Two weeks ago I turned 30. And two weeks ago my husband surprised me with a trip to Cayo Espanto – a private island 3 miles off the coast of Belize surrounded by crystal clear water, and white sand beaches. It was the trip of a lifetime and just what the doctor ordered – after months of life taking us up and down and all around, it felt really good to go somewhere, just the two of us, and relax.
As you can imagine, I received tons of questions about our stay, so I compiled them all here for you!
What is the weather like? Is it hot and humid? Temperature? The weather was perfect when we arrived. It was 70s/80s with very low humidity and blue skies. When in the sun, it felt hott, but the water was refreshing and the breeze was always blowing. *We visited in mid-September. The staff said the temperature is relatively moderate and consistent throughout the year, with the humidity/wind being the only two factors that change often.
Were there restaurants {on the island} or just concierge food service? There aren’t any restaurants on the island – you eat every meal at your villa. The staff changes the placement of your table at every meal so it feels slightly different each time 🙂 When you arrive, you are introduced to two staff members who will answer to your every need. Before every meal they present you with the menu and let you customize it any way you want. If the menu is steak and lobster, but you want a hamburger – you can request it! Warm cookies? A special drink? If you ask, they will deliver. It’s pretty amazing.
How do tips work? Do you tip a % at the end? We actually googled this, as we didn’t know what was custom in Belize. We went off this article and tipped accordingly at the end of the stay.
Fishing guide information? We booked the fishing excursion through the hotel! They handled everything for us and paired us with an amazing {and extremely knowledgeable} guide. He picked my husband up in the morning and dropped him off before lunch. The staff made sure they had a cooler full of his favorite beers and snacks in case he got hungry. When I joined him on the second day, they made 3 frozen Espanto Waves and packed them to go {they clearly know the way to my heart}
What is the daily rate per night? The rate varies based on the time of year and the type of villa. You can find out more about specific pricing per villa here.
Is it all inclusive? Food, beverage, liquor, activities – please break down pricing Cayo Espanto is all inclusive minus wine and activities. Meaning, all food and beverage {minus wine} is included in your flat rate! It was great knowing I could order as many Espanto Waves as I wanted without racking up a huge room bill 🙂
It looked relaxing but did it get boring? What activities do they offer? Personally, I wanted a very low-key and relaxed stay so I was beyond happy just swimming, reading and hanging around the villa. My husband on the other hand likes to be active, so I was grateful there was an option to keep both of us happy. He would book a half day adventure, be up and out before the sun rose, and them back before lunch which gave me a chance to sleep in and relax. After lunch we would hang around the villa, swim, play games, read and take naps. It was the perfect mix. Also, there are a surprising amount of activities offered through the resort – kayaking, fishing, boating, diving, snorkeling the great barrier reef….you name it, you could do it. See a full list of all the activities here & spa here.
Does Cayo Espanto allow children? Yes! We talked to the staff at length about this. They said they cater to children really well by setting up treasure hunts around the island, organizing outdoor movie nights, and accommodating for early kid friendly dinners. The water is extremely shallow, and each villa has it’s own private beach, both of which would be perfect for children. Also, since you never leave your villa, it’s easy to put the kids down, turn a monitor on {if they’re super young} and have a later dinner, drink wine and relax just right outside the door.
Did you use a travel agent or book directly? We booked directly! My husband organized the trip with the help of his incredible assistant 🙂
Did you take a boat to San Pedro? We were only there for such a short amount of time that we didn’t venture over to San Pedro this time around. Cayo Espanto can and will organize a day trip or dinner in town if that is something you want to do though! The trip to the island by boat is less than 5 minutes.
Was this trip more fun than your trip to France this summer? That is a hard question! They are two very different trips. Our trip to Europe this summer was with the entire family, and it’s something we do every year. The trip to Cayo Espanto was completely new to us, and it was just my husband and I. Plus, the travel time was much shorter which you just can’t beat 😉
How can we make the Espanto Wave at home? Lucky for you, I snagged the recipe! The ingredients are below!
- 1 oz Captain Morgan rum
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 oz Blue Curacao
- 1/2 oz Amaretto
- 1 oz. pineapple juice
- 1 oz. lime Juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Blend all ingredients together and garnish with a maraschino cherry and lime.
How did you get there? Where did you fly into? How long is the travel time? What airline did you use from the US? 10 months out of the year you can fly directly from DFW {dallas } into Belize City. Because we happened to be visiting in their off season {August & September} we had to fly to Miami and then to Belize City. We flew American because we have status through them, but there are several major airlines that fly directly into Belize.
Do they provide the helicopter ride or do you have to pay for that separately? This is something we booked separately. It was expensive, so we only did this for the travel in {it was a surprise from my husband}. On our journey out, Cayo Espanto took us by boat to San Pedro where we took a little 10 seater plane to Belize City. The flight is about 15 minutes. The nice thing about the helicopter is that you can land directly onto the island of Cayo Espanto {cutting out the trip to San Pedro all together} When we landed in Belize City there was someone holding a sign with our names on it, who then whisked us off to the helicopter. It was a very seamless process. If you are interested in booking the helicopter, let the staff at the resort know and they will arrange it for you.
Can you share your beauty products and tips for flying? You can read all about what’s in my beauty travel bag here and whats in carry on bag here!
Did you ever run into other guests or is it completely private? This is difficult for me to answer as we were the only guests on the island at the time of our stay! From what I can tell, this is pretty rare as the resort is often times booked months in advance, but because we were coming during hurricane season, the resort was slower than normal. If there had been guests, I imagine we would’ve seen them coming and going from activities but not really otherwise. Mostly because we never really left our villa/area!
Did you swim in the water? Some reviews say you can’t! The very first time we got into the water we experience the sea lice. They are little tiny bugs that latch onto you and kind of sting. At first, I was so thrown off, but then again I was walking through tall sea grass. I found that if I avoided the sea grass, I avoided the sea lice. I didn’t experience any issues with the sea lice again throughout our stay and I was often in the water!
How did your husband find this hotel? Any recommendations for finding great vacation spots? I’m honestly not sure how my husband found the hotel – I know he was looking for someplace we could get too pretty easily {since it was such a short stay} and he also wanted to make sure there were activities he could do {he does not sit idle well} He had just bought a new fly fishing rod, and when he read that Cayo Espanto had fly fishing as an activity, he was sold. If you are looking for someone to help you find amazing vacation spots, I would reach out to Posh Voyage – she helped us plan our honeymoon and is always a wonderful resource when planning trips.
Preset menu or do you choose the meals? From what I understand, the resort sent my husband a questionnaire before we arrived asking us what type of food we wanted {since it was a surprise for me, I wasn’t involved in this step!} Based on his answers they created a menu for us each day. With that being said, we often altered this menu completely and they were always so accommodating and great about that. They basically said if we can dream it, they can make it. At the end of our stay, they printed out a little book with all of our meals on it for us to take home. It was a really sweet and thoughtful touch. This little book also included the recipe for the Espanto Wave 🙂
Which villa did you stay in? We stayed in Vila Solana! In my opinion, it is the best villa on the island because it has unobstructed 180 degree views of the water with a very nice breeze at all times. Other villas on the island are either sheltered more from the wind or have views of San Pedro. We also felt totally secluded since we were the only villa at the very end of the island – on one side was the helicopter pad, and on the other side was a long distance to the next villa. It felt like all of the other villas were much closer to each other.
What is the difference between the villas? Since we were the only guests on the island, we took the liberty to visit each and every villa. The main difference, we decided, was the view. Of course they all had different layouts and some were 1 BR, while others were 2 BR, but other than that, the main difference was the view. Half of the villas look out at the island of San Pedro, and half look out at the open water. Villa Solana, Casa Mañana, Casa Olita and Casa Estrella all looked out on the open water, which is the view we preferred. Casa Ventanas, Casa Brisa, and Casa Aurora all look out at San Pedro. The only 2BR villas are Casa Estrella and Casa Aurora. Casa Aurora also has the largest swimming pool by a lot while Casa Estrella has the smallest! See details on all the villas here.
What is the best activity to do there? This totally depends on who you ask! I think if we were to go back, we would 10000% organize a snorkel adventure to the great barrier reef. It is apparently beautiful and teeming with sharks, manarays, and fish of all colors and sizes. I love to snorkel so I think this would be my #1 activity next time.
Did you ever feel too isolated? Never! We wanted a break from the real world, so we welcomed the isolation! It was so nice to unplug, unwind and just enjoy each others company. Honestly, we didn’t miss being around other people, but it was also such a short trip that we hardly noticed 🙂
