Today is Max’s birthday and he was not expecting such an amazing surprise: his parents has come here in Caye Caulker to stay with us for a couple of days! Yesterday, we all met in Belize city right in front of Max’s jaw-dropped face (he would have never imagined!) and early today we’ve taken the cheapest ferry (Ocean’s Ferry) to Caye Caulker. The first impression, on our way to the Airbnb place, is that theisland is a small & relaxed place, there are no paved roads, many tourists and everybody uses bicycles to move around. From the pier, we arrive to our apartment with a golf cart taxi (5BLZ each) and finally manage to dropp of all ur luggages. One week here, relaxing, exploring the place and taking advantage of the great island vibes is the perfect way to spend some family time.
This island is relatively small but having bikes to move around will surely makes the difference! Once in the city centre, we realize that the number of travel agencies organizing snorkelling & diving is endless. Interestingly, we also find out that due to an agreement made in the past all companies are obliged to have the following minimum fares for the two most requested tours in town: 65USD/pp for a full day snorkelling (usually referred as the Holchan Marine Reserve Tour) and 35USD/pp for half-day (3hrs) of snorkelling (usually as the Caye Caulker). Definetely not a budget option uh?! The other bad news is that this precies are not negotiable! Therefore, if you really wanna do the tour please makes sure to go out with an eco-friendly agency (no plastic bags/plates on board) that doesn’t feed fish & sharks for tourists (we decided to book our full-day with Reef Friendly Tours).
This morning we meet our captain and the funny rastaman guide coming along at 10am to start our snorkelling day. Snorkelling on the second world biggest coral reef, after the Great Barrier Reef, is simply UNBELIEVABLE! Swimming in-between sharks, corals, manta rays, huge marine turtles and an inimaginable variety of colourful fish is nothing but a once-in-a-lifetime show! We end up snorkelling in roughly 5 different sites (the majority around San Pedro) and at each site our captain super-knowledgable captain doesn’t stop pointing out species even for a second. On the way back, we also agree on making another last stop to see if we can see any manatee (this morning’s snorkel was unsuccessful) so make a great birthday-gift to Max. “Everybody has said there are not manatees around”, says the captain after stopping a couple of boats coming from there but we simply don’t give up hope for the best.
As we arrive to the Manatee spotting area, we see a boat starting to wave at us…maybe we’re lucky. Once closer, the captain of the other boat announces proudly “Here, we’ve spotted one!!!” And that’s the story of how we managed to gear up in less than 5 seconds. We just take a couple of seconds to appreciate the view of the manatee from the boat and then *splash* we take a dip right next to it (kind of close, we have to keep our distance of 3-5m to avoid annoying him). And there it is! Chilling, thinking and munching some seagrass away from the stressing coral-city-life. What a beautiful and fascinating mammal! Happy B-day Max!!
During the rest of our stay, we spend time enjoying the super-tasty cuisine of the island (make sure to try the incredibly affordable dishes with lobster and barracuda, you won’t regret it), sunbathing on the white beaches, exploring the mangroves with kayaks, having bike trips, listening reggae everywhere and most importantly taking in the amazing colors of sunsets. Wanna see the best sunset of the island? Definitely go and take a drink at the Lazy Lizard , a bar located at the southernmost tip of the island overlooking the ocean at 180°.
The place is so close to the ocean that there are even some tables and chairs partially submerged in the water. Music, sunset and mojito are a bad way to end up a long day!
Spending a couple of days in Caye Caulker its not a bad choice if you’re aiming to take some time off the usual travelling “pinballing” and relax in a place with a Caribbean vibes. True that the tiny island itself might not be the cheapest place in Belize but the many smiling people, white beaches, breathtaking wildlife and all-year-round sunshine, will slowly make you forget that!
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