Karen and I decided to venture out and take a day trip to the island of Caye Caulker today. We started with breakfast at Estel’s on Ambergris Caye after purchasing our round trip water taxi tickets to Caye Caulker from Caye Caulker water Taxi. ($35BZ round trip).
We have had breakfast a couple of times now at Estel’s and I would recommend it as a place to begin your day. Hard to go wrong getting a piping hot breakfast served to you as you sit on the beach. We have tried the bloody Mary’s and coffee, I would suggest the coffee to start the day. The water taxi trip to Caye Caulker was uneventful. As in it left right on time and arrived without excitement. The 21km trip takes 30 minutes. It is a little loud on the boat and the seats are just fibreglass but I found it very good and would use it again without a doubt.
Caye Caulker totes itself as the backpackers destination and tries very hard to be what I would call the “hippy” destination. Unfortunately it suffers from it’s own success. If you are looking for a flashback to before the time where electronics ruled and barefoot in the sand is your goal, Caye Caulker is the place.
Caye Caulker is a wonderfully laid back place with not a lot to do. There are lots of companies offering snorkelling to the reef just off shore and a wonderful people watching location called the split. The bar there is called the Lazy Lizard (A sunny place for shady people). Other than that I didn’t see a lot else to do. I am not being critical of this, it is just a great place to unwind a take it very easy. In the interest of political correctness I am not including any pictures from our time at the split. Personal expression can be carried to extremes, just a personal observation. Great entertainment though.
For a day that started with threats of nasty storm clouds, we ended up with a wonderful day wandering a neighbouring island and enjoying the sights. Maybe it is because I am getting on in years, but I am very glad we are staying on Ambergris Caye and just taking the opportunity to visit places like Caye Caulker. The population density on Caye Caulker is certainly much higher than what you find on Ambergris Caye ( once you get out of San Pedro town that is) and the desperation to be different is something I find somewhat sad. So for this individual Caye Caulker will remain a short term destination for when one just wants something different for the day.