Most people don’t associate snorkeling and scuba diving with Central America, but the tiny of Belize offers them both. Belize is bordered by Mexico to the North, Honduras to the south, Guatemala to the west, and finally the second largest barrier reef in the world is just a short boat ride to the east. With a population the size of Berkeley California, about 320,000, its size can be misleading. There are many cayes that are so small no cars can be found and its population of 1200 travel by foot or an occasional golf cart. In fact the fish population here far outdoes its human inhabitants.
The Great Escape
For many travelers, especially the dusty road weary hitchhikers coming out of Guatemala, Belize City and its 80,000 inhabitants hold little allure for them. Caye Caulker is the perfect place to decompress, whether you’re holing up in your boat or occupying one of the many hammocks strung between two palm trees on the beach; it’s the perfect place to get away or to start life over again. Caye Caulker has something for everyone in terms of places to rest your weary feet. Believe it or not, here a dollars still means something; a night with a roof over your head or just a place to lay your sleeping bag in the sand. Places like Toms Backpacker Hotel offers you the sparsest of accommodations for a buck a night, or you can get fancy and stay a Mara’s Place for 45 Belize (22.50 USD) and enjoy cable TV and a ceiling fan. Mara’s place is at the end of the caye just before the split. People have been known to complain about the lack of AC but this is an adventure travel destination and 99% of the population here are young twenty-something’s traveling around Central America with a 5’ tall pack on their backs. If you want to cool off here just take a swim in the 85 degree water right off your back porch.
The Main Attraction
There’s not a lot to do on caye Caulker except scuba diving and snorkeling; but that’s what most people are there for. If you’re not a diver there are a number of locals there who offer snorkeling tours to Hole Chan Marine Reserve and other plentiful locations where the fish populate. You can find numerous nurse sharks, barracuda, stingrays, groupers, and just about every other brightly colored fish you can think of. The schools are so thick it’s easy to photograph them and the last time I was there I took 400 pictures of fish. Carlos Ayala of Carlos Tours is probably the most knowledgeable, environmentally conscious snorkel tour guides on the caye. He knows exactly where the forever shy octopi and moray eels hide and can easily draw them out for pictures.
Diving in caye Caulker offers a number of amazing attractions like canyons, much larger fish like the Jew fish and reef sharks. These larger denizens of the deep are not shy which makes them the perfect subjects, nor are they aggressive; which again makes them the perfect subjects. The two longest running dive outfitters there are Chocolates and Frenchies. Frenchies crew worked support when Jacques Cousteau and his people were studying the Blue Hole, the deepest living sinkhole in the world. Probably the best single dive trip I have ever taken was with Frenchies when we went to the Blue Hole. You leave under the cover of darkness and take the 2 hour trip to the sink hole where you gear up and dive 160 down to a shelf where you stay for 8 minutes before slowly going back to the surface. Reef sharks often accompany divers all the way down and are quite harmless. It’s an awesome feeling being 160 down, looking down between your legs at the dark blue void knowing that the bottom is another 300 feet down. After the Blue Hole dive you eat lunch before going to two more destinations where you dive along the 80-90 foot deep trenches and canyons. There’s truly nothing like 85 degree water with no surge and 150 foot visibility.
Back on Land
If you grow tired hanging out on the water there are some really amazing places to eat on the caye, and some of the best places aren’t restaurants at all. There are a number of local there who open their home up to you and cook whatever they have right there in their kitchen. For a very modest fee of a few dollars you can eat right there in their dining room or on the front porch; definitely my favorite way to dine there. Most places offer a variety of fish, shellfish, and if in season, conch. If you’re not a fish eater, most places offer fried chicken. When staying on the caye, probably your biggest expense will be eating and many places to stay are cheaper than most dinners there.
For those of you who like to stay connected there are several internet cafes as well as locals who invite you into their homes to rent their computers for a couple dollars. For me much of the draw to the caye has to do with getting to know the people living there. You’ll find a number of US citizens living there and if you have the time, they’ll regale you with their unique stories of how they came to visit and never left; and it doesn’t take much imagination to see why they stayed.
Caye Caulker is a great place to anchor yourself as you go out and explore other adventures as well, like Tikal in Guatemala. Sure there are any number of Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize, but if you really want to experience Mayan culture, go to Tikal in Guatemala. It’s a short plane ride from Belize City, and another short ride to the park. If you go there plan on spending a couple days exploring. One day just does not do it justice. You can even climb the steep steps up a 250 stone structure that sticks up out of the triple canopy jungle. You can stand on the same steps that filmmakers stood when filming scenes from the original Star Wars movie. Be forewarned, once you visit Tikal, there’s no point visiting any other Mayan ruins; they all pale in comparison.
Life on the Water
Caye Caulker is tough to say goodbye to. The moment you set foot there, life slows down to a delicious crawl and just stays that way. There’s no better place in the world to swim with the manatees, sharks, barracuda, stingrays, and moray eels, and your friendly guides. There’s no place better to dock your sailboat, have breakfast and dive off into the blue for a swim with the fishes.
Mandurah Land For Sale - Joe Fernandez focuses on the Australian real estate and property development industry, providing valuable insight for property buyers at all levels.
