Enjoying Island Life on Caye Caulker, Belize

December 7-8, 2025

Waking up on Caye Caulker, Dylan and I weren’t sure what kind of day we’d get. A thunderstorm had rolled through overnight, and the morning skies were still cloudy – but within a few hours, it would turn into the most relaxing day of our entire trip to Belize.

We started off by heading to Errolyn’s House of Fryjacks, a perfect spot to try this local Belizean cuisine – basically just fried dough. We had tried some while in San Ignacio, but here they were more like tacos and absolutely packed with ingredients!

I got bacon, chicken, beans, and cheese in mine, and it was delicious! It was also less than $5 USD, shockingly cheap for Caye Caulker.

On our way back, we also grabbed a fresh pineapple from the local store and cut it up at our cabana to share. It wasn’t as good as we expected, but it was still pretty tasty.

Right afterwards, I headed to the local church. It was a Sunday, and I like going to services in other countries when I get a chance, as I am a practicing Christian. In this case it was a Catholic church – a bit different from what I’m used to as a Lutheran, but the people were friendly and I was glad to have gone.

This was actually the first Catholic service I’ve ever been to! I had some problems following along the liturgy at certain times, but they had prayer and response sheets as well as hymnals at the back of the church.

After this, I headed back to the cabana so Dylan and I could go swimming. The place where we were staying, Colinda Cabanas, had free snorkeling gear and beach towels available to use. Unfortunately, while there was a dock to walk down near us and swim, the water was much too murky to see anything. We ended up just chilling on the lounge chairs for a little while. The water was very comfortable temperature-wise though!

After a bit we decided to head north. Colinda Cabanas also had free bike rental, so we rode them up towards the area known as “The Split.” You see, Caye Caulker is actually two different islands, with a small gap in-between – we figured it might be better for swimming.

Along the way we scouted some places where we could eat lunch later, with a few food trucks and tables set up with people cooking on barbecues nearby. But we were still full from the fryjacks, so we could wait.

Turns out the Split wasn’t too much better – there really aren’t any reefs right near the island, and we didn’t feel like paying for a snorkeling trip. All I really saw was a few fish, though I did see an eagle ray which was pretty cool. The current was also quite strong from the wind that day, but there was a tall diving board which Dylan and I had fun jumping off a couple times.

While the swimming wasn’t the best, it was still a wonderful place to lay back and relax. Dylan and I stayed there for well over an hour soaking in the sun, simply relishing the fact that we were on an island in Belize.

After this we started to bike back, but almost immediately I saw a map that included something about seahorses in one of the coves, and I wanted to check it out. Dylan wanted to just head back, so I agreed with him to meet him at the cabana later and then we’d get lunch.

It took me a bit of exploring to find the cove. I actually found one with tarpons by accident – huge fish that hang around a certain area since they get fed by humans – though I couldn’t get pics since I had left my phone at the cabanas. I did find the cove eventually, though ended up not seeing any seahorses. However, rather than the Split where it’s not really a beach (just a drop off), this actually was one – so I thought I might as well hang out for a while and enjoy the warm water. There was even a hammock between two posts in the water that I got to lay in!

I went back to the cabanas afterwards so Dylan and I could go grab some lunch – we were starving!

We went with a place called Chef Kareem’s Unbelizable Lunch where they were freshly grilling meat on a barbecue, and it smelled amazing. Both of us got the BBQ Jerk Chicken, and oh man it was good. It was hotter than I expected spice-wise, but the taste blew us away!

Not only that, but we ended up getting some fresh coconuts – drinking the milk and even eating the flesh! That was actually the first time I’ve had coconut meat. It was different than I expected, but really refreshing and delicious.

From here we headed back to the cabanas. I had bought the rum bundle (in hindsight it’s cheaper to just buy some at the local store) so I poured myself some rum and fresh pineapple juice, headed back towards the beach, and laid down on a lounge chair.

I have to be honest, this was exactly what I was hoping to experience here. The sun was warm and bright, the clouds had mostly cleared, and I felt like I was living the dream. I was probably out there over an hour, and even took a short nap! Oh, it was wonderful.

Afterwards Dylan and I just chilled for a while in the cabana, and he ended up taking a nap as well. Finally we headed out again just before sunset, as we saw there was potentially a good spot to see it.

This actually ended up being where I had visited earlier to try and see the seahorses, though now there was another form of wildlife – stingrays!

These were crazy to see – apparently the owner of the nearby hotel was an expat from Texas who basically domesticated these guys by feeding them at a certain time every night. He gave fish to some of the people there and the stingrays came right up to them! Not only that, but there were also tons of birds who would swoop down and try to grab the fish first! It was absolutely hilarious, especially since some of the girls would totally freak out when the birds flew by.

Besides that, we did have a wonderful view of the sunset – it was behind the clouds but illuminated the sky very beautifully.

Dylan and I then biked back, before going on a walk to find some dinner. Funnily enough, along the way we stopped back at the store and he found some bagged water! I had never seen that before, but he seemed to enjoy it!

For dinner we found a place called Roy’s Blue Water Grill. I got some garlic butter shrimp and a mango margarita, which were both phenomenal. As with the night before it was fairly pricey, but it was a nice bar and we got our food pretty quickly.

We explored a bit more since it was our last night in Belize, and found a small ice cream shop where we got some cheap scoops. From there it was time to head to bed, as we had an early morning the next day.

We woke up around 5:30 to finalize packing and ensure we had everything. We had a flight around 11, so we wanted to be at the airport no later than 8:30. We still had to take the water taxi back to Belize City, and a taxi to the airport from there.

Checkout was a super easy process, just leaving the key in the door. We gathered our things and walked back to the water taxi terminal along the beach. The sun was beginning to rise and it was an amazing view.

We bought tickets for the 6:30 ride at the terminal, and waited for a little while. I was surprised by how packed it was, but it’s the main way of transportation back to the mainland so I guess it makes sense. It was very relaxing to see the sunrise as we boarded the boat on the top deck. We even got to see a rainbow as we headed out!

The water taxi was a smooth ride, though it was a bit ominous as we saw rainclouds all around us. Fortunately, the heavens were not opened upon us, and we safely returned to Belize City.

Now all we needed to do was find a taxi driver. The good thing is, these guys are everywhere after a water taxi arrives. But be sure to negotiate prices beforehand! The one we chose originally said something ridiculous like $40 or $50 but Dylan said $25 instead, and he actually went with it.

We were at the airport just after 8, so we had plenty of time. We did have to fill out the immigration form again, which we hadn’t realized – but it was pretty easy. Getting through security took hardly any time after that, and we now had one new stamp on our passports.

From there it was just a matter of flying home. We left on time, and I got to see the beautiful reefs off the coast. It was a pretty long flight so I watched a couple movies. Then we had to deal with a 4 hour layover in LAX before heading back to San Jose and then driving a bit over an hour home.

But overall, Belize was a wonderful experience, and experiencing island life on Caye Caulker made me the most relaxed and peaceful I had been in a very long time. If you ever get a chance to visit, just take a day or two to slow down and unwind – you will not regret it!