Caye Caulker, Belize in December
 

Hello, We've made our reservations at Diane's Beach House for Dec. 19 - 27, 2012, for 7 full days. This will be our first trip to the area. Do you have advice for currency / restaurants / transportation / sightseeing / cell phone use/ health insurance/ travel insurance / etc. Is there a way to hire guides for less or get tickets for less ? We're a couple in our 70's and are both in good health. Thanks for any advice you may have.

I'm no expert on Caulker, most of my Belize time is spent on Ambergris, but, many things will apply.

US dollars are accepted everywhere. There is at least one ATM on Caulker that will dispense Belize dollars. The rate is 'fixed' at two BZ dollars to one US. Try and get rid of your Belize dollars before you leave the country, they're hard to exchange.

We've enjoyed meals at Habanero's for a high end meal. More moderate, Happy Lobster, Rainbow, Lazy Lizard for lunch. Going to Wish Willie's for dinner is fun, different, but, fun.
We keep meaning to get to Syd's and Rose's, but, haven't made it yet.

We walk everywhere on Caulker. If you're arriving by air, there will be golf cart cabs at the airstrip. Same with the water taxi pier. Bikes and walking and the main forms of transportation, it's a small island.

My US cell phone goes off and stays off when I'm in Belize. Too expensive to use, although it works, I have service with Verizon. I don't buy travel insurance, but, we do have an annual medical evacuation policy with Medjet. There's no hospital on Caulker, or on Ambergris, for that matter.

Be careful of guide/tours that sound too good to be true. They probably aren't licensed guides, and I've read horror stories about people getting out on a boat, and being told that they needed money for gas and other scams to end up paying more. Ask around when you arrive, people will know the legit tour operators.

gocayecaulker.com has a good site

Here's my standard blurb on money...

Belize has its own currency, but US currency is accepted in Belize. Bring lots of small notes ($1, $5 & $10) because sometimes the larger denominations might not be easy to change. When quoted a price, make sure you also know the currency.

When you spend US currency, you’ll probably get BZ currency in change. Make sure you use all your BZ$ before leaving Belize because it can be difficult to exchange outside Belize.

ATMs are in every city and main town. They dispense BZ currency.

I use a plastic card to get money from an ATM, but still carry a few traveller's cheques when ATMs are out of order or out of money (yes, it happens), or any other problems with the card (saved me on a few occasions). Never had a problem cashing them and never had to wait long at a bank.

Don’t forget to notify your bank that the card will be used in another country.

Transportation

If you're spending your entire holiday on Caye Caulker, I don't think you'll have many problems getting around.

If you want to get off the island, there are water taxis and flights to the mainland. The water taxis services & 2 airlines have websites where you can see the schedules & fares.

You'll find links to those services plus more transportation info on the BelizeBus site...
http://belizebus.wordpress.com/

Sightseeing

Caye Caulker is a small island -- you could see everything in a day or two. You might like to do a day trip to Ambergris Caye? Lots to do on the mainland. Avoid Belize City.

We stayed on Caulker in 2009 and there are links to our trip blog, travelogue, and review sites on the main page of the Belize 2009 collection here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections/

We loved eating at Wish Willy and our full day sailing/snorkeling trip with Raggamuffin Tours.
http://raggamuffintours.com/hol-chan-snorkel/

Have a great time!

Good article on Caye Caulker http://www.islandexpeditions.com/blog/?p=1015

Thank you, We'll check these suggestion out. We're open to any other ideas or suggestions. Please let us know of things to be beware of or to be prepared for.

Sounds like so much fun. I visited Caye Caulker for a week with my daughter 19 and niece 21 and myself (Mid aged woman) I heard stories about safety etc but we never felt unsafe. American dollars are accepted but half the fun was figuring out foreign currency. We backpacked (bused) from mexico to Guatemala (kind of a mid life crisis trip for me)It was an amazing trip. Make sure to go to Wish Willys for dinner. It's more like a neighborhood bbq. Pet Scruffy the dog for me. Oh how I wish I was going with you. Have a wonderful trip.

Bookmarking because we've only been to Ambergris, but Caulker interests me too.

I just got back from my solo travel in Guatemala and Belize. I loved Belize especially Caye Caulker.

Currency $1.oo US dollar = $2.00 BZ

Restaurant= jolly rogers, wish willys, pops, and Enjoy! And if your looking for cheap ones, there's a fast food owned by the chinese. They make awesome hamburgers, fried rice, chowmeins for less than $3.00 us dollars!

Transportation= Ones you arrive Belize City Airport, go take the taxi, cost is $50BZ (25US), going to the Water Taxi dock going to Caye Caulker and San Pedro. Take the San Pedro Water Taxi, cost is $22 BZ round trip going to Caye Caulker.

Sightseeing= take the raggamuffin tour. Awesome tour guides! And you can also do this tour which includes cave tubing, ATV, and zip lining. website http://www.cave-tubing.com/

Ambergris Caye is not so much appealing because they have cars! Caye Caulker only uses golf carts as their main transportation. No cars means no pollutions!

Hopefully I've given you some helpful tips. Have a fabulous time in Belize and if you decide to take the raggamuffin tour say hello to Captain Jacob for me :)

Great ideas and information. Thanks.