a couple of both options among our group and they were equally amazing. Felt a little strange to be eating Italian food in the Caribbean but it was really delicious, fresh made pasta. Definitely worth a visit while in Caye Caulker but make sure you make a reservation ahead of time!

Axios Sun Coffee & Muffin – Don’t let the fact that they call themselves Starbucks deter you! This little cafe has some of the best iced coffee on the island. It’s real iced coffee, too! It’s not a coffee flavored milkshake like I’ve gotten when ordering it in other countries (I’m looking at you, Australia). Fry jacks are famous on Caye Caulker and Axios Sun has some of the best. It’s basically fried dough but to be honest, it didn’t have enough sugar for me! I prefer actual fried dough. But definitely give it a try while visiting the island.

Where We Drank

The Lazy Lizard – This is the spot to be for day drinking on Caye Caulker. It’s located at “The Split” which is basically a large open space with activities and several bars and restaurants. You can do water side massages for $30 USD for an hour, play beach volleyball, jump off towers into the water, and drink lots and lots of fruity, island drinks. Just like the rest of the island, The Lazy Lizard was very affordable. We spent about $50 per person for all day drinks and lunch.

Koko King Beach – One thing I didn’t love about Caye Caulker is the lack of beaches. For the most part on the island, there are docks that you jump off to go swimming. There is a very small beach, if you can even call it that, at The Split but long white beaches are not a thing on this island. That being said, there is a small beach at Koko King, a beach club one island away from Caye Caulker. It’s a two minute ferry ride to get to Koko King and the ferry ride is free as long as you spend $25 BZD while there. Beach chairs and inner tubes are free on the island but we paid $25 USD to have a day bed for the day. With drinks and lunch, we easily hit the $25 per person total for the free ferry ride back.

What We Did

Snorkeling with Ana d Wata Tours – There are tons of snorkeling trips to choose from on Caye Caulker but we chose to do a shorter trip that was only from 10am-4pm. The longer trips visit further out reefs that are better for scuba divers so if you’re certified, you may want to consider those. And if you’re not scuba certified, you may want to consider it before visiting Caye Caulker!

We went with Anda d Wata Tours and I cannot say enough nice things about them. I recommend them to ANYONE going to Belize! We had two guides with us for the trip but the best part, they brought a GoPro with them and gave us the photos for free.

Our tour included 3 snorkel spots plus lunch on San Pedro. The first stop was Ho Cahn Marine Reserve where we saw the most fish and the best coral. Our guide took us on a 40 minute snorkeling tour around the reef where he pointed out specific fish including eel and little Dorys and taught us how to free dive through an underwater cave. The next spot we got to snorkel and free dive with sting rays and nurse sharks and the last spot took us to a sunken barge which was really cool! I’ve always been too scared to free dive while snorkeling so I was so happy that our guides took the time to show me how to do it properly. It made the experience that much better.

Anda D Wata Tours let us bring beers on the boat plus they gave us fresh fruit at the end of the day and a shot of Belizean rum. Our guides read their crowd real quick. They knew what we came to Belize to do. 😉

Happy Hour Tubing Tour with Anda d Wata Tours – This was truly one of the stranger tours I’ve done in my travels. Just before sunset, we boarded the same boat from our snorkel trip only this time it was filled with inner tubes. Our driver took us a ways out from the shore, tied the tubes together and told us to jump in. I was like, “Ummm…this is open water and there are giant waves.” But he gave us each a giant tumbler of rum punch and sent us on our way.

We were dragged through the water with the rope shoved into our bottoms while we were getting pelted with salt water. It was truly one of the lesser enjoyable experiences of my life. But as we got closer to shore and the waves died down and the rum punch kicked in, we started to have a good time. This was precisely when a stingray got caught in the rope beneath us and FREAKED out, slapping wildly in the water right next to my friend, Spencer. I thought it was a shark and was convinced this was our end. We were all screaming and freaking out while our driver just laughed and laughed. I mean seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!

After that I was pretty ready to get out of the water. I was terrified of what was beneath us while we were being dragged. Our driver took us closer to shore and that’s when I saw FINS above the water. Yes, fins. No one believed me until they DID and we were convinced they were sharks. I was literally screaming, “What is it!?” and our driver was just laughing hysterically. I could see their shadows below us and then he started FEEDING THEM. Finally he stopped the boat and told us they are tarpons which are some sort of giant, harmless fish. It was not OK. I do NOT like fish! But if you’re into getting up close and personal with all kinds of wildlife while drinking bottomless rum punch, this tour is for you.

When the sun started to set, our driver stopped the boat and let us just float. He also rolled us an amazing joint (sorry, Mom!) that made the experience that much sweeter. It was definitely an interesting tour but I recommend it for any groups of friends visiting Caye Caulker!

Rooftop Yoga at RandOM Yoga – Anyone would need something relaxing after that tubing trip! I do daily yoga practice (love you, CorePower Yoga!) in my home of New York City so I usually try to find somewhere to practice while on vacation. RandOM Yoga, above Namaste Cafe, offers yoga classes on Caye Caulker at 8am and 10am Monday through Saturday. The classes are by donation so I paid $20 USD and went twice. I figure a yoga class in Manhattan is about $30 so paying $10 a class on Caye Caulker was fair. The class was the perfect way to start my day each morning and was open to all levels. It was easier than my normal classes but the perfect flow to get my blood moving before a day of downing margaritas.

Overall, Belize has something for everyone. From scuba diving and yoga to fruity drinks and cheap meals, it’s the perfect tropical winter getaway. I’m afraid that Belize will be Tulum in 10 years with the obnoxious influencers taking over and raising the prices. While I loved Tulum, you truly cannot beat the island vibes of Caye Caulker. Get here before the influencers do!