Plan a trip

Five ways to live on the reef

Two inhabited cayes inside the barrier reef, and three atolls beyond it. Which one suits you depends on who's coming, how long you'll sit in a boat, and how quiet you like your evenings.

Cayes

Ambergris Caye

The biggest caye: restaurants, a golf-cart town, and the reef a few minutes offshore.

  • February to May for the calmest, clearest waterCheck before you travel
  • 3 to 5 nights
  • Water taxi from Belize City (about 75 to 90 minutes)Check before you travel
A sandy beachfront path beside a pastel-painted dive shop, with palms, docks and boats on turquoise water.
Cayes

Caye Caulker

A small caye with sand streets, wooden docks and no hurry at all.

  • February to May for calm waterCheck before you travel
  • 2 to 4 nights
  • Water taxi from Belize City (about 45 minutes)Check before you travel
A small open boat moored between two weathered wooden docks in shallow turquoise water, with coconut palm seedlings in the white sand in front.
Atolls

Turneffe Atoll

The biggest of the three atolls: mangrove cayes, walls and flats, and very few people.

  • March to June for the calmest crossingsCheck before you travel
  • 3 to 4 nights
  • Lodge boat from Belize City (about 1 to 1.5 hours)Check before you travel
Illustration
Atolls

Lighthouse Reef

The outermost atoll: the Blue Hole, a booby colony, and the longest boat ride.

  • April to June for the calmest crossings and clearest waterCheck before you travel
  • A long day trip, or 2 to 3 nights on the atoll
  • Day boat from Ambergris or Caulker (about 2 to 3 hours each way)Check before you travel
Illustration
Atolls

Glover's & South Water

The southern atoll and a small caye on the reef itself, reached from the Garifuna coast.

  • March to JuneCheck before you travel
  • 3 to 4 nights
  • South Water Caye from Dangriga (about 35 to 45 minutes)Check before you travel
Illustration

Routes that pass through

Ready-made shapes for a trip, each one changed to fit you.

All routes
10 to 11 nights

River to Reef

A river lodge in Cayo, down the Hummingbird Highway to Garifuna Hopkins, then out to South Water Caye or Glover's Reef.

  • Cayo → Hopkins & Dangriga → Glover's & South Water
  • Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Nov, DecCheck before you travel
  • Works with children
A still, green river between banks of dense forest, seen past the railings of a bridge.
8 to 9 nights

Three Atolls

Ambergris, then Turneffe, then Lighthouse Reef by private boat or atoll lodges, and a short flight back.

  • Ambergris Caye → Turneffe Atoll → Lighthouse Reef
  • Best: Mar, Apr, May, JunCheck before you travel
  • Best for adults and older teens
An aerial view of white surf breaking in lines over a reef, with green-blue water behind it.