Here is a map of Caye Caulker North Side. A great place for canoing or kayaking. We rent one double kayak and one single kayak, plus we have 2 double canoes for rental at Tsunami Adventures. We also offer a 2 hour cruise around both island with a stop at the Reserve on the very North tip of Caye Caulker.

Visiting Caye Caulker’s NORTHSIDE. By foot, swim across or get a drop on the other side of the split. Walk the trail, make sure you bring water. A dozen more or less private homes, scattered along the main road spanning one mile North of the Split. There is talks of BEL extending it’s electricity service, but no movement yet!  At night, there is no streetlights to light your way, so make sure you have a flashlight. Another way to visit the NORTHSIDE is by canoe or kayak, circle the island or move up North on the front side or back side of the island. Usually the breeze is blowing, so going around the back, makes for a calm relaxing paddle. Cruise along the mangroves, look for seahorses, spot eagle rays forging for food and nurse sharks nesting in the shallows of the mangroves. I like to make a pit stop at the old Driftwood Dock, a great place for a swim and relax, paddle up the lagoon entrance and into the natural lagoon that is a great place to catch sprat for fishing.  This is a great location to spot crocodiles at night. We offer a crocodile night and stargazing tour starting at 7:30pm, lasting 2 hours. snacks and rum punch or non-alcoholic drinks included as well as a bright LED flashlight to search them out along with your guide in the darkness of the night. Fireflies flicker amongst the mangroves while the orion, cassiopeia and the big dipper watch over you. We rent a private home, that is located on the sunrise side of Caye Caulker NORTHSIDE. It is located about 1 kilometer from the split, about a 10 minute walk or kayak paddle from the split. A great place to relax and enjoy the breeze from your own private wrap around patio. A one bedroom wood home built on 12 foot high 10×10 wood posts. Traditional Caye Caulker home that is efficiently using Solar Power and Wind Power. Over 3 years and no electricity bill. Enough power to turn on lights, fan, watch DVD movies, listen to Satelite radio. Gas stove and grill and to keep things cool a cooler, that you pack with ice. The water system is a hybrid system. We have a powerful 12 volt pump that takes water from our natural well to our roof vat. Once the roof vat is full, we rely on gravity to give us pressure to shower, wash or dishes and thankfully flush the toilet. Need more pressure, simply shut off the valve and use the water straight from the pump. Want rain water instead, when it’s plentiful in the rainy season, switch the valve and have rainwater wash your body clean. Talk about eco-friendly living. Truly for the adventurist. If you need a hairdryer, microwave, air conditioning and like to be entertained by social activity then this is not the house rental for you.  There is not much information on the internet about the Northside, perhaps it is because for all of those that have discovered it, don’t want nobody else to come invade our private paradise of the Belize Cayes.

Here is a guide to eating good food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for only $10USD total.

You don’t have to cook anything, only wait for your food to be ready.

Breakfast

Waffles to go at Jesse’s Snacks. Choose your toppings, butter, cheese or syrup. $1.00USD

Small Fruit plate from Mirna’s Fruits accross the street. She makes large and small. Small $1.50USD

Lunch

Local Favorite and usually eating by every Belizean daily. Rice and Beans or Stew Beans and Rice with Stewed Chicken with salad and plantain. This will keep you full all day   $3.50USD      This meal can be purchased at Martinez just around the corner from Oceanside or purchased to go at Glenda’s located to the back by the BTL complex.  I usually share this meal or save what I can’t eat for a snack later.

most popular meal in Belize

Dinner

Chinese Fried Chicken or Fried Rice or a cheese burger in paradise to go, at any of the local Chinese Takeaway, this meal can also be eaten in.

Now, you can’t eat the same meal everyday, so here are some other inexpensive meals. The best is to take your food and find a nice place to relax on the beach and enjoy the view and breeze.
Homemade Meat Pies to go. For only $.50cents USD each. Buy 3 and have a filling tasty meal. This are usually eaten for breakfast. He usually walks through the village with his cart and you know he is around as he hollers out Meat Pies…

Tamales, Rubin is usually around every day, Tamales are always available on Saturday and Sunday in the morning and up to lunch time. They are $1.50USD each.  Very tasty local dish, made with corn / masa and chicken.

Tacos in the morning. These gyals start early and offer fresh juice and tacos. A order of 3 is only .50cents.

Don’t forget to pass by Mrs. Eladel of Mom’s Kitchen, she makes fresh Johnny Cakes. Have your Johnny Cakes with ham and cheese or chicken and beans, or beans and cheese.. Only $.75 cents USD each.

Glenda’s makes wonderful cinnamon buns for only $.50 cents USD each. Make a pitt stop at the local bakery. A great place for snacks in the afternoon. My favorite is the ham and cheese flake pastery or the hotdog in a bun. Only $1.50USD

Bones aka Llyod starts from the split and walks towards the main part of the village daily starting around 4pm and offers fresh baking of Banana Breads and other cakes and cookies.

Conch Soup from Aunties Fast Food. Locally made and only $5.00USD comes with rice. This is enough soup for two people or save some for dinner.

Aldame, also known as Cake Woman bakes up coconut pie at $1.50USD a slice. She also makes wonderful tortillas that she sells through the local stores. $1.50USD for 5 tortillas. I loves these with fresh avocado and cheese.

There is so much wonderful inexpensive food in Caye Caulker that is made by locals. Offering excellent food.

There is many restaurants offering Barbecues and fine cuisine. I don’t think there is a bad restaurant in Caye Caulker.

Remember that Caye Caulker’s, moto is GO SLOW.  So sit back and relax and enjoy the local cooking of Caye Caulker.

Here is some interesting facts about the Blue Hole.

The Blue Hole is a geographical phenomena – 71 miles from Caye Caulker about a 2 hour boat ride. Almost perfectly circular, the Blue Hole has a radius of more than 1,000 feet (305 m). It is considered one of the most astounding dive sites to be found anywhere on earth. Located in the center of the Lighthouse Reef the Blue Hole is a large hole of water 480 feet (145 m) deep, which gives the deep blue color.

The coral around the Blue Hole breaks the surface in many sections at low tide. Except for two narrow channels, the reef surrounds the hole. The hole itself is the opening to a system of caves and passageway that penetrate this undersea mountain. In various places, massive limestone stalactites hang down from what was once the ceiling of air-filled caves before the end of the last Ice Age. The hole is the opening to what was a dry cave system during the Ice Age. When the ice melted and the sea level rose, the caves were flooded. The Blue Hole is famed for its sky beauty and ever since Jacques Cousteau came here in 1970 it has drawn divers from all over the world.

Try some local flavor and enjoy a bowl of Conch Soup.

Manatee taking a breath

Here is some information about the Manatees.

Although their bulbous, whiskery face makes this hard to believe today, manatees are probably the source of legends about mermaids. Their humanlike eyes must have captivated the early European sailors who caught fleeting glimpses of them swimming in the warm waters of the West Indies.

In the 17th century, mermaids were depicted with their male companions, mermen. Although the legends of these half-fish, half-human creatures have lived on for hundreds of years and are still popular today, it is uncertain whether the manatees that inspired the legends will live on much longer.

Only a concerted effort to protect them in their marine habitat will save manatees from extinction.

Manatee at North Point Caye Caulker

Manatees inhabit warm waters of the Western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil where they live in coastal waters, freshwater inlets, and river mouths.

Although their range is quite large, manatees today exist only in a few small, isolated populations. They once were widespread in rivers and along coasts in their range, but they were hunted extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries. Coastal development has further reduced their populations. Today, there are less than 2,000 manatees remaining in the United States.

The population of manatees in Belize has varied over the past decade, but is now estimated at 300-700 individuals. Despite this seemingly low number, Belize is thought to have the highest concentration of this subspecies in the world. However, the current population is significantly lower than a century ago and is continuing to decline. What is causing the West Indian manatee to hover near extinction?

Reports of declining manatee populations due to hunting date back to 1883. In spite of the Manatee Protection Ordinance of 1935 and the more recent protection under the Wildlife Protection Act, illegal hunting has persisted. Reports of manatee bones at butcher sites is evidence that manatees are still taken for local consumption, especially in Southern Belize, but currently the primary threat is the exportation of meat to neighboring countries such as Honduras and Guatemala. Another threat exists in boat collisions with manatees; propeller-scarred manatees are becoming an increasingly common site. Moreover, as boat traffic increases, manatees are left with fewer undisturbed creeks and channels for calving and resting areas, thus they are forced to seek out less suitable habitats to avoid such harassment. In the search for habitat, manatees often find themselves susceptible to entrapment and death due to gill netting in rivers and across river mouths. Finally, it should come as no surprise that industrial and agricultural pollution, as well as effluent from domestic sewage, adversely affects the health of manatees and potentially destroys the vegetation on which they feed. Increased coastal development has made this a significant threat.

It seems that with such a high number of threats, the manatee has an uphill battle for survival. Fortunately, over the past decade, the people of Belize have made great strides in preventing further loss of this species. Public awareness campaigns and educational workshops have helped to increase enforcement of regulations. Still, more enforcement is needed to protect this species, whose fate hangs in the balance.

The manatee is a large, bulky aquatic mammal with flippered forelimbs and a spatula-shaped tail. Manatees can grow to 12 feet in length and weigh up to 3500 pounds. They may live to be 50 years old.

The manatee diet consists entirely of vegetation, consuming at a rate of 100 pounds a day. They eat by using their divided upper lip, which is very flexible, to grasp and take in aquatic plants. Like other air-breathing marine mammals (dolphins, whales, and seals), manatees must periodically surface for air.

Females reach sexual maturity between five and nine years of age, but they do not produce many offspring; more animals are killed each year than are born. Mothers are strongly bonded to their calves, but other social ties among manatees are very loose. They are extremely gentle and have been described as incapable of aggression.

Manatees are one of four living species in the Order Sirenia, which also includes the West African manatee, the Amazonian manatee, and the dugong. Another sirenian, the Steller’s sea cow, became extinct in the 1700s. The sirenians evolved from an ancestor they share with the elephant, their closest living land relative.

Tourism

Manatees spend hours grazing underwater everyday, and they can be very exciting to watch in their natural habitat. Manatee-watching tourism gives local people a financial incentive to preserve the species, since tourists spend their dollars at local businesses. Tourists may be inspired to do something to help these beautiful and mysterious creatures.

Here in Belize, manatee-watching tourism has been a very successful conservation action. Not long ago, local people hunted manatees with rifles, while today manatees are a big attraction for tourist dollars.

More scientific research is needed to understand manatees and their needs. One current study is tracking manatees by satellite to learn more about where they go and what they do. We need to know more about their calving and feeding behaviors.

www.swallowcayemanatees.org