LAZING AROUND THE BEACH, HURRICANES & THE LAZY LIZARD BARS CAYE CAULKER
Written: Jan 11 '02 (Updated May 09 '05)
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Pros: Laid back, little slice of paradise.
Cons: I had to take the last boat off at 3:00 pm.
The Bottom Line: If you see some ticked off wife with a club looking for the guy who waylaid her husband with beers, you don't know me.
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| JAMES23's Full Review: The Cayes |
The word Hurricane isn't too popular with the residents of Caye Caulker. Mind that's not surprising as this tiny island community, about 30 kilometres off the mainland has often felt the brunt of them in the past. The island itself was split in half by Hurricane Hattie.
One Hurricane though is welcomed and even more so on this laid back place, Hurricanes Bar. One of the better places to get out of the sun and sip back a cold one or two. Naturally I speak from experience.
It was my last full day in Belize, I was flying out the next afternoon, so I decided I'd earned a little treat. I'd actually pushed myself over the past two weeks to stay on schedule and if possible to get ahead of schedule. It had paid off. I'd reached Belize City a day early, and I was going to enjoy it.
I caught the 10:30 am water taxi from the terminal near Haul Over creek for the Cayes. The first boat departs at 9:00 am, but having found a hotel room and mattress that was comfortable for once, I decide to treat myself and slept in. Water taxi by the way is Belize for small open topped speed boat driven by a demented individual whose seen too many episodes of Miami Vice. Actually the run out to the Cayes is kind of fun and only takes about 40 to 50 minutes.
On the trip I'd sat beside a resident of the island. A member of the Belize Defence Force (army) heading home on leave. As soldiers or ex soldiers are wont to do we struck up a conversation, rather hard as we were sitting aft right beside the outboard engines. It was only when the boat pulled into the dock and our hearing returned to normal that I realised he was offering to stand me a beer. Not wanting to upset the population of entire island I rather reluctantly agreed.
There are more than a fair share of bars and other assorted watering holes on Caye Caulker. The problem is most don't open until the sun goes down. It was just shy of noon, although I'm sure the sun was over the yard arm somewhere in the world. Worse luck yet for me, the last boat back to the city left at 3:00 pm.
Fortunately I was with a resident. Five minutes after leaving the wharf we were sitting at a bar under a thatched roof and sipping on ice cold Belikins. Bottles so cold the dew was dripping onto our hands and making puddles on the bar top. The bar was one of his regular haunts , a charming little place called Hurricanes.
For those taking notes, turn right (north) from the ferry dock and it's the first place on your right on Front Street. The owner is a Swiss expat who obviously prefers white sandy beaches and palm tree to snow capped mountains and cheese. Like most expats he's a wealth of local knowledge.
After another round or four, my new found friend mumbled something about being on exercise in the jungle for three weeks and not having seen the wife in all that time. For some strange reason he excused himself and wandered off home. Left to my own devices, I finished my beer, and went off to explore the island.
Exploring Caye Caulker doesn't take long. The whole place is only 6.5 Kilometres (4 miles) long and 600 metres wide. There are two small sandy streets running north to south Front Street and Back Street, and several even smaller cross streets. The place is so small they don't even have cars on the island, just a few electric golf carts.
Caye Caulker is more laid back and budget oriented than the other nearby Cayes. Ambergris Caye to the north is the one with the fancy upscale resorts on it. Here the hotels, bars, restaurants and shops cater to the budget traveller. Hot water and cable TV are not the main attractions in the small hotels and guest houses. With the beautiful turquoise warm waters of the Caribbean right at your doorstep though who needs them.
Diving, and snorkelling are two main activities here. Everywhere along Front Street you'll see shops offering various tours and operators. The other big day time attraction is just lazing on the beach. For that you really don't expert help though.
I eventually settled on a small beach at the north east end of the island near the split. There's the broken remains of a concrete pier here that provides a good place to fish from. That was one of the things that drew me here. The other was the preponderance of topless (female) sunbathers on the strip of beach.
Eventually the noon day sun drove me into cover. I settled on a small nondescript shack perched over the water right at the edge of the split. It too is a bar with the charming name The Lazy Lizard.
The beer wasn't quite as cold as at Hurricanes, but the view made up for it. The fact that it offers a great vantage point of the beach, probably explained the preponderance of middle aged male British tourists converged around the open bar. I was a great hit with the binoculars I dragged out of my day pack.
Heading back towards the wharf in the late afternoon, I decided I had time for a quick lunch before catching the last water taxi. I quickly veered back into my haunt, Hurricanes mainly because I could see the dock from there and wouldn't miss the ferry. It was too hot to really eat something, but I settled on an order of fresh shrimp, not cooked just peel and eat like a massive cocktail.
They were fresh. In fact they were probably minding their own business at the bottom of the sea while I had been enjoying my first beer there earlier. They were also deliciously cold. Almost as cold as the Belikin or two I washed them down with.
Complimenting them was a house sauce, the main ingredient of which was some of Marie Sharpes Famous Belize Hot Sauce. That stuff is just too powerful. I needed another cold Belikin to put out the flames in my stomach.
There is something just so decadent about enjoying fresh seafood under the hot sun with your sandals off and curling your toes in the warm sun. It was the perfect end to a perfect day and an almost perfect trip. I almost considered "accidentally" missing that last ferry back to the mainland. I'd loved to have seen what was on the dinner menu.
www.gocayecaulker.com
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Recommended:
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Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Member: James Smith
Location: Toronto Ontario CANADA
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