Caye caulker, Belize Mon 26th March to Sat 31st March.

Location: One mile west of Belize Barrier Reef
Length: From North to South, 8.2 km (5 Miles)
Width: .25 - 2.0 km (0.15 - 1.2 miles)
Population: Approximately 1,300
Culture: Mestizo, Garifuna, Creole
Hotels: 57...with 887 rooms.

To get to Cay Caulker we took the a Water Taxi from Chetamel in Mexico to San Pedro in Belize and then onwards to Caye Caulker. The journey cost $37 and took about 2 and half hours stopping for customs and immigration at san Pedro.

We stayed at Yumas House, which is directly on the beach. It is a very brightly painted wooden building, we had a double room right at the end overlooking the sea and thankfully it had 2 windows so we could get a sea breeze at night and not have to use the fan. The setting is heaven with a wooden swing on the verandah just outside the room. They also have hammocks in the garden and on the jetty.

The island has no vehicles only bicycles and golf carts except for the fire truck and the police van. It is very peaceful and laid back with very friendly, helpful people. It consists of a main centre of several blocks and then there is a more rural bit which is less populated, but for such a tiny island nothing is too far away. It is also has mangrove swaps. There is only one place to have a decent swim, this is in a the North of the island called 'The Split' and it can get very busy

I spent most of my time resting, reading and exploring the tiny island while Andy dived the blue seas of the Caribbean.

Andy's dive sites were: Turneffe Reef North, Turneffe Reef South, The Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye. He saw nurse sharks, reef sharks, turtles, dolphins and so many fish. His favourite part was visiting Half Moon Bay for lunch - check out the photos.

We sampled many of the restaurants and cafés with our favourite dishes being home-made spicy Jerk Chicken with mashed potatoes and spicy pickled onions for Andy and Fish fillet creole with home-made coconut ice ream for dessert for me. We found the local bakery so had freshly baked croissants for breakfast with freshly squeezed juice. Lunch was often a huge container of fresh fruit - melon, pineapple, mango, water melon and oranges.

Next stop Flores and Tikal in Guatamala