Getting to visit Belize in October is like a box of weather forecasts, you never know what you’re gonna get. Arriving to rain, a flooded countryside and rain loaded streets in Belize City makes you realize you are in rainy season,, but temperatures are warm and humidity is sky high, so as I was dressed for my experience of Monday rain I was sweating crazy not ready the tropical humidity. Learning moment #1.

I had a few hours to check out the local area from my hotel in Belize City and went wandering to see what was in the around and to get some bearings. Belize City is not that exciting and most of my adventures here will be on day trips, I looked at lots of options. Visiting Caye Caulker and doing Cave Tubing seem to be the unmissable things to do here, so that is the plan, well I haven’t actually got a plan, but that is the theory to the plan.

Delving into the history, Belize was British Honduras until 1973 when it changed its name to Belize, and later in 1981 became independent , though retains its attachment to the UK with its connection to the Commonwealth. To this day you can still find Queen Elizabeth II on all the monetary notes in Belize.

A beautiful sunny morning greeted me on my first full day. The outdoor rooftop breakfast restaurant was a fabulous way to start the day. Scrambled eggs, sausage and Belizean fry jacks made a hearty start to the day. Not tempting me was the habanero union sauce on the side,.. I did try it, but let’s just say, not for me!

I set off on the short walk to the Belize City Ferry Terminal to catch the 10.30am ferry to Caye Caulker. The small ferry takes 45-minutes to get to 23-miles from Belize City to Caye Caulker. It’s called idyllic Caye Caulker, but I was reserving judgement on that! The ferry is small, 40 passengers were on board the 60+ seater ferry, no cars. In fact, I was to learn that the fastest thing to get around on Caye Caulker is a golf cart. “Take it Slow” is the island motto for a relaxing time.

Warm sea breezes, blue skies a relaxing vibe and beautiful on the eye, yep, Caye Caulker is idyllic. It’s a small island and easily walkable, white sand leads the way in all directions, and it’s not difficult to see why this small coral island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea is a must come and see. It takes about 5 minutes to walk the width of the island. It”s 5-miles long, but is split in two. It is believed to have been split in two in the 1961 earthquake. You can swim “The Split” but the area is inhabited by crocodiles, so might be best using the small $1.50 ferry!

The next day brought Cave Tubing, what the heck is that was the first thing I said when I found about this adventure when I started finding out what to do in Belize. Cave Tubing is on every list you care to look, so I thought I would search out and find a place to go.

The main option near Belize City is to travel out to Crystal Cave deep inside the jungle just outside Belmopan along the Hummingbird Highway. The Cave Tubing adventure begins with a trek through the jungle take take off point, its quite the trek as you check out the sights and sounds of all that comes with walking through a jungle in Belize.

We cross the water guided by a rope, in summer season this walk has the water at knee high, but this is rainy season, so it was chest high! You begin to think its easy as you get used to the walk across, but then you reach the central rapid, and all of a sudden a tight two handed sure grip is needed as you appreciate the strength of the water current. It’s the “oh, hello” moment.

With hard hats, life vests and a tube you venture further. The caves are awesome, no other word for it. As we entered one there were bats flying all around, and right past your face. Yeah, this is a little bit different. Onwards we went exploring the caves, into the water as seven of us with two guides are tethered together and make our way through the jaw dropping scenery of stalactites end and stalagmites that have developed over thousands of years.

The exploration takes us out of the tubes and off swimming, this was not something I expected. Swimming in a dark cave with a flash lighted helmet and trying not to drown. What an interesting morning! The guides were great to teach about the caves and ensure safety, so I never felt concerned, though I was tired as we got into our third swim before we were able to get back in the tubes to make the decent back to the starting point were we had a joyous ride relaxing in the tubes as the sights and sounds of the jungle coasted by.

A day trip unlike any other, you better Belize it.