About Belize:

Quick Facts About Belize:

* Belize requires a valid passport for entry. For visa requirements, check with your country’s consulate (U.S. and Turkish citizens do not need a visa).
* Former British Colony until 1981; everyone speaks English.
* The currency is the Belize dollar (BZE$2 = US$1). US dollars are generally used interchangeably with Belize dollars.
* Belize is not especially expensive, most food and drink items are roughly half what they would cost in the US.
* Food options are simple and hearty, with a focus on fresh seafood.  Many vegetarian options are available on Caulker as well.
* It's the smallest country in Central America, and borders Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
* The Barrier Reef running from Cozumel, Mexico through Belize and into Honduras is the second biggest barrier reef in the world (after Australia's).
* In addition to the "Northern Cayes" (Caulker and Ambergis), the southern coast of Belize, especially around Placencia, is a popular beach destination.
* The interior of Belize is also wonderful and very accessible from Belize City and Caulker with many significant Mayan sites, and opportunities for caving, river rafting, and hiking. Tikal, one of the world's very best Mayan sites, is just over the border in Guatemala and well worth a visit if you have time.
* All of the countries phone numbers have changed in the last 2 years from 6 digits to 7 digits. If you have a 6 digit number, that is the old number. (A lot of guidebooks have the old numbers). Unfortunately, the number conversion is not simple.

Diving and Snorkeling:

If you have the time and desire, getting your SCUBA certification while on Caye Caulker is a reasonable goal. It takes about 4 days and costs about $300 and includes a few dives. There are three dive shops on Caye Caulker, all of which are good: Paradise Down, Frenchie's, and Belize Diving Services.

There are a large number of snorkeling outfits on the island. One of the most popular places for first-time snorkelers is Hol Chan where you will typically see many beautiful fish, as well as nurse sharks and sting rays. Snorkelling trips are usually inexpensive (mainly paying for the boat ride) and can be booked the day before.  You can also snorkel right off of Caye Caulker.

For more Information, we recommend that you pick up a guidebook to learn more about the country, as there are many wonderful adventures inland as well. Our favorite is Lonely Planet. Some informational websites that might also be useful are:

* GoCayeCaulker.com: This is a very useful website with lots of information.
* http://www.cayecaulker.org/island/
* http://www.cayecaulkerbelize.net/

About Caye Caulker:

Caye Caulker is very mellow and informal, and likes it that way.  About 1,300 people live on this very low-lying “Caye” (island, pronounced “key”), which is 4 miles long and only about ¼ mile wide in most places.  It is well-known as a diving locale, and for excellent snorkeling, and as one of those chill backpacker global villages, though this is changing. Life moves very slowly, and lots of folks like to lounge about in the many cafes, and restaurant/bars when not in the water. There are no cars and the roads are made of packed sand, which is awesome, but don’t expect international ATMs or supermarkets and pharmacies with everything you could possibly want. The weather at that time of year will generally be high of 80, low of 70, with a brief spell of warm tropical rain in the evening at some point. As a result of this relaxed environment and tropical weather, attire will be informal for the wedding ceremony – no need to pack a suit or fancy dress!

Close to Caye Caulker is Ambergis Caye, which is the biggest and most popular of the Cayes and its headquarters of San Pedro has more tourist infrastructure, large hotels, modern medical facilities, and naturally, more tourists (especially ones on short package holidays). It is a 30 minute water taxi ride from Caye Caulker. 

Although we cannot speak from direct experience, Caulker seems to be a family friendly place due to the lack of cars, inexpensive and casual restaurants, and the relaxed laissez-faire culture. For hotel options, you might especially consider condominium/suite options near Seaside Cabanas.

Hotel Information:

There are numerous hotel options on Caye Caulker, all of which are within a reasonable walking distance of each other.  The winter holiday period is the most popular time of the year to go to Belize, so the good places go several months in advance, and prices, while still reasonable by US standards, are at their peak. We list three here, but there are literally dozens of other options, which can be found on the web or in guidebooks.

Seaside Cabanas

This will serve as “wedding headquarters” and we reserved the entire hotel. This is one of the nicest hotels on the island, but still pretty informal with 16 rooms (some with 1 bed, some with 2). Note that this may be noisy, so those with early bedtimes and sensitivity to noise may be better off leaving this one to the partyers.

We reserved all rooms for 5 nights starting December 27th (ie departing January 1st .) If you have ‘reserved’ a room through us at Seaside and wish to come earlier or stay later, most likely you will need to make arrangements to stay at another hotel or inn for those dates. We apologize for any inconvenience but we have tried to ‘standardize’ as best we could!

The hotel website has a floorplan and rates, as well as contact info if you wish to contact them directly about other dates. The five nights we have booked are all under one reservation in our name and any changes for those dates need to go through us.

Iguana Reef Inn is perhaps the nicest and also the most expensive hotel on the island, but still quite reasonable with various suites for $145-$165. We have not blocked rooms here but still encourage reservations sooner rather than later. Their website appears to indicate a minimum age of 10 years for guests, but perhaps this is flexible.

Telephone: 011 (501) 226-0213

Trends Beachfront Hotel is an inexpensive guesthouse right next to Seaside Cabanas, and consists of two hotels: one on the beach front, and one set back from the beach.  Accommodations are clean, simple and adequate. Rates are about $40-$50 per night.

Telephone: 011 (501) 226-0094

For more hotel information, including a nice map that shows the locations of all the hotels and condominiums (these are all within a 10-15 minute walk of each other), try the following website: http://www.gocayecaulker.com/serv.html

Air, Ground, and Sea Travel:

It is slightly less than a 3 hour flight from Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta, and 2 hours from Miami to Belize– these are the main gateways.  The international airport is Belize City (BZE), or Goodson International Airport, which is small.  It is in the Central Time Zone so jet lag for US residents will be very minimal.

Getting to Caye Caulker There are two methods for getting to Caye Caulker from the international airport: boat or plane.  From BZE after clearing customs, you have two options:

Take a $20/20 minute taxi ride from the airport to the “Water Taxis”, which are right downtown.  Water taxis (high-speed open-air motorboats seating about 30 folks) leave every hour or so, and cost $10 per person one-way or $17.50 round-trip.  The ride takes 45 minutes and is not bumpy since you are inside the reef – however, keep your rain coat handy for the 5 minute tropical rain showers that can come out of nowhere.  Your bags will be safely stowed underneath.

Generally, you do not need advance reservations for the water taxi, but worst case, you may have to wait for the next one an hour later.  This is how most people get to Caulker.  However, the area around the water taxi port, while basically safe, is fairly rundown and not the best introduction to Belize.  Don’t worry though, you’ll be on Caulker soon enough!

For more information including schedules, see: http://www.cayecaulkerwatertaxi.com/

Important: Note that the last water taxi leaves at 5:30pm.  This means you should try to arrive as early as possible, in case your flight arrives late and you may have to stay the night in Belize City and take the water taxi out in the morning.   If this happens, one inexpensive and reliable place we can recommend is Hotel Mopan.  They also store luggage for reasonable periods of time.

From the international airport, you can alternatively book a very short (8 minutes) connecting flight for about $100 roundtrip ($50 one way) to Caye Caulker instead with Maya Airways or Tropic Air.

Note that flights are about half price leaving from the municipal airport in Belize City, but require you to take a cab from the International Airport.