When Jon and I were dating and starting to talk about marriage, I never really dreamed much of “the big day.” Instead, what I would dream about was taking a honeymoon to Belize. For some reason, Belize had always stuck out in my mind as the perfect honeymoon destination. Before we even got engaged, I would look up different cities online, order brochures from different resorts, and plan what types of activities we would do. Jon was supportive of this idea, so once we got engaged, it was never a question as to where we would take our honeymoon. We had a long engagement, over two years, and during this time, the idea arose of a big around-the-world trip. In secret, we started planning and saving money, not telling anyone yet of our plans. Because of this trip, we decided not to take a honeymoon when we got married (also partly because we had a destination wedding, so we just stayed a few extra days after the wedding).

A view of the Caribbean Sea from Caye Caulker. Everywhere we looked, we felt like we were living in a postcard!

Fast forward to 2016 when we finally left for our trip, and we knew that Belize would be one of our “must do” destinations. We planned to visit the country for about a month, spending two weeks on the island of Caye Caulker and the rest of the time elsewhere. We figured that this would finally be the honeymoon I had dreamed of, although a bit longer in time and shorter on overall budget! Due to getting sick twice in Mexico and spending extra time recovering, our time in Belize ended up getting cut a little short, giving us three weeks to explore the country. We still spent two full weeks on Caye Caulker, and have one more week planned on the mainland. For us, Caye Caulker was the perfect ‘honeymoon’ and break for us on our trip – a chance to settle in somewhere for a bit of time, get to know the small town, and just enjoy each others company.

Tables of conch shells, hammocks, palm trees, and a view of the sea… what could be more relaxing!?

We rented an apartment on the island so that we would have a little bit more room and also to have a kitchen in which we could cook at home. Since we would be here for a couple of weeks, we wanted to have some homecooked meals, something we have been missing after five weeks of travel. Jon made a few meals for us, French toast, omelets, spaghetti, and a penne pasta. We kept juice and beer on hand along with a box of cereal and a few snacks. It also provided us a comfortable home base where we could relax and gave us a refuge from the days when it would rain. We would spend time inside working on the blog, downloading pictures, putting together videos, researching other destinations for our trip, watching movies, reading, and just relaxing. A rooftop terrace was a place where we could look out over the island, from the water in the west to the main part of town in the north. We were happy with our decision to rent the apartment for so long, giving us a chance to have a home base from which to explore.

One evening, we spent an hour or so on our rooftop patio opening a coconut from our yard. It took him a while, but Jon was so excited to finally get it open with just a rusty machete!

Our time on the island was a mix of activity and relaxation. It’s easy to do nothing on the island, simply hanging out at one of the bars or restaurants and enjoying the view. It’s also easy to get active on one of the many tours offered in the area, although that does tend to become expensive after a while! We knew that we wanted to become scuba certified while on the island, so signed up for a class with Frenchie’s Dive Shop. After such a great experience getting our certification, we went on another dive with them to the Tackle Box and Esmarelda, both located off the coast of Ambergris Caye (the larger island to the north). In addition to scuba diving, we took a full day trip snorkeling and sailing with Blackhawk Tours, getting the chance to swim with a number of different sealife and exploring the Hol Chan Marine Reserve.

Our day spent snorkeling and sailing was ideal – we had sunny blue skies, friendly company, clear waters, and each other! (despite Jon’s face in this picture, he really did have a good time!)

Our apartment rental came with two bikes that we could use, which we needed since we lived in a residential neighborhood in the center of the island. Every day, sometimes twice per day, we would make the 15-20 minute bike into town. Dodging potholes and puddles, we rode past the airport, elementary school, and a small nature reserve. Our bikes let us easily explore the island, feeling a bit like locals wherever we went. Baskets on the front meant that I could carry a small backpack, which became our day bag filled with our rain coats (since we never quite knew when it would rain!), headlamps for when we were out biking after dark, sunscreen, bug spray, and camera. On the way home from an outing, we could also stop and buy groceries on the way home at the grocery store in our neighborhood.

This was on the way out of our neighborhood, which we biked once or twice per day! It was good exercise, but sometimes was a challenge to dodge all the potholes and puddles!

Aside from cooking and eating at home part of the time, we ate some delicious meals on the island. French seafood is on every menu, especially lobster at this time of year. Having been missing fresh greens in Mexico, we loaded up on salads and vegetables (usually grilled) whenever we could find them. In fact, my first two dinners on the island were at the same restaurant for the exact same thing – a lobster Caesar salad! We tried a variety of different restaurants for breakfasts and dinners, although there were also many places on the island closed the month of October since it is low season for tourists right now. Despite that, we ate well on the island!

A whole fish with lobster on top, accompanied by garlic potatoes and a salad! Just one of many delicious meals we had on Caye Caulker!

Belize had been a dream of mine for many years and I am so happy to have spent two full weeks on Caye Caulker. Jon and I loved our time on the island and have so many great memories to take with us – sunsets over the water, swimming with nurse sharks and sting rays, happy hour rum drinks at The Split, fresh lobster dinners, and getting smiles from the locals as we would bike to and from town. Caye Caulker will be hard to top and I already know that someday we will be back again.

Happy hour with a view – this was one of our favorites!