Caye Caulker's Colorful Sky

Since I live in the mountains, any chance I get to see a sunrise or sunset over the ocean, I’m down for the magical moment, even if it means getting up by 5:30am as I did while staying on Caye Caulker with G Adventures in Belize.

The first night’s sunset was magical. Maybe it had something to do with the “Go Slow” motto of the island. After cruising the island led by Ocean Academy student tour guides with Bike with Purpose, a program sponsored by Planeterra, my travel group put away the bikes and raced to the shoreline at “The Split,” where the tiny island was split in two by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. It was a sunset filled with shades of yellows and oranges from maize to tangerine.

My first sunrise in Caye Caulker was utterly peaceful bliss. I headed out on the dock by our hotel. I was the only one out there. I sat in the solitude for a good 40-45 minutes and just enjoyed watching the world wake up, taking in the ever changing watercolor painting in the sky, and listening to the rhythmic sound of the ocean. After the sun came up, I enjoyed the view of the quiet island with the palm trees blowing in the wind with the sunlight streaming through the branches. On the walk back to my room, I found an old boat and was intrigued by it’s weathered look.

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After snorkeling that day and imbibing on rum punch, most of my G Adventures group headed over to the Lazy Lizard Bar at The Split. It’s considered the most visited bar in Belize. We grabbed frozen margaritas and headed over to find a sunset spot. Instead of just sitting there, my new friend Jazmine and I opted to go for a swim. I’d never watched a sunset actually swimming in the ocean – a first for me! With the blue hues of the water blending into the colorful orange canvas in the sky, I couldn’t stop saying, “Wow!”

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The second morning, Jazmine got up to watch the sunrise from the dock with me. After I raved about the watercolor sunrise and showed her my pics, she was all in for sunrise. It was a sunrise worth getting up as the shades of pink transitions to vibrant shades of orange and yellow.

After sunrise I went for a plane ride to the see the Blue Hole with two others on the tour and our guide. That afternoon we met up with some others from the group for a fun afternoon at KOKO King beach. We caught the short ferry ride back and I hustled to changed in order to catch one last island sunset. I bolted through a residential section of the island and caught shear magical in the sky. It was a stunning display of cotton candy pink to pomegranate to magenta to fiery orange. I’d found a small dock and just watched the watercolor in motion change before my eyes. It was my favorite sunset or sunrise of my short stay on Caye Caulker.

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There was no way I was missing sunrise on our last morning. Although not as vivid as the others, I enjoyed it as I felt the salty air kiss my face and tousle my hair, the soothing sounds of the ocean, and the beauty of changing colors in the sky only a sunrise or sunset can create.

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If you want to book the 9-day Classic Belize and Tikal adventure trip I took with G Adventure, book here.