Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye are thirty minutes apart by boat. Ambergris is twenty-five miles long, with a town, a bank and a hospital; Caye Caulker is five miles of sand streets with no cars and a motto, go slow, painted on half the buildings.
Most visitors should stay on one and visit the other. On a first trip, that usually means staying on Ambergris and spending a day on Caye Caulker.
Caye Caulker
A narrow limestone island north-east of Belize City, about five miles long, with no paved roads. People get around by golf cart, bicycle and on foot. The village takes up the south; the north is mostly mangrove and littoral forest.
The main draw is The Split, the channel cut through the island by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 and widened by the sea since. It is the island's swimming hole and social centre: a concrete ledge, clear moving water and the Lazy Lizard bar beside it. If you only have an hour, spend it there. The rest is fry jacks for breakfast, lobster in season, seahorses in the seagrass by the docks, and hammocks. It is one of the best-value places in the Caribbean, and backpackers know it.
Ambergris Caye
Belize's largest island runs twenty-five miles from the Bacalar Chico channel at the Mexican border to its southern tip, with San Pedro in the middle-south. It has an airstrip with flights all day, two water-taxi services, a hospital, banks, supermarkets, dive shops, dozens of restaurants, and resorts, condos and private villas north and south of town.
The east side faces the barrier reef a few hundred yards offshore, so Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley are a half-hour boat ride away. The west side faces the lagoon, with flat, shallow, sheltered water. That is why Secret Beach exists.
Ambergris is busier than Caye Caulker, but mostly in town. The private villas on the northern and western stretches are as quiet as anywhere in Belize.
Which one suits you
- Group of 8–12Ambergris. Caye Caulker is mostly small hotels and guesthouses. Large private houses with staff are on Ambergris.
- Couple on a budgetCaye Caulker. Cheaper food and beds, and you won't need a cart.
- Families with small childrenAmbergris, for the medical care, supermarkets, shallow lagoon side and easy changes of plan. See our family guide.
- DiversEither. Both run Hol Chan and Blue Hole trips; Ambergris has more operators and departures.
- AnglersAmbergris. The flats, guides and boats are here.
- NightlifeSan Pedro has bars, restaurants and the Chicken Drop. Caye Caulker has The Split at sunset and a beach party.
Caye Caulker as a day trip
The scheduled water taxis run San Pedro to Caye Caulker in about thirty minutes, with sailings on both operators from early morning until late afternoon. Take a mid-morning boat, eat in the village, spend a couple of hours at The Split, walk north to the mangroves and catch a late-afternoon boat back. Buy your return ticket when you arrive. The last boats fill up, and the last one of the day is a hard deadline.
Many of our guests skip the timetable and take a private boat to Caye Caulker from the villa's dock, leaving and coming back when they like. Delma and Everaldo arrange the captain.
What they share
The same barrier reef, snorkelling, fishing and weather. Both are English-speaking, take US dollars at a fixed two-to-one, and run on golf carts. You reach both the same way (see flights, puddle-jumpers and water taxis). It's dry from December to May and wetter from June to November; our guide to when to visit goes month by month.
Our advice
For a first trip or a group, stay on the west side of Ambergris and give Caye Caulker a day mid-week. A villa week needs what Ambergris has, and Caye Caulker loses nothing on a four-hour visit. Black Orchid Oasis is on the lagoon shore at Secret Beach, with four bedrooms, a saltwater pool and a private dock. Our guest guide covers what a week there looks like.
Common questions
Should I stay on Caye Caulker or Ambergris Caye?
Ambergris if you are a group or family, or want restaurants, charters and medical care nearby. Caye Caulker if you want a smaller, cheaper, slower island.
Are there cars on Caye Caulker?
Effectively none. Ambergris also runs mainly on golf carts, but it has paved roads, traffic and a working town.
Is Ambergris Caye too built up?
Town is busy; the island is not. The private villas on the northern and western stretches have a private dock, no neighbours on either side, and the traffic a long way south.
Share this articleThe quiet end of Ambergris
A private beachfront villa on Secret Beach, with Caye Caulker thirty minutes away.
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