Travel Tips

We were up nice and early. We decided not to rush for the 8am water taxi to Caye Caulker but to rather have coffee on the balcony and then wander across the swing bridge. The boat was full but it was a nice journey out. First stop was St Georges Caye, then to drop off some guys on a private island. The island has its own private airstrip, about 8 enormous guest cottages and then the Mansion. One woman joked that it must be one of Pablo Escabar’s places.
The sea was nice and calm and our boat skimmed over the water, it was nice and fast which suited speed freak Sam.

About 35 minutes later we got to Caye Caulker. You know you are in a laid back place when you have Rastas greet you with ‘Hey mon, take off your shirt, take off your shoes, you’re in Caye Caulker dude’. The motto here is no shirt no shoes no problem!
There are no cars here only golf carts and bicycles. We had no idea where our hotel was but it was literally at the end of the pier. We are staying at Trends Beachfront hotel which is painted in soft pastel colours, from the verandah the Caribbean winks at us through the palm trees. Wayne, the owner, was there to meet us and we got settled in. We also have a hammock which Marc immediately had to test out!
Caye caulker is our kind of place, it is absolutely stunningly beautiful, who needs the Bahamas! It is so laid back here and I just love the way the people talk, sometimes it doesn’t even sound like English, kind of a Creole Caribbean mix. People are extremely friendly, sowm people look as though they were shipwrecked here years ago and never left. We had lunch at the sandbox right near our hotel. Lobster fritters are divine and the mango shakes worth the BZ$8. Good timing we came when Lobster was in season.

We then took a walk down the ‘split’. Caye caulker was divided in two by hurricane Hattie in 2001 (I think, or maybe 2000). The portion of the island beyond the split is mostly undeveloped. There is a beach bar and a small ‘beach’ there. The water is fairly deep so it’s a good place for swimming. A little kid was fishing off the broken pier (damaged by the hurricane) and almost caught a barracuda. One of the locals ‘willow’ and ex American got a speargun but the fish was on to him! Standing there we also saw a starfish in the water and a huge ray was swimming around the pier. The travelers here tend to be older than the usual places, probably around 30 and up. I guess traveling to this part of the world is too expensive if you’re a student. There are also a few over 50 pirate wannabees who are probably lawyers when they get back to ‘real life’.
I love this little island already, a truly laid back Rasta Caribbean Island. Reggae music everywhere and everyone you pass says hello and comments on something ‘hey mon the snorkeling boat is going’, ‘hey mon, Caye Caulker is a cool place for kids’. I think after being here for two weeks we will be very chilled out.

We went on our first snorkeling trip today. We have found all boat trips / tours to be very expensive here, about USD40 upwards. We went our with Ragamuffin tours, the only sailboats here. Once we were away from Caye Caulker they cut the engine and we were sailing. It is so nice to be out there with no noise just the boat cutting through the water. The captain fed the seagulls fish form his hand. I wish I had had my camera out for that one!
The first stop wat at Coral Gardens, lots of coral but not very colourful but we did see a lot of different fish – blue tarpon, snapper, zebra fish, angel fish etc. Sam did excellently and we let her snorkel by herself.
We then munched on fresh fruit as we sailed to our next stop – Shark Ray alley. The captain had a fishing line out as we were sailing, no rod or anything just a line and managed to snag a Barracuda, a big one. How he pulled it in without cutting his finger I don’t know! He threw it onto the part of the boat where I was dangling my feet, I got such a fright! A quick bash on the head and some violent flicking around and it was a gonner. Quite disgusting really.
At shark ray alley the crew the fish in to the sea and a nurse shark surrounded by a shoal of fish came up to the boat. I have never seen a shark on the surface of the water and never so close!
Sam was thrilled especially when some enormous rays swam by in the crystal clear water. She had no qualms about jumping in. We saw lots of rays as we snorkeled as well as an octopus which was a first for all of us. Later on we floated and watched three reef sharks and they weren’t babies either!\
Our last stop was Hol Chan (Mayan for narrow channel). Talk about rush hour on the reef, there were a lot of snorkellers and divers there but to be honest it didn’t spoil anything. We swan over the coral which in some places is very shallow and then we hit the drop-off. I think Sam enjoyed watching the divers more than she did the fish. She can’t wait to be a diver. We also saw a yellow stingray in the seagrass.
It was then time to sail home while sipping on rum punch and snacking on conch ceviche (caught fresh while snorkeling) with reggae music in the background. There is nothing better than sailing at sunset, we were even rewarded with a dolphin swimming on the bow!
The barracuda got de-scaled and was soon barracuda steaks. Sam was fascinated to see the inside of a fish. We sailed to the split where we got off the boat, the sun setting behind us.

We had dinner at Rasta Pasta, we were al exhausted and feeling a bit out of it. Sam ho the nail on the head and said she felt like she was still swimming. We hadn’t found our land legs yet.