Updated on February 7, 2020

Think about an unspoilt island in the middle of the Caribbean sea, covered by coconut palms and placed right in a coral reef. A place where the mass tourism hasn’t arrived yet, neither the electricity or the crowds. 

It’s hard to believe a place like this still exists. And that it hasn’t been ruined and turned into a huge resort like in most of the other caribbean islands.

Here the pace is still slow like back in the days of the pirates. You wake up with the sunrise, enjoy the birds singing, catch your dinner of the sea and refresh yourself while snorkelling with turtles and sharks. At night the hermit crabs will take care of the dirt dishes while you enjoy the show of thousands of stars in the sky and hundreds of fire worms in the water. Life was never this simple and amazing. On top, the scuba diving and kayaking opportunities are endless.

 

We heard about the North-East Caye by a friend we made on the road, the best source to find these sort of places. We had high expectations but the reality of the place was even better. We spent a full week catching lobsters in the lagoon, diving some of the most pristine corals we’ve ever seen, kayaking in crystal clear waters and eating tons of fresh coconuts of the island. What a place and what a week.

 

WHAT WE LIKED THE MOST

  • Lobster hunting in the lagoon
  • Great scuba diving and kayaking
  • The simple life in the island

 

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE THAT MUCH

  • We only stayed one week

 

 

A week is a minimum, but you can easily spend a few without noticing it. If you decide to stay 3 weeks, you get an extra one for free. Not a bad deal!

You really need sun to fully enjoy the island. So go during the dry season from december to june.

A weekly boat departs Sitee River every Sunday morning bringing you back next Saturday afternoon. This boat transfer is included in the price you pay for your week´s accommodation.

Do your shopping in Hopkins and bring all the food with you. The meals at the island´s restaurant are quite expensive and you will have a kitchen in your cabin anyway. If diving, bring your travel BCDscuba mask and your own dive computer at least.


 

VIDEO: SCUBA DIVING AND KAYAKING IN GLOVERS REEF

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you come to Belize you can’t miss this place. It was the highlight of the country for us and, without a doubt, one of our favourites spots in the whole trip. And that’s a lot! 

Morning swims in the lagoon, sunsets over the neighbouring islands, huge lobsters off shore, fresh coconuts all over, night fire-worms, spectacular diving, great fishing, kayaking, sailing… the list goes on. Just come and do your own thing. Enjoy the slow pace and you will never want to leave the island. 

 

 

 

MORE INFORMATION

Location: North East Caye, Glovers Reef. Belize

Company: Glovers Reef Atoll Resort

Price: 99 USD (camping fee for a week). Other options available.

Useful Notes: Leave all your electronics behind. There is only 2hours a day electricity on the island, but in a place like this you don’t even want it. Be prepared to go back to basics and connect with nature.

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4 Responses

  1. Zita and Arpi

    Hi,

    Thanks for the great resources. We are planning to visit the Glover reef in this november/december. I have two question: where we can put the bikes while we are there for the week? Can we take them to the island? If yes, is it cost anything? Or can we leave them at the mainland somewhere safe?
    The other thing is our route 🙂 Now we are in Yucatan, going to visit many ruins here, and we already seen Teotihuacan and Palenque. Is it worth to visit Tikal in Guatemala as well? Because otherwise we would just cycle south in Belize and take a boat to Honduras/Guatemala… Maybe just make a detour to Tikal from Belize City by bus? We can’t make many detours as we have only 10 month left to reach Sao Paulo… That is why we try to make a smart route.

    Thanks for your tips and if you can answer this comment. We going to try soon those backroads in Yucatan you liked. 😉 Have tailwind all the time and enjoy your ride!

  2. Antonio Cala

    Hey guys,

    The boat leaves from a hostel in Sitee River (owned by the same family as the island) early in the morning. You can leave the bikes there and they will be safe. Just email them beforehand so they know. That’s what we did and did not have any problems.

    About Tikal. We had visited many mayan ruins by the time we got to Tikal and I was glad we went. They are really nice. Very wild and not very developed. We even got to sleep inside the temples for the night (http://www.cyclingelmundo.com/sleeping-in-the-ruins-of-tikal/) I would definitely recommend to go.
    From the border it takes about 2 days to cycle to the ruins. It’s probably much faster to cycle back to Belize and head south to Honduras-Rio Dulce as Guatemala is very hilly and very slow on the bicycle.

    Safe travels!

  3. Claire

    We learnt so much about everything you can squeeze out of coconuts on that island!! The diving is good and the snorkeling is fantastic. We stayed a week as well and we could have easily spent more time there.