One more Belize post

I want to talk about the tiny little island we stayed on, Caye Caulker. I LOVED it. It was absolutely perfect. It’s only 5 miles long by 1 mile wide, and that’s rounding UP on both measurements. I thought it was just the right combination of “off the beaten path,” but with plenty of tourist stuff, too. It was exactly how I want my tropical vacations to be, a little rustic, and not all smooth sidewalks and uplit palm trees, you know?

(Before I go further, I must say in all fairness, that SB thought it was too small, too rustic, and too hot. He LIKES uplit plam trees. He thinks they’re PRETTY.)

There are no cars there, just golf carts, and the streets are all sand:

Anyway, we stayed at the Iguana Reef Inn which is the nicest hotel on the whole island, but it still only cost us the off-season rate of $130 a night. There are beach cabanas you can stay in for around $15 a night if that’s what you prefer, but that wasn’t what we were going for, for our last hurrah. Also, if you go in August, I gotta say, A/C is pretty essential. The hotel was small and homey, the pool was lovely (one of only 3 on the island), and the little bar and grounds are beautiful.

I really appreciated how the excursions we went on were all very affordable. The sunset sail we took was only $25 a person for 3 hours on a beautiful sailboat with all the rum punch you could drink. The all day snorkle trip we took with 3 stops, lunch, and more rum punch was only $45 a person. I’m used to places like Mexico where you would pay double and triple for trips like that.

If that doesn’t sell you, listen to this. On one of our last nights there, we went with some vacation friends out for dinner at this cute little place right on the beach. We sat at a plastic table 15 feet from the water’s edge, surrounded by palm trees and hot delicious breezes. Six people had lobsters as big as their heads that came with 4 sides, copious cocktails, and the tip was included because of our large party, and the total came to $100.

Another highlight that was so “tiny island” was the nature tour kayak trip. We heard there was a lady that led them, and were told, “Oh, just go down that street and holler for Allie.” So we did. We went where they told us to go and then I yelled, “Is Allie, the badass kayaking lady around?” And someone yelled back, “Yep, she’ll be right out!” We told her we wanted to go kayaking in the morning and she said, “Cool, meet me on the beach at 9:30″. The next day, she took just me and SB on a 3 hour tour of the mangroves and showed us all kinds of plants and creatures. I LOVE stuff like that. A Discovery Chanel nature show in real life! (And once again, the whole shebang, plus a good tip was $50)

A baby lobster Allie rescued from an old net

Allies’s dog was apparently afraid she was going out to sea forever, and it ran along the shore, following us the whole time. She kept telling it to go home, but it finally just jumped in and swam out to us. It was so cute!

Good, lord, it’s gorgeous there. Check out the sea grass you can see under the water:

So, to sum up, if you are into hot, tropical, cheap, and delicious, I highly recommend Caye Caulker!