There is nothing like a good weekend trip. For some, that means escaping the office and exploring nature. For others, that means barhopping and meeting people in a new city. For many of us, it is a little bit of both.
As a new non-rev traveler, endlessly scrolling through a list of potential summer destinations is a common occurrence. From Caribbean beaches to ski resorts in the southern hemisphere, the possibilities are endless. I decided that it was finally time for me to try my luck internationally, so I told my brother to pack a bag and make sure to bring a passport. Flights had open seats so we committed to a genuine Central American adventure.
Quick facts about Belize:
Belize is the only country in Central America that lists English as their official language
Belize has its own currency, but the Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar ($2 BZD = $1 USD) so American currency is accepted everywhere in the country
The Belize Barrier Reef is over 185 miles long and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996
Massachusetts has roughly the same landmass as Belize but is populated by over 6 million more people
So how exactly can you enjoy less than a day and a half in a new country? Keep reading to check out how the two of us tackled our 30 hours in Belize.
Day 1
06:30 – Arrival at Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport (BZE)
With some creative flight routing, we left Friday evening and arrived in Belize City (BZE) early on Saturday morning to maximize our time on the ground in Belize.
Pro Tip: Always travel with pens in your bag. We found out this out the hard way as we had to wait over half an hour in the terminal before somebody would let us borrow their pen to fill out our immigration paperwork. Apparently, not all airports have pens to share!
07:30 – Taxi to the Marine Terminal
Instead of hanging around Belize City all weekend, we decided on living the island life for the duration of our trip. Belize has many islands (or cayes) along the east coast of the country, so we picked the closest one and booked our island lodging in advance. To get to Caye Caulker, we took a BZ$50 taxi to Belize City’s marine terminal before taking a water taxi to the island. The taxi ride was a hassle-free flat-fee transaction, and being able to pay with US currency made the ride that much easier.
09:00 – Water Taxi to Caye Caulker
With water taxis leaving from the marine terminal every hour or so, my brother and I had nearly an hour to kill once we bought our BZ$70 roundtrip tickets to and from Caye Caulker. Luckily, there are about a dozen shops and restaurants near the marine terminal so we sampled a few of Belize’s famous Belikin beers before departure. There is a variety of Belikin options to choose from, and I am personally partial to Belikin’s stout (try to snag one of their seasonal beers). Once on the water taxi boat, it took about 45 minutes to arrive at Caye Caulker.
09:45 – Arrival in Caye Caulker
Great, it’s raining. Nothing can ruin a vacation like inclement weather, especially when you only have a day in paradise. Luckily, it only rained on and off for a couple hours, so we decided to check-in early to our hotel and take a much needed nap before exploring the island. Two things we immediately noticed about Caye Caulker: 1) there are no paved roads or cars (besides the occasional golf carts) on the island, and 2) it really, really smells like the ocean.
11:00 – Breakfast
We awoke from our naps well-rested and starving, so we asked the lady at our hotel’s front desk for recommendations. Some of the lunch/dinner places weren’t open yet, so we walked a few minutes south to the Happy Lobster and weren’t disappointed. I ordered their special breakfast plate with eggs and lobster while my brother got eggs and fry jacks. I had personally never set eyes on a fry jack before, but these delicious little puffy pastries reminded us of beignets minus powdered sugar. We were pleasantly surprised to find that most places accepted credit cards on this island, so the little cash that we had on-hand survived to fight another day.
12:30 – Cuba Libres at The Split
As with any good Caribbean beach vacation, we envisioned ourselves drinking on the beach and maybe enjoying a cigar. While Caye Caulker is a bonafide island, you will not find the stereotypical sandy beach here. There are docks you can jump off of, but do not come here expecting large tracts of sand to lay out on. Venturing north on the island leads you to a waterway that we were told was created when a hurricane literally split Caye Caulker into two separate land masses. A large bar named The Lazy Lizard sits perched right on the edge of The Split with areas to jump in the water and lounge around. We decided to enjoy a couple of Cuba Libres on one of the docks while soaking in some sunshine and scenery. This place is the definition of a chill getaway.
14:00 – Snorkeling the Belize Barrier Reef
One of the big draws of Caye Caulker is the amazing diving and snorkeling along the Belize Great Barrier Reef. We had never done either, so snorkeling was the easy (and less expensive) choifce. Most of the snorkeling tour companies on the island have the same itinerary, so we ended up paying $30 for a two and a half hour tour to three snorkeling spots along the reef. We brought a camera along and had an awesome time exploring with our guide and a couple from New Zealand. This was definitely the highlight of our trip and made for some pretty sweet Instagram posts. If you only do one thing here, this should be it.
18:30 – Dinner at Rainbow Café
We were staying at the Rainbow Hotel, so it only made sense that we tried its sister restaurant across the way from us: Rainbow Café. With outdoor seating right on the waterfront, this made for the setting to watch the sunlight slip away (although the patio faces east). We grabbed some more Belikins and scarfed down one of the most satisfying fish burritos of our lives. Highly recommend visiting this joint.
21:00 – Drinks at the Lazy Lizard
We headed back down to the Lazy Lizard at The Split for some more drinks after dinner. We passed it on our snorkeling tour in the afternoon and it was pretty packed with people playing cornhole and frolicking in the water, but there was a substantially smaller crowd during the night we arrived. After a few beers, we found out that it closed at 10pm so we tipped our bartender and headed to the next spot.
22:30 – Drinks at I&I Bar
I had read about this reggae bar on TripAdvisor and had high hopes, but we arrived and found less than 10 people in the entire establishment. It seemed like an awesome place with multiple bars, a modern dance floor, and an upstairs bungalow-type area, but I was expecting way more people here on a Saturday night. Maybe we came on a bad night (and I know Caye Caulker isn’t exactly known for their nightlife), but I was disappointed with the nighttime offerings. After a beer, we went back to the hotel for our last item on the list.
23:30 – Enjoy a cigar on the water
We grabbed two cigars from the airport duty free shop and lit them to commemorate our first international non-rev trip. Our hotel was no more than 100 feet from the water, so we walked down, sat down in some of the island’s plentiful public beach chairs, and enjoyed some fine tobacco from a certain island that shall remain unnamed. It was the perfect ending to an exciting and hectic day, and it blew my mind that we hadn’t even been on the island for more than 17 hours. We called it a night after that and got a full night’s rest.
Day 2
08:00 – Time to Panic
Woke up at 8am and checked my phone (hooray for free wi-fi) only to realize that the flight we were hoping to take in the afternoon had filled up overnight. Panicking, I rushed us out of the hotel and onto the 9am water taxi back to Belize City to try catching an earlier flight. On the way, we found just enough time to grab some freshly made cinnamon donuts from Ice and Beans Coffee Shop. They weren’t your typical donuts, but I would take them over normal donuts any day.
09:45 – Taxi Trouble
It started sprinkling again as we disembarked the water taxi, and I ran into a coffee shop to get wifi to book a new flight while my brother fetched our bags from the boat. Instead of taking a non-stop home, we would need to fly into a hub and take a couple connections back. Great. I figured the worst was over with, so we hopped into a taxi and bolted to the airport. Halfway there, the light sprinkles turned into a tropical downpour, and we realize that our taxi cab’s windows didn’t actually work. Our driver had to pull off to the side of the road, jump out in the pouring rain, and run around the van pulling up his poorly-tinted windows with bare hands. For a fleeting moment, I though all of our flights would be cancelled, but the rain subsided as we neared the airport and everything worked out from there.
11:30 – Waiting in the Terminal & Getting Home
After giving in and buying two hours of airport wi-fi (something that still pains me to this day), I finally got us booked onto a flight to Miami. We enjoyed some mediocre food at the BZE airport and finally boarded after what felt like an eternity. Once we got to Miami though, our luck ran out. Flights were cancelled left and right due to thunderstorms, and we actually ended up having to stay overnight in MIA before flying out in the morning. I hated every minute of being stuck until we realized there was nothing we could do about it; at some point, you just have to tell yourself to accept the circumstances and make the most of what you have. Being stuck in an airport overnight can be a traumatizing experience, but having my brother there made the hours we spent there into unforgettable memories. It made me realize that traveling isn’t just about your destination; making sure to have fun along the way is just as important too!
So there you have it. This is exactly how my brother and I spent our 30 hours of non-rev Belize.
TLDR: beer, nap, food, snorkel, food, beer. If you have the chance to take a weekend vacation down to Central America, just go for it.
