Caye Caulker

Getting Here and Around

Other than a few emergency vehicles and several private cars, there are few cars on Caye Caulker. Most locals and visitors get around the island's sand streets on foot, although you can rent a golf cart or bike. (Golf cart taxis charge around BZ$5 per person to most destinations in the village.)

Like Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker can be used as a base to explore part of the mainland. It's only about 45 minutes by water taxi, or 15 minutes by air, to Belize City. Tours run from Caulker to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai and Altun Ha, and other tours go to the Belize Zoo and to the Caves Branch River for cave tubing

Caye Caulker is a fairly small island, only 5 mi (8 km) long and a little over 1 mi (2 km) wide at the widest point—most of the island is only a few hundred feet wide. The island itself is divided by "the Split," the small gulf of water separating the north area and the south area. The area north of the Split is mostly mangroves and lagoons, accessible only by boat, while the only village occupies most of the area south of the Split. From the Split to the airstrip, which is at the south end of the island, is about a mile (2 km). Directions in the village usually use the main public pier or dock, where you come in on the Caye Caulker Water Taxi boat, as the reference point. (To confuse things, the new San Pedro Belize Express water taxis come into a different pier just north of the original public pier.) Things are either north of the main pier or south of it. The village has only three main streets: Front, Middle, and Back running north and south; Back Street just runs on the south side of the village. The main east-west street between the public pier and the lagoon-side dock is called Center Street or Dock Street. All of the streets on the island are hard-packed sand. On the east side, you can also walk along the beachfront. Officially, the streets are named, from front to back, Avenida Hicaco, Avenida Langosta, and Avenida Mangle, but rarely does anyone use these names. Generally, the north end of the village bustles more than the south end, which is primarily residential.