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Caye Caulker snorkeling is world class! From your first glimpse underwater, you are in a totally different world - brightly colored fish, sponges, corals, and other creatures everywhere! We offer it all and at very competitive prices. Thousands snorkel our reef and surrounding areas every year and all have wonderful comments when they leave. Caye Caulker tour guides will help you enjoy snorkeling to the utmost. If this is your first experience, they will assist you with the mask and snorkel. Our guides are trained to protect the corals, which are delicate, vulnerable living organisms. Please follow their instructions and do not touch, stand or walk on the coral. Be careful of your fins so you do not kick the coral or stir up too much sand.  Snorkeling at the Reef - Photo by Maria Vega Some typical trips include: Caye Caulker Marine Reserve - Right off Caye Caulker you can snorkel in the world's second longest barrier reef. In the Coral Garden you can see some many fish and beautiful colorful corals. Swim with nurse sharks and eagle rays. It's a once in a lifetime experience! Bottle-nosed dolphins often swim around the boats in route to the reef.  Bottle-nosed Dolphins - photo by Ramon Reyes Hol Chan Marine Reserve - Explore beautiful Hol Chan! Already a Marine Reserve for 12 years, the fish have had time to grow very large, especially the groupers. See marine life in its natural habitat, such as, barracudas, red snappers, and even see octopi. Snorkel with sharks and rays in the Shark-Ray Alley, another beautiful reserve. See how friendly these animals can be. A lunch stop at San Pedro gives you a look at another of Belize's island communities.  Southern Stingray photo by Ramon Reyes, Jr.
You can get certified for scuba diving right here on Caye Caulker. It takes about 4 days - imagine taking your classes at the beautiful Belize Barrier Reef! Several dive shops on Caye Caulker offer both PADI and NAUI certification classes and diving at a variety of beautiful sites by day and at night. Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye Dive the fabulous Blue Hole and see the ancient, collapsed cave made famous by Jacque Cousteau. Huge stalctites hang like upside down trees. Sharks also frequent this area. The walls at Half Moon Caye and Long Caye also provide spectacular dives. Half Moon Caye Natural Monument encompasses both the surrounding sea and the Caye itself, which is a bird sanctuary. An observation tower takes you to nest height in a booby and frigatebird rookery, an area with many, many nests. (Photo by James Beveridge) Night Dives Snorkelers and SCUBA divers alike can enjoy the sea at night. Different creatures come out at night - Moray eels, lobsters, shrimp, and octopus, to mention only a few.
The Manatee (or Sea Cow) is a beautiful, friendly creature. Tours from Caye Caulker take you to visit these docile creatures, in their natural habitat. You can get great pictures as they surface right next to the boat. Manatees are found in many areas in Belize, but Swallow Caye off Belize City nearly always has a good concentration of them. That area has just been declared a protected area. Most tours to see the manatees go on to visit Goff's Caye, a small, uninhabited island right on the reef. Here you can have your lunch, snorkel right off the island among the coral or just lay back and relax. Click HERE to see pictures of manatees.  Goff's Caye - photo by Ramon Reyes, Jr.
Whether you prefer fly-fishing for bonefish, permit or tarpon in the shallows, trolling for barracuda inside the Belize Barrier Reef or going for the big ones out in the blue (the deep ocean), you will find expert Caye Caulker fishing guides to take you to just the right spots. Snapper, mackerel, grouper, barracuda, and many others are pulled in by the dozens. The lagoon in front of Caye Caulker provides the best flats for fly-fishing in the country, or even in the whole region. Caye Caulker is a fisherman's paradise!
No trip to Belize is complete without a visit to a Maya Ruin. Tours leave from Caye Caulker across to the mainland through a a beautiful mangrove lagoon and into the village of Bomba. From there you board a van to Altun Ha, Belize's most famous Maya ruin. Or, you can go by boat via the New River to Lamanai, a beautiful ruin set in the rainforest amongst orchids and howler monkeys.
For most of the year, Caye Caulker has a robust east wind blowing, making it an ideal place for wind surfing. A large number of avid wind-surfers have arranged their lives to spend several weeks or months here each year. Others come as novices, learn to wind surf and join them.  Photo by Tony Rath
If you prefer a quiet, leisurely ride, it is possible to take a sailboat to go snorkeling from Caye Caulker. On an individual basis, overnight sailing trips can be arranged to the outer atolls, Turneffe Islands and Lighthouse Reef, or to other parts of Belize.
Sea kayaks are available for daily rentals on Caye Caulker. Enjoy paddling yourself around the island or out to the reef.
Whether by sea or by air, you can go island hopping. Airlines and water taxis offer regular transportation to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye and Caye Chapel, a resort with golf course. Water taxis will also stop at Long Caye or St. George's Caye on the way to Belize City. Tours are available to other small islands along the Belize Barrier Reef.
Naturalists who live on Caye Caulker periodically offer educational and entertaining slide shows of the local fauna and flora, as well as the history of the Caye. Watch for notices.
One can swim off any of the piers on Caye Caulker, but many people prefer to swim at the Split a gathering place. For a change of pace, try swimming at the south end of the Caye, and don't forget your mask and snorkel. Snorkeling among the mangrove roots there is a rewarding experience. There are many colourful anemones, sponges, gorgonians, and large numbers of fish among the mangrove roots.
Another common use of the piers on Caye Caulker is for sunbathing. Be sure to obtain permission from the owner of the pier and remember that the tropical sun is very strong. Take precautions!
Caye Caulker offers nearly two dozen gift shops for your shopping pleasure. A wide variety of gifts, clothes, souvenirs, and t-shirts are available.
Caye Caulker has 25 restaurants offering Belizean and international cuisine, including fresh seafood with lobster, conch and red snapper being seasonal specialties. Also available are Belizean beef steaks, other meats and fresh fruits and vegetables, and home made bread and other bakery items.
Dancing is a favorite nighttime sport on Caye Caulker. Holiday celebrations and fundraisers always include dancing, sometimes to live music.
Visitors sometimes volunteer to help with needs on the Caye. For example, some have helped with beach cleanup and others have given lectures if they have a relevant specialty. |
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Typical trips include diving the walls in the Caye Caulker Marine Reserve, Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Turneffe Islands, Half Moon Caye, Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef and other locations on the Belize Barrier Reef.
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Marine Reserve - Forest Reserve - Conservation - Getting Here - Services - CCBTIA |
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