Caye Caulker or San Pedro: Which Belize Caye to Stay On?

Without doubt the two most popular places to visit in Belize are Caye Caulker and San Pedro. If you’re currently planning a beach getaway to Belize, you’ll want to base yourself in one or the other. However, which one is better for you: Caye Caulker or San Pedro?

Don’t worry, we also asked ourselves this exact question before booking our stay. After considering all the factors, we decided to stay in San Pedro. Of course, we took a day trip to Caye Caulker but even after our visit we were still pleased with our initial decision to base ourselves in San Pedro. This of course doesn’t mean that San Pedro will be your pick, which is why in this guide we’ll list everything you should take into account when deciding which is more suitable for your holiday needs.

If you’d like to see what we got up to in Caye Caulker and San Pedro, make sure to watch our Belize Series on YouTube.

About Caye Caulker and San Pedro

Let me quickly share some basic information about the two “islands”.

First of all they’re actually called “cayes” (pronounced “keys”), which are tropical, sandy, low-elevation islands found on the surface of coral reefs. There are actually 450 cayes in Belize along the length of the Belize Barrier Reef. After the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest coral reef system in the world.

The biggest caye is Ambergris Caye, which is also the most developed. It’s attached to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, so it’s technically a peninsula and not an island. The main, and only, town on it is San Pedro, which is why people simply use San Pedro when referring to it, instead of Ambergris Caye.

Caye Caulker is the smaller sister of Ambergris Caye. It’s only about 8 km long and 1 km wide. Caye Caulker’s motto is “Go Slow”, which is a bit like the “Pura Vida” motto in Costa Rica, so you can expect a more laid-back vibe here than in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

How to Get to Caye Caulker and San Pedro

There are two main options for reaching both Caye Caulker and San Pedro. You can either take a short flight or the ferry from Belize City.

We took the water-taxi from Belize City, which was pretty straight forward. If you’d like to learn more about this option, make sure to read our detailed guide on how to take the water taxi. It includes useful information on ticket prices, timetables, and our personal tips for having a smooth sailing.

Caye Caulker or San Pedro? A List of Factors to Consider

Are you visiting Belize with kids, or just with your significant other? Are you going with friends or solo? Is it just a vacation or are you on a backpacking trip across Central America and Mexico? Do you want to mainly relax or go on a ton of adventures, or perhaps a bit of both? Do you want to have a wide selection of amenities like different restaurants, bars, and nightclubs? Or do you just want to enjoy the more laid-back, “Go Slow” vibe?

Your answer to these questions will help determine whether you should base yourself in Caye Caulker or San Pedro. Don’t forget, you can take a day trip to one or the other and if you really can’t decide, then just split your stay between the two.

Crowds

Both Caye Caulker and San Pedro are popular with visitors. Since San Pedro is a more populated town, it means that it’ll be more crowded. However, it’s more of a mixed crowd of locals and tourists. They’ll be some cars and trucks on the paved roads, as well as the ton of golf-carts racing up and down the streets. We found the main streets to be almost always busy. The beaches in front of the luxury accommodations were a little less crowded though.

Caye Caulker on the other hand is much smaller so the crowd can feel more concentrated, especially around the Split which is the main “beach” area. Many people also arrive on a day trip from either Belize City or San Pedro. However, if you stay on the caye then you can experience it with less people early in the morning and in the evenings.

Cost

It’s worth highlighting that just because Belize is a Central American country, that doesn’t automatically mean that it’s ‘cheap’. In fact, based on the cost of living index, Belize is ranked second in Central America after Costa Rica. Yes, it’s still generally a more affordable country if you live in the USA or Western Europe. However, after crossing the land border from Guatemala, which has one of the lowest costs of living in Central America, it took us a minute to get used to tour prices costing us over 100USD per person.

Before arriving to the Cayes we also spent a week in San Ignacio and found that prices were even higher on the islands than on the mainland. This is not surprising of course, since they have to bring a lot of products to the islands from the mainland.

If you’re on a tighter budget, Caye Caulker is probably the better option when it comes to average food and accommodation costs. It’s also more walkable, so you don’t need to hire a golf-cart to get around. This is the reason why you’ll find way more hostels and backpackers staying there.

San Pedro on the other hand generally caters to a more resort-focused clientele. This is where you can stay in stunning 5-star beach resorts and also eat in more upscale restaurants. Of course, we managed to find a good balance between eating out and cooking for ourselves, since we had access to supermarkets and booked an apartment with a kitchen.

Another added cost you need to account for is potentially renting a golf-cart to get around the peninsula.

Accommodation Options

Since we touched on accommodations above, let’s dive into that next.

There are plenty of accommodation options on both cayes. However, there are definitely more budget-friendly hotels and hostels on Caye Caulker, which attracts a younger crowd including backpackers, friend groups, solo travellers and other visitors on lower budgets.

🛏️Book your stay in Caye Caulker.

San Pedro is where you’ll find more luxury accommodation options if you’re here for a relaxing resort holiday. However, there are also apartments available which may be more suitable for families or people who want to stay in San Pedro for longer. Since San Pedro is bigger, there will be more accommodation options available to book.

🛏️Book your stay in San Pedro.

Places to Eat and Drink

If you’re after a greater variety of restaurants, cafes, and bars serving a mixture of local and international dishes, then San Pedro will be the place for you. We found some great eateries along the beach front and within the town centre. Our favourite was the Truck Stop, which we came across on our way to the Secret Beach. Speaking of which, if you’re after some beach clubs, then definitely rent a golf-cart and visit the Secret Beach. It’s packed with different bars and restaurants. Many places also have happy hour offers on drinks.

In addition, there are also many larger supermarkets in San Pedro, as well as small corner shops to buy some snacks and other essentials.

Don’t worry, Caye Caulker also has plenty of places to eat. The fry-jacks from Errolyn’s House Of Fryjacks were incredible and very affordable. Whilst a smaller island means a smaller selection of restaurants, you’ll find plenty of more traditional street food vendors. The bar at the Split was also great and seemed to be the place to go for a lazy day of drinking Belikin and swimming in the turquoise waters.

Beaches

To be completely honest, if your main reason for visiting the country is to lay on endless white sandy beaches, Belize might not be the right place for you. Compared to other destinations in the Caribbean like Isla Mujeres in Mexico, the US Virgin Islands or St Lucia, the beaches in Belize were not much to write home about. Belize is definitely more of a diver’s paradise, so if you’d like to do some diving or snorkeling around the Barrier Reef, you’ll have a fantastic experience.

Having said that, if you’re after some beach time there are some sandy beach areas on the east side of San Pedro in front of the luxury resorts. They are all public beaches, so you don’t have to be a guest to enjoy them. Another great beach area near San Pedro that we previously mentioned is the Secret Beach. It’s located on the west side of Ambergris Caye, to the north of San Pedro. In order to get there you’d need to rent a golf-cart, since it would be way too far to walk to. This not-so-secret beach is lined with beach clubs, though don’t expect a desert island paradise.

The most popular ‘beach area’ on Caye Caulker is the Split, however you would still need to jump off the pier or use the stairs to get into the water. There are some beaches in the northern section of the island, but you’d need to take a ferry to get across to them.

Sunsets

Our favourite thing to do on a beach-themed holiday is to watch the sunsets. There’s just something magical about sitting on a sandy beach and watching the sun go down below the horizon whilst listening to the sound of the waves.

Thanks to San Pedro’s position, if you want to watch the sunset you’ll need to be on the west side of the peninsula. We went to the Secret Beach to watch the sunset but most bars were already closing around that time and it got pretty deserted very quickly. San Pedro is better for sunrises, especially if you’re staying in one of the hotels along the beach on the east side.

Since Caye Caulker is only 1km across, you can enjoy the sunset and sunrise without too much effort.

The General Vibe / Atmosphere

San Pedro is a much more lively place than Caye Caulker. If you love the buzz and seeing the hustle and bustle of those who call San Pedro home, then you’ll enjoy your stay there.

On the other hand, if you’re after a slower paced holiday, then Caye Caulker will be the place for you. As mentioned before, the island’s motto is “Go Slow” and they don’t take that slogan half-heartedly.

In terms of nightlife, we can’t personally advise since we didn’t spend a night out on Caye Caulker and we don’t usually go out when travelling. However, based on what we read prior to our visit, you’ll find more bars open later in San Pedro than on Caye Caulker.

Final Thoughts on Caye Caulker or San Pedro

Overall, we suggest staying in San Pedro if you’d like a lively island with more amenities, activities, more luxury stays or if you’re planning a longer stay. If you’re on a lower budget, travelling solo or want a more laid-back trip, then consider Caye Caulker.

Regardless of which island you stay on, you have the chance to take a day trip to the other one. Plus, if you really can’t decide, you can always split your stay between the two. Personally, we were happy with our initial choice of San Pedro, since we were after more of a work-holiday, so wanted to have a wider variety of amenities around us.

Have you ever been to Belize before? If so, did you stay on Caye Caulker or in San Pedro? If not, which caye would be your pick? Let us know in the comments below.