Caye Caulker: "Go Slow"

From beachy Tulum we were headed cross border to Caye Caulker, an island off the coast of Belize. We had to catch a bus from Tulum to Chetumal (still in Mexico), 'exit' through Mexican customs, board a water taxi, get off, 'enter' through customs into Belize, board the water taxi again and finally arrive at Caye Caulker - it was a looonnnng day!

We had such a nice arrival on Caye Caulker though! We walked onto the island and were greeted by the sight of beach bars and chilled music, then, our Airbnb host picked us up in a golf cart (there are no cars on Caye Caulker) and took us to our apartment. 

A HUGE bonus of traveling in Belize is that English is the national language! Many people also speak Creole (a mix of English and African languages) and also Spanish but we were free to us English without feeling ashamed! This is the only Central American country in which we will experience this luxury!

After a day of travel we were hungry! We asked our host for a recommendation and pretty much headed straight there!

This is Rose's! The photo on the right is the 'menu' - literally! We were shown the types of meat available to choose from: different chicken, fish and shellfish, all of which came with sides. We grabbed a wonderfully cheap cocktail and eyed off our next meal.

We both couldn't help ourselves and both ordered the lobster! Michael says he has had lobster once when he was younger but I've never had it before and we probably won't ever have a more delicious (or more affordable at less than £15) lobster ever again!

My favourite thing about Belizian food is that everything comes with awesome sides - in this case: beans and rice and a fresh salad.

The following day we were ready to embrace the Caye Caulker way of life, that is: "go slow" - this motto is written everywhere and locals even say it to you on the street. The lifestyle here involves chilling out and being very relaxed - something I could get used to.

This photo is of one of the main streets in Caye Caulker - the island has three main streets: front street, middle street and back street (I am not making this up), all of them are dirt / sand roads and there are no cars - only golf carts, bikes and pedestrians.

 We went to check out one of the more famous locations in Caye Caulker: The Split. In th 1960's a hurricane literally 'split' the island of Caye Caulker in half, the location at which this happened is now known as 'the split' and a really poplar place to simply hang out and 'go slow.'

In the name of going slow, we also stopped at a really cool cafe to grab a drink - this is my ice latte! Pretty fancy!

 Just had to take a photo of this really cute cafe - all the restaurants and bars in Caye Caulker are really gorgeous. They are all really open, no walls and very few real floors, and lots of beach style chairs and colourful park benches.

We have the benefit of traveling during low season, as you can see there is hardly anyone else around.

We spent a few hours just wandering around the island and came across this beautiful pier - photos were mandatory!

While on the island another tourist actually told us that all fees paid for pier ownership actually go to Her Majesty (as Belize is a commonwealth nation). 

On our travels we stumbled upon an absolute gem of a lunch stop! Below is Chef Kareem's!

Kareem has a BBQ and cooks local produce for lunch everyday - the menu is basically dependent on the food he has available. The best part is that each main (meat) comes with two sides and two rum punches. This drink is quite literally what it sounds like and it soon became a favourite of ours!

I ordered some amazing 'shrimp' skewers - they were incredible and a total bargain! Not to mention that Kareem was an insanely nice and polite guy - we soon promised we would visit again!

From here, it was back to the split for to chill out and people watch.

At the end of the split is a diving platform, each afternoon (after school) all the local kids come and jump off it - as well as lots of overly keen and less sophisticated tourists. 

Going slow at the split. 

There is a really fun bar located right on the split called the Lazy Lizard, we were there for 2 for 1 happy hour! Michael wasn't feeling too great so this meant I had two cocktails for myself - don't mind if I do!

The split is also a great location for beautiful sunsets!

Day 2 of 'going slow' was pretty similar to day one but involved considerably more alcohol! We headed to a bar I had read about online called the Sip n Dip - once more, this is pretty much exactly what it sounds like!

Here, happy hour is ALL DAY!

We were paying roughly £3 for two cocktails - who could say no!

 

The Sip and Dip also features a really cool area where you can literally Sip and then Dip in the water - a concept I am a huge fan of! These swings look pretty cool but in reality are really not so comfortable!

Couples photo! This is a really hard concept when there's not many people around!

Now, I should apologise in advance for the Sip n Dip spam...

Michael enjoying a GnT!

Sip n Dip tyres (these got really hot in the sun).

Even Sip n Dip hammocks - this place had it all!

We did manage to drag ourselves out of the water - but only to eat lunch... 

 

... and drink some more rum punch!

Michael's favourite feature of the Sip n Dip was definitely this basketball ring!

I think the 'go slow' concept was definitely achieved once we set foot in the Sip n Dip!

The following day involved moderately less laziness - we booked a half day snorkeling tour with Caveman Tours. The man who owns this business, The Caveman, got his nickname because, as  a child, he once got lost in cave and ended up staying there overnight until he was rescued. 

We started the trip with a hunt for the elusive manatee - the guides knew where to find them and they did spot their heads bobbing above the water, Michael even said he saw one float under the boat, but they were not in the mood to interact so we were out of lunch.

Instead we spent about half an hour exploring a snorkel spot known as the Coral Garden.

I am hardly an expert on marine life so all my photos are of the coolest looking marine creatures - like this bright blue fish that I chased to take a photo of!

And lots of little white, yellow and black fishes swimming among the coral. 

From here, we headed to a new location - unfortunately I can't remember the name! Here, one of our guides took us on a guided snorkel tour along the reef and pointed out lots of cool things to see - different coral, fish, lobster and lots of other things, he was incredible knowledgeable!

Honestly, I cannot remember the name of these fish but he led us to this huge school of pretty blue fish!

Another fish I cannot remember the name of - our guide pointed this one out too.

The visibility was amazing in this area - very helpful when taking photos!

This little blue fish was hard to spot and even harder to take a photo of (well done to Michael) - another thing our guide spotted for us.

From here, we jumped back on the boat and headed for shark ray alley - famous for, you guessed it, sharks and rays! The guides feed the sharks and rays a small amount of sardines in order to entice them and as soon as the boat appeared the sharks knew exactly what was coming and swam right over (apologies for the spots of water on my camera lens!

This was slightly intimidating.

We jumped in and watched the feeding frenzy as the sharks went crazy for a sardine snack!

 The stingrays also had a little tussle for the leftovers. 

I have lots more photos of the sharks and rays but I a resisting my impulse to spam everyone with them!

This nurse shark came right as us!

 I was slightly freaked out when the nurse sharks swam towards me, this was all in vain as they had no interest or ill will towards us!

I have also included a video I took while we were watching the sharks and rays feast, at one point a nurse shark swims right at me and I get a minor fright before regaining (kind of) my composure: https://youtu.be/N9nHgb9V_uw

Also, on our way home we were really lucky to see some dolphins!

I took a short video of this too: https://youtu.be/vXuYDXL5IYA

On our way back to shore we got some pretty cool views of the island of Caye Caulker - the shores, while completely void of chain resorts of hotels, is lined with small hotels and locally owned apartments.

The Lazy Lizard (on the split) as viewed from the water. 

Once we got back from our snorkel tour it was time for lunch, which meant back to Kareem's for another seaside BBQ! This lunch time he was super busy and was trying to BBQ about 5-6 meals at once!

I ordered the coconut curry with prawns - delicious again!

All in all, Caye Caulker was an amazing introduction to Belize! We left here feeling really happy to have had to opportunity to visit this beautiful island, eat so much delicious food, experience some amazing natural sights and interact with so many lovely people!

So far, Caye Caulker has definitely been a highlight of our trip and somewhere I would highly recommend!