You better Belize you'll have a great time on this tiny island. 

Caye Caulker

Itinerary for a Four Day Girls Trip to Caye Caulker, Belize

Caye Caulker is an island off the coast of Belize that isn’t quite as developed as San Pedro. It's a place where locals will tell you 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 December to April, so it’s the perfect place for a winter getaway. The island is extremely affordable and a great place to take your girls if you want something different than Mexico or the typical Caribbean islands. 

1. Almost everyone on the island speaks English.

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!

3. There is cell reception on the island.

From New York, we had a connecting flight 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 about $90 a person and the views out the window alone were well worth the price.

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.

This 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. 

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 and drinks.

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!”

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!

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. Definitely worth a visit while in Caye Caulker but make sure you make a reservation ahead of time!

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. Definitely give it a try while visiting the island.

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. 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.

This is an experience not to be missed on Caye Caulker! Just before sunset, we boarded the same boat from our snorkel trip with Anda d Wata Tours, 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. He gave us each a giant tumbler of rum punch and sent us on our way. 

Our driver towed us around the island and we had a beautiful view of the sunset. We also saw tons of fish including tarpon which I may have thought was a shark! Whoops. 

This yoga class is just above Namaste Cafe. The yoga classes are at 8am and 10am Monday through Saturday. The classes are by donation so I paid $20 USD and went twice. The class was the perfect way to start my day each morning and was open to all levels. It was the perfect flow to get my blood moving before a day of downing margaritas.

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.

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.

Overall, Caye Caulker has something for everyone. But it is a fantastic place to visit for a long weekend with your girlfriends! 

Itinerary for a Four Day Girls Trip to Caye Caulker, Belize

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