Caye Caulker: Paradise on Earth!
Go Slow!
Let’s start with how I got here. From San Ignacio it was only a short shuttle or bus ride to Belize City. Here we validated our pre booked ferry ticket, and managed to get on the one that was just leaving. It was only a short and smooth ferry ride to make it to the island.
The first thing I needed to do as soon as I arrived here, was go to one of the roadside barbecues to get some Jerk Chicken! This is a Caribbean island with a very rasta culture. The food was great!
On my way to The Split I ran into my friend Katharina, a lucky coincidence! I tried the lazy lizard cocktail at the bar with the same name located at the Northern end of the island. This is where the canal is between the Northern Island of Caye Caulker and the Southern one, where most people stay. We went for a swim here and the next day we hung out at Sip 'n Dip. For someone who doesn't like to lay on a beach, sitting at these tables in the water was amazing. Be careful not to step on any stingray, there might be some small ones around.
A local working at the hostel accompanied me to the Iguana Reef Inn. This is thé place to be to watch the sunset on the island and to witness the giant stingray. I am not a fan of wild animals being fed, but that’s what happens here every day between 4 and 5pm. Anyone can come here for free. and see all the wildlife just off the shore.
My favorites are definitely the seahorses alongside the pier. We saw giant crabs, beautiful fish and even a moray eel! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Every following evening I came here with friends to watch the sunset, which is what most others would do. It was so wholesome.
The Great Blue Hole!
The most iconic place in belize is without a doubt the Great Blue Hole! From Caye Caulker you can go on a day trip with Frenchie's Dive Center. If you don't know how to dive, then you can snorkel, but if you are going to pay the hefty price for the excursion, you better have your Advanced Open Water certificate so that you can dive 40 meters deep inside of the hole and pass through the giant stalactites surrounded by friendly sharks.
The tour included an amazing breakfast, the 2 hour boat trip to get there and 2 hours back, snacks, all our gear and a delicious lunch on the stunning Half Moon Caye. We had some time to explore the island. There is a walking path that takes you to see boobies! Not the boobies you immediately think of, but the red-footed booby living in the treetops of this island.
We did 2 more unforgettable dives. One was at the Lighthouse Reef and little did I know this would be the best dive ever! We saw 2 turtles, countless reef sharks and stingrays, even a giant eagle ray!
Unforgettable Snorkel Day Tours
The next day was Katharina’s Birthday! We went on the most popular excursion from the island: a full day snorkel tour! There are 2 options and I tested both to show you the difference, or just to convince you you shouldn’t pick one or the other, but do both!
Option number one: The speedboat tour! This tour I went on with the Bella’s hostel and they do feed the animals. Like I said I’m not a fan of that, but the others joined in to feed the tarpons. The first thing we after leaving the main island behind, was look for the manatee, but since we couldn’t spot it, we went for our first and my favorite snorkel!
We started at the Coral Gardens and they did not steal their name. It is a long reef, which is frequented by sharks and rays, which we both got to see. I swam off on my own, but the others were surrounded by friendly nurse sharks at one point. The next stop immediately after was this Sunken Barge, a shipwreck that is now covered with coral. It was cool to see the structure and the coral. I needed some time to chill after lunch, as some others went snorkeling at the shell bank, which they really liked.
The next stop is the one with the big name. The Hol Chan Marine Reserve. We got our entries and as soon as I got in the water, I spotted a turtle! We did see lots of cool fish and huge schools of fish as well, but other than that I had higher expectations of the place. We did end up seeing an eagle ray before getting back to the boat.
The final snorkel spot of the day was the famous Shark and Ray Alley. Here they lure the sharks to the boat by feeding them, other operators don’t feed them, but they are here regardless. This time I felt like as soon as I got in the water, once they stopped feeding, there were almost no sharks left to be seen. Since big fish also want a snack it gets harder to see the sharks through all the fish once you’re in the water. Anyway, I decided to have a look around and loved all the fishies. Everyone got out of the water and as I wanted to film the last shark… A giant eagle ray passed by and it was só beautiful, so majestic! I couldn’t believe I was the only one experiencing this moment. This was the best possible ending to the day, however Dylan and Rudy had another stop in mind. We stopped on the Northern part of Caye Caulker to see another inhabitant. A crocodile! It took a while before it appeared and we went back to the hostel where we all got rum punch.
On my final day on the island, I decided to go on the Ragasailing tour. They don’t feed any animals, so we just walked to the tarpon dock for some info before boarding our sailboat. I decided to do the full day tour again, because from what I heard the sailing experience was even better than the motor boat and the stops were really different.
We saw boats gather in the distance and we started off with a BANG! If I’m honest, this was the main reason I did the tour again. I somehow felt that we would see the manatee and we did! Swimming along side this gentle giant was a dream come true!
So we had only just started, but already my day was made. To top it off I spotted some dolphins in the trail of the boat so after shouting to everyone, the boat turned around and we got a great look at them! Wauw, unbelizable indeed!
After all that it was time for our first stop, the snorkel stop. I must admit, I wasn't’ very impressed by what we saw here, this spot did not match the Coral gardens and shipwreck we saw the day before. The sailboat only has 3 snorkel spots: this one, Hol Chan and Shark and Ray alley, where I did have a better experience than the day before.
At Hol Chan we didn’t see a turtle this time, but we had a great guide who pointed everything out and gave us information about each species. We spotted some sharks, a barracuda, the same Eagle Ray as the day before, some more stingray and a beautiful cow fish.
Ragasailing doesn’t do any feeding, but still the sharks come up to the boat at Shark and Ray Alley. This time around, I lost count of how many sharks we saw ánd the stingrays were present. I saw another cool cow fish and I didn’t realize 2 other sharks were swimming underneath me and they all but touched me. I got to see the amazing dotted pattern on their skin. What an unreal encounter, I honestly didn’t know where to look this time.
Once we got back on the boat, they lifted the sails, gave us some rum punch to celebrate all we had seen. As we sailed back we all got pretty tipsy and enjoyed fresh shrimp ceviche. We ended the day at Iguana Reef and all having dinner together before I joined the hostel pub crawl. For my last night I stayed at Bella’s and it was nice to have AC for once.
For a morning coffee you should head to Ice & Beans. Another great lunch can be had at Chef Juan's Kitchen and for dinner we would always end up at Swings. We celebrated Katharinas birthday at Sports bar, the place to be! And before we knew it we were saying goodbye to each other at Namaste Cafe.
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