Hello all,

We will be in Playa del Carmen next week and would like to visit Long Caye for a few hours.

What is the best way for one to get to Long Caye, coming from Corozal? I see that there are flights available from Corozal to San Pedro and also Belize City, but what to do from there?

It is our understanding that there is no airstrip on Long Caye. We checked with Maya Air and Tropic Air and both lines told us that they do not have float planes (that could land in the water).

We received one quote for a water taxi out of Belize City, for $600 US round-trip. This seems awfully high to us.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to get to Long Caye? Are we missing an obvious solution?

Thanks in advance!

There are lots of "Long Caye"s. Do you mean the one at Lighthouse Atoll?

I have no idea, but I do know that dive boats go to Half Moon Caye almost daily, and HMC is pretty close to Long Caye. Maybe someone on LC could pick you up?

Otherwise consult one of the landowners there to see if they know a way. "scubaldy" on this board is one such person - you could try PMing her.

I'm assuming your talking about the long caye at lighthouse reef with the real estate development.I wouldnt think the 600.us r/t
would not be to out of line, the Blue Hole Trip is 250.us pp.
my best advice would be to ask the real estate agent selling the property to show it to you.

Yes, that is the same Long Caye, Elbert. I wasn't aware that there was more than one or I would have specified, sorry.

The person selling the lot is currently in the states so he can't get us to the caye.

If $600 US is typical fare, we might be rethinking this venture before we even see it - yikes! Thanks for the responses.

If you have visions of living there, do be aware that not having any transport infrastructure would only be one of your problems. Electricity, food. water, fuel etc would all be major headaches you'd have to solve for yourselves.

Long Caye is a very isolated place with very few people living there. They have individual wind turbines, cisterns, septic tanks and in general fend for themselves. The dive boats go past coming back from the blue hole, they might take you along as a non-diver and drop you out there. Not sure what facilities are available for visitors.

Peter - Thanks for thinking of me. LOL
There are a couple of little resorts out there - the first and largest one right now is Calypso Beach Retreat and run by a good woman named Cheryl. Here's the link to her web page.
http://www.calypsobeachretreat.com/

I know that in high season they were running a boat out from Belize City on a regular schedule. I don't know what they are doing now.

I found this on their web page under "information": Boat trip to the island is $180 round trip per person. Boats leave from Belize City. Boat size is dependent on group size. Some boats are open and some are covered.

I have stayed there many times and love it. I go every chance I get. Some friends who are property owners went as non-divers with Amigos Del Mar a few years ago. They were dropped off on Long Caye after the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye dives and picked up about an hour and a half later after the dive at the Aquarium.

Good luck

Thanks for the info, Harriette.

My husband does have visions of building a vacation home on Long Caye, and is already aware of the conditions that you mentioned, Peter & Ron, but thanks for sharing. I think he wants to see it for himself (the way of life, not just the actual piece of land) and take it from there.

I'm going out there on Nov. 7 or 8th for a couple of days. Will stay with a friend and am going with a friend don't know how much space we have. Let me know if interested I'll find out whether we have space and cost.

Thanks for the offer, Ron, but we are going this coming weekend.

My husband did end up finding a water taxi to take us r/t from San Pedro for $215 US. I don't know the name of the company, as he didn't forward the details to me, but can find out if anybody is interested.

Ron - will this be a dive trip? I'm usually up for that.

No, fishing and socializing with a friend.

I think the gas alone is more than $215 US from San Pedro. The fare RT does not sound right - maybe they are taking you to a different long caye -!

There is a Long Caye south of Caye Chapel.
I've heard many times 'In Belize if they don't know the name of an island they call it 'Long Caye'.
I also read there are more than 1000 islands off the coast of Belize and its associated atolls.

Even though my husband included "Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef" in the subject line of all emails back/forth, he found out this afternoon that the taxi company was referring to a different Long Caye.

So, we are back to trying to find something reasonable. I'm ready to say forget the property @ Long Caye and let's just spend the entire day at Ambergris.

I honestly think that the US$600 you were originally quoted is about right. If you manage to get it for less it won't be much less. Bear in mind that this will be the cost each time you want to go back and forth, unless you get your own boat. And don't underestimate the costs of getting and operating/maintaining a suitable boat.