Belize 2018
Belize was something that came to our attention right as the off season began. In general the tourism season in Belize occurs between November and April. We decided to add Belize to our Mexican Grand Prix vacation.
Caye Caulker was the highlight of the trip. I wish I had spent more time there.
When to Travel to Belize
The Dry Season
Apparently the wet season coincides with the season of decreased tourism in Belize. It lasts from Late Spring to Mid-Autumn. In our efforts to combine our Mexico City Grand Prix with something more fabulous as Belize we ended up in Caye Caulker around November 1st, 2018. It rained—heavily at times, and one of the coolest aspects of the Rainbow Hotel was still closed for the season, to be opening the very next week of course. The island was not very crowded, which can be good and bad, but I would have been fine waiting a bit longer to get reservations. I hope to come back again during December or January (my birthday month) because this is definitely a repeatable trip type of place.
How to Travel to Belize
When planning this trip in 2018 it came to my attention that there were multiple ways to enter Belize, by Air, by Bus, and by Boat.
By Air:
You can fly to the International Airport in Belize City, though this is not always the most economical choice. If for some reason you are in Mexico, as we were, you can take a Domestic Flight to Chetumal, that sometimes only costs $40.
I must comment that using predictive flight prices, via Hopper or Google Flights, failed me on this trip. When I first plugged the alerts into my phone the prices were low, but I was instructed to “Wait for a better price” Unfortunately the prices never went down, and then started going up, up, up, and I purchased my flights for much more than I could have if I had just bought at a moderate price.
By Boat:
You will have to go by some form of boat to get to the Cayes. This will generally be serviced by The Belize Water Taxi. Again, there are opportunities that originate in Belize City, as well as crossing from Mexico from Chetumal.
By Bus:
This seemed like the worst option when I was doing my previous research, but maybe I was wrong. I maybe would have appreciated a rickity old bus on an unmaintained road. I’ll let you decide for yourself. Here’s a website with detailed information about entering Belize by bus from many different directions.
The Rainbow Hotel
I booked this hotel after someone suggested we come to Caye Caulker for the sole purpose of staying here. I had a little bit of a trip up on hotels.com. I booked the hotel and stated very clearly that I wanted to pay when I arrived at the hotel. Shortly after my reservation, I was charged for the full amount.
I went back and forth with hotels.com. They said I could cancel my reservation to get my money back. I said I didn’t want to cancel the reservation, I just wanted to pay when I arrived. The option was still available as I played with my hotels.com app on my phone. Hotels.com said it was the policy of the hotel to take payment at the time of the reservation. I ended up getting a $100 credit from hotels.com and I accepted that.
It was beautiful, clean and the air conditioning worked. The front office staff was very kind to us during our stay and I definitely didn’t see anything else on the island that would make me want to pick a different hotel when we come back.
Our Journey Through Chetuamal
Our path out of Mexico to Belize via Chetumal, which was probably a mistake and left much to be desired. It was a long rainy day without wifi, and there was an unnecessarily long delay to get through customs in San Pedro.
Things to Do on Caye Caulker
What to Eat in Caye Caulker
If you need a one word answer to this question it is Lobster. But if you want more details about What to Eat in Caye Caulker we compiled a handy list of or favorite spots.
Where to Drink in Caye Caulker
There’s plenty of Rum flowing on this island, and you have the opportunity to have beautiful, fruity, tropical drinks. Some of those might be smoothies, some of them might be just for adults. Whatever you do make sure that you take the opportunities to drink on a swing. Here’s everything you need to know about Where to drink in Caye Caulker
Snorkeling in the Hol Chan Reserve
There’s plenty to see under the water. The Hol Chan reserve is a bounty of beautiful corals, and marine life. And you can even jump into the water and swim with the sharks. We were very pleased with Ragamuffin Tour’s Full Day of Snorkeling the Hol Chan Reserve
RandOM Yoga at the Namaste Cafe
By the third day, we had completely absorbed our new island lifestyle and we started our day by “Going Slow.” By that I mean that we went to RandOM Yoga, above the Namaste Cafe. For an hour we were guided through a peaceful flow. There were expert yogis and newcomers alike. At the end of the class we were guided through a visualization exercise by a guest speaker. We were basically doing yoga on the third floor of an island tree house. How can you beat that?
When the class was completed we paid by donation. It was perfect! Downstairs at the Namaste cafe we enjoyed organic coffee and discovered that the owners are also authors of children’s books. I bought my little nephew a copy of “Caye Boy: Barefoot Adventures of an Island Child” and Jessica was sweet enough to even write a little note inside.
San Ignacio in Inland Belize
The Belize Zoo
We departed Caye Caulker after 4 days and promised to return, but we continued our journey deep into inland Belize. We stayed at the All-Inclusive Hanna Stables. A driver was waiting for us at the dock in Belize city, and we stopped over for an afternoon at The Belize Zoo
Hanna Stables
As soon as I read about this place on TripAdvisor I knew that there would be no other accommodations necessary for me. A horse stable, active organic farm, and a tour company, offering all inclusive accommodations. Yes Please.
Here again though, we ran into trouble with our timing. Because while the property, room, and guided tours were everything that was advertised, well… we were literally the only guests staying on the property. I had read about the 16 rooms, and the community dinners, and well, some of that was missing for me.
I also want to point out that we spent day 9-12 here. And that we were much more relaxed than when we left Mexico, but we were coming down from the high that was Caye Caulker, and we were heading back into a rainy, gray, humid, jungle, where the bugs were expected, and the sweaty nights were getting more tedious, and the lumpy mattress was torturing me a lot more than if I had been bright eyed and bushy tailed on day one.
The ATM Cave
This was a big deal. This could have been the highlight of the trip. It’s rated the #1 Sacred Cave by National Geographic, and you can swim into this dark cave and see the remains of men, women, and children who were sacrificed at the literal gate of hell in an attempt to pray from a drought that lasted fro centuries in the Mayan Culture. Yes, let me tell you about The ATM Cave.
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