Caye Caulker is a very small island with sand streets and golf carts, bicycles or your own two feet as the only forms of transportation. That being said, you don’t need much else because you can easily bike around it in less than an hour. There are only 3 main streets (Front St., Middle St. and Back St.) in the main part of the island, it’s almost impossible to get lost. The island motto is Go Slow an adage that is taken very seriously.
If you are visiting Caye Caulker or even Belize in general, it is important to support the locals as much as possible. When you arrive, ask your taxi driver/host/locals what grocery stores, restaurants and shops are owned by locals and try to shop there whenever possible.
Money exchange – $2 Belizan = $1 USD
We found that the restaurant prices and some grocery prices are actually pretty similar to pricing in the US.
Food
Let’s just get right down to business. We loveeeee Belizean food. I think I’ve eaten more rice in Belize than I have anywhere else total in my entire life. I don’t know what they do to it, but it’s amazing.
The best food is at the places that don’t look like traditional restaurants, they look like homes (because they are or once were). The lobster is wonderful wherever you go, so if you want lobster make sure it is in season when you make your travel plans. As of right now, lobster season is: June 15 – February 15.
No matter where you go to eat, don’t expect quick or even normal speed of service. Most places you should order a new drink when you’re half done with the one you’ve got, your meal will take up to an hour to get to you if the restaurant is busy and you will have to ask for your check or you’ll never get it. The island’s motto is go slow and they aren’t kidding around.
Maggie’s Sunset Kitchen
Our absolute favorite place to eat in Caye Caulker is Maggie’s Sunset Kitchen. They serve lunch and dinner. As the name suggests you can watch the sunset (most restaurants on the island don’t have this view) and you may even get a glimpse of a salt water crocodile. If you’re going for dinner, get there when they open or shortly after. If you go later they will either be out of certain menu items or there will be no seating left. We try not to eat at any one restaurant more than once or twice at the most, and we’ve eaten here four or five times. We highly recommend the Lobster Ceviche, Whole Lobster, or any of the kabobs and some coconut white rice.
Little Kitchen
Little Kitchen – one of our local friends had to physically bring us to this one, otherwise we would have never known it was even there. We hadn’t ever seen it (in fact, we went to go find it in the day light the next day and barely could find it) and honestly, even if we had, we wouldn’t have gone to it on our own. It’s down a non lit driveway, around the back of a house and up 2 flights of steps that are incredibly unevenly spaced and not level (a wonderful test of your sobriety or lack of). Please do not let this keep you from eating here. Recommended to us was the Conch Ceviche, Jerk Chicken and Lobster/Fresh Fish. They were all phenomenal.
Rainbow Grill
The food at Rainbow Grill is good with a large variety or items that will keep just about anyone happy. They have one of the best views of the crystal clear, teal waters on the island.
Wish Willy’s
This place is literally a one man show. The chef is also the waiter and bus boy, but not the bartender. That’s your job, there is a cooler of beer you can grab whatever you need and let him know how many you’ve had when you pay your bill.
El Pelicano
Italian dishes and pizza. This is the one restaurant on the island that you could dress up to go to dinner (meaning take off your bathing suit cover up and wear real clothes). Don’t specifically pack clothes to eat here, you can wear whatever you want, but the atmosphere is a notch fancier than beach restaurant.
Penalty Box (Canadian)
Sports fan? Need to catch that game and don’t want to go to a dive bar to do it. The Penalty Box is the place to do it. The food is bar food, but still great and there are 3 large TV’s that you can request to play whatever you’d rather be watching than swimming with the fishies or catching some rays.
Fish and Chips
The name says it all. Although, I think there is also chicken. The fish was fried perfectly and packaged in a really cool way(yes, I’m impressed by to go food packaging) wrapped in paper with a wooden fork and napkin held together with one rubber band (no plastic or styrofoam).
Breakfast Options
Breakfast: Amor-y-cafe – breakfast sandwiches
Errolyns – Fry Jacks
Coffee place on front
Bakery
I have a few places as do not eats in my brain bank, I don’t want to publicly out any businesses since we only have eaten at each restaurant once and everyone makes mistakes so if you are traveling to Caye Caulker and want this list, please email us and I will gladly send it to you! (Tropical, Enjoy)
Things to do:
The only transportation on the island is bikes, golf carts and your own two feet. The streets are all packed sand. We found a lot of “insider information” by asking the staff at the places we’ve stayed. It’s also fairly easy to start up conversations with other people visiting the island at restaurants because you are sitting so closely with them you can just naturally become part of their conversation. A lot of people who visit Caye Caulker do so on a regular basis and have a wealth of knowledge.
Bike ride
Most places you stay provide bikes for you to ride and there are places to rent bikes if you want to take a spin around the island. There are no unsafe spots on the island (except the airport runway but that is well marked), so feel free to ride around to the Southern end of the island and check it out. There is one spot with fencing made out of conch shells that you’ll spot some decent sized iguanas and lizards. If you pay attention in the marsh and mangrove areas you might see a salt water crocodile.
Snorkeling
There are so many snorkel excursion/ tour companies that it can be overwhelming to figure out which is best. The guides on the island tend to move from around from company to company on a regular basis because of pay, and it’s actually more important to get a good guide rather than use a specific company. Ask around where you’re staying. We snorkeled with Cave Man Tours several times and had a great time! There are a few different popular snorkeling locations that the tours will take you.
– Hol Chan Marine
– Shark Ray Alley
– Caye Caulker Marine Reserve
– Manatee
Fishing
There is all sorts of fishing to do and lots of people who can take you, although fishing charters aren’t as easily found as snorkeling tours. As your host or front desk to hook you up with a fisherman!
Things to bring when you go fishing:
– SUNSCREEN! Rarely do the fishing boats have any type of shade and you will be out all day.
– Water – bring more water than you think you’ll need. Being in the sun and covered in salt water and reeling hard for that big fish will dehydrate you very quickly!
– Snacks
– Neck Gaiter (LINK)
Scuba Diving
If you dive, you know how important it is (read as: life or death) to use a reputable dive company. Belize Diving Service has a wonderful reputation and all of their guides are fantastic. They follow all safety regulations and have all worked for BDS for a long time (I like to judge businesses reliability and _____ by how long their employees have worked for them)
Doggy Snugs!
strays, shelter
Look for wildlife – salt water crocs – less busy end, north end, maggies
Pelicans – feeding at iguana reef
seahorses – iguana reef
feed tarpon
Places to Stay:
