Caye Caulker Belize

By Wendy Auxillou and Manolo Romero.

ABOVE: The beach at the "Split" in Caye Caulker.

Caye Caulker is Ambergris Caye's "little sister" island - smaller, less developed and a cheaper date. Caulker, whose name derives from the Spanish word for coco plum, hicaco, has the kind of laidback, sandy-street, tropical-color, low-key Caribbean charm that travelers pay thousands to experience, but here they can have it for peanuts. Less than 10 miles, and about 30 minutes by boat, from San Pedro, Caye Caulker is definitely worth a day visit, and some people may decide they like Caulker as well, or better, than San Pedro. - Lan Sluder

Caye Caulker, located 21 miles away from mainland Belize City and only one mile away from the second longest barrier reef in the world, the Belize
Barrier Reef, is the second most inhabited of the hundreds of islands that dot the coast of Belize.

Predominantly an island fishing village that is just venturing into tourism, the pace of life on Caye Caulker is slow paced and leisurely. A
few street signs urging golf cart drivers to "Go Slow" has come to embody what life on this tranquil and very romantic island is like.

In the 50's, Caye Caulker began to become famous for the abundance of lobsters in the area. In the early 1960's, the Northern Fishermen's
Cooperative was formed, catapulting this village into prominence as a fishing island making its lobster and fin fish catches export products,
thereby contributing to the island economy. If you have ever stopped into a Red Lobster Restaurant in the United States and ordered a meal of Caribbean Spiny Lobster, chances are very high that your meal first started here inCaye Caulker.

Caye Caulker is a small limestone coral island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea measuring about 5 miles (North to South) by less than 1 mile (East to West). The island gets its name from the practice of caulking or sealing the seams in wooden boats to make them watertight, due to the high number of shipwrights on the island. ("Caye Corker"; the alternative spelling of the name used by British cartographers has largely fallen into disuse).

Caye Caulker is located approximately 20 miles north of Belize City and is accessible by high-speed water taxi or small plane. In recent years the island has become a popular destination for backpackers and other tourists. The Belize Barrier Reef located to the east provides excellent snorkeling and scuba diving.

The laid back atmosphere of Caye Caulker is something you must see to appreciate. There are over 30 hotels, and many restaurants and shops, but Caye Caulker remains friendly and easy-going, avoiding the commercialism of other destinations. Shoes are a no no, and the golf cart mode of transportation is unique and fun. You can get all over the island very easily by boat, golf cart, or bike.

The island is basically a sand bar over a limestone shelf. Underwater caves are found in the limestone (which have claimed the lives of several scuba divers exploring them). In front of the village, a shallow lagoon between 6 inches and 14 feet deep meets the Belize Barrier Reef to the east. In front of the village, the reef is known as a dry reef with the reef exposed at the surface, while further north the reef is a deep reef and lies under 8 feet of water.

A narrow waterway known as the split divides the island in two. Some people state that the split was created by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 which devastated Belize City, however others maintain that it is a man-made feature created by dredging. The location of the main settlement on the island is thought to have remained unchanged for thousands of years. The bay at the back of the village provides shelter for boats while the reef at the front provides good protection from large waves. Also, the coral sand near the village provides good anchorage compared to the soft mud found elsewhere on the island.

Tourism first started on the island around 1964, with only a few visitors on weekends from the mainland Belleview Hotel, brought out by a local boat called 'Sailfish', built by a schoolteacher beside the then Teachers House. The early tourists were mostly people working with the Belize Government. Around 1969, Dr. Hildebrand of the University of Corpus Christi started visiting each winter with a Marine Biology Expedition of around 24 students. Backpackers also found their way to the island at this time, but transportation was only by fishing sailboats and there was no accommodation. The Alamina, Reyes and Marin families pioneered the tourism industry and the first Scuba Diving lessons and trips were started around the late 1960's.

As speedboats came into use in the 1970's tourists became more regular. Hippies following the so-called "Gringo Trail", of Isla Mujeres, Tulum, Caye Caulker, Tikal, and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala passed though the island (many of them making use of the easily available marijuana). The reputation spread by word of mouth.
Today, the diversified economy of the village still includes lobster, fish and tourists.

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