Iguana Reef Inn - Caye Caulker, Belize

A good place to start the restaurant guide is to look at a map of Caye Caulker Village to get a feel for its size and the location of the Iguana Reef Inn within the village. Before you start here are a few general notes about eateries on our island ...

• Don't expect upscale restaurants, however, Coco Plum Gardens is very nice and could be considered upscale Caye Caulker and the same goes for Habaneros which is open and will appear in the next edition. Most of the restaurants are small, family-owned businesses ... the food is excellent and basically home-cooked.

• Don't expect fast service ... as a rule - be patient. The pace on Caye Caulker is slow so sit back, relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

• Prices are reasonable and portions are plentiful. You won't feel cheated that's for sure.

Following is a quick walking tour of the restaurants, just click on the name of the eatery as you're reading (or click on the red symbol for the eatery on the map) for a photo of the establishment and a brief description.

As you leave the Iguana Reef Inn you'll head south down middle street and the first establishment you'll encounter is the Bakery (BA). On the southeast corner of the nearby intersection you'll find Chan's Supermarket ... they have a takeout window if you just want to grab something on the run. Take a right at the intersection, you're now heading west down the main east-west street, walk down just a couple of hundred feet and take the next left. You're now on back street and you'll go down a couple of hundred yards to Glendas(GL). Take a left down the street in front of Glenda's and head back to middle street and turn right. Right on the corner, facing middle street, is Syd's(SY). Continue on to the end of middle street and you'll find Marin's (MA),located on the southeast corner. Take five before we head to the front street portion of the tour.

Now turn left after you pass Marin's and you'll be heading toward front street. It's just a short walk to front street and right on the corner is the Tropical Paradise (TP) hotel and restaurant/lounge. Turn back towards town and the next restaurant you'll encounter, at the intersection of the main east-west streets, is the Sand Box (SB) restaurant and bar. Across the street from the Sand Box is Habaneros ... one of the upscale venues. This is the heart of the restaurant district. At the northern end of the restaurant district is the Happy Lobster (HL). One more breather before we trek to the restaurants in northern end of the village.

Moving right along it's just a couple of hundred yards to the final stop on the village portion of the tour. The Rainbow Restaurant (RB). One of the most popular restuarants on the caye because of excellent food and an excellent location overlooking the water. We saved the best for last. At the north end of the village is Don Corleone (DC), an excellent Italian restaurant. Their motto is "We'll make you a meal you can't refuse".

That concludes the whirlwind restaurant tour of Caye Caulker. Look for future editions of this webpage and if anyone out there has patronized these restaurants or others and would like to submit their critiques they will certainly be considered for future editions.

FYI: Lobster season begins June 15 and ends February 15.