swtravelbug

I am planning a trip to Caye Caulker in May and wanted advice on accomodations. I have narrowed down my search to the Seaside Cabanas and the Iguana Reef Inn, as both will have pools, a/c, and seem to have received good reviews. However, I'm having a hard time making up my mind and was looking for advice from anyone who has stayed at either. My husband and I would like to stay at a quiet place, with some beach (I know Caye Caulker isn't known for its great beaches). We would also like to be able to swim from shore. We were also hoping that the staff could set up day trips for us (including golf on Chapel Caye) and so I'd be interested in hearing about any good or bad experiences with the staff at these hotels/inns. Any other advice about Caye Caulker, food, weather, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hopefulist

Try searching the accommodation and Toucan Trail sections of the Belize Forum - lots of opinions!

www.belizeforum.com

Happy trails!

fuzzylogic

I wonder if hopefulist has ever been to Caye Caulker? Sure there are places to stay with beach frontage, but you won't be able to just wade in and swim. For that you trek up to the northernmost part of the island. And don't expect there to be a 'beach' and umbrellas and all that sort of crap.

That's actually one of the reasons why it is so good.

Weather OK in November when I was there, but if you want to know more then do a google - it's not hard - plenty of sites will give you waather info.

As for food - there's a bakery that does good stuff if you happen to be there at the right time; lobster is good. Best brekkie down a side street - Marla's Kitchen - but could be any other name beginning with M.

AlJ

Hi
I can't help you with the accomodations. Both are well regarded. The Seaside Cabanas are right down town. If you come in on the water taxi, look for the orange building beside the taxi pier. People staying there that we talked to liked it.

Why don't you email them about setting up tours. There's a couple of places (Anwar's and Tsunami) that can set up tours of ruins accessible from the island.

Restaurants we like (we didn't get to them all) are:
Habaneros, Happy Lobster (breakfast, didn't try dinner), Wish Willy. There's several others. We didn't try Don Coreleone or Rasta Pasta but both are popular.

We put several pictures from our two trips to Caye Caulker on our website. If you'd like to see the place from a tourist perspective, look at www.AlandSueJohnson.com. We like it there and are going back in Feb.

Forget swimming from shore. You can swim up at the split but there's a current. Its very pretty up there and worth the walk in any event.

swtravelbug

Thanks for your suggestions. I'd heard the beaches were pretty much non-existant and the water has a ton of grass. In general, does it make a difference if you are on the leeward or windward side of the island? Is there a great deal of boat traffic near the Seaside Cabanas because of its location by the water taxi pier?

AlJ

I would only stay on the windward side. I enjoy the breezes.

I don't know about the noise from the boats. I can't imagine it would be too bad. Seaside is right in the middle of town. No loud clubs around there that I can recall.

We stayed once below the airport and loved it. We stayed once further up the island and liked it as well. We just stayed from hotels and wanter cabanas / houses, etc.

Kay5

I stayed at Iguana Reef 2 years ago (Jan 2005). Try to get an upper waterfront room - private balcony overlooking the sandy "beach" (man-made). There wasnt a pool when we were there.... maybe that's new?

We snorkeled from the hotel shore. Yes, it was grassy in areas, but we saw sea horses and other interesting things. It gets deeper and less grassy to the right and out a little ways. We also snorkeled at the "split" and took tours out to reef each day. You can meet the tour operators at the main road at their stands or shops and choose who you feel comfortable with. The staff at Iguana did not help us, nor did we ask for their help, with the tours.

My favorite food memory is the lobster: grilled whole or filleted tails - Yum!! Very inexpensive, too (approx $2.50 US for a grilled tail on a bun)

We liked the location of Iguana Reef: away from the main strip, but easy walking distance to everything. Caye Caulker is a very casual "barefoot" destination.