Terry's Grill-Caye Caulker

For our first night on an island that is known for going slow, we ended up at a restaurant that takes that motto seriously, Terry’s Grill.

There are several grill restaurants on Caye Caulker. The idea is that you sit down, pick what you want, and your food is then grilled up to order. No pre-done chicken, or fish sitting under a heat lamp; just simple, fresh, tasty grub. As I was doing my research, I read about three grill restaurants that seemed to be in a bit of a competition with one another, Terry’s, Rose’s, and Fran’s. We managed to hit two out three, Terry’s being the first.

We plopped down at one of the outdoor picnic tables at Terry’s, which is located near the quiet beach at the back of the island.

Terry’s is as island casual as it gets.

This being our first night, we had to try the island’s most well-known drink (besides Belikin beer of course), rum punch. 

Now if you think this is something like Hawaiian Punch with a splash of rum in it, you would be mistaken. The punch in the rum punch is a delightful mix of fresh fruit juice.

We sipped our drinks and waited, and waited, and waited some more. This is not a restaurant to go to if you are in a hurry. You’re on a small island, I’m not sure where you would have to be, so the waiting shouldn’t be an issue. It was still an issue for some people however, who got up and left. Maybe they were just super hungry?

We passed the time by talking about all of our various adventures to date, ranking things like our favorite meals, best ice cream, coolest beach, etc… and then dreaming about the places we want to go in the future. I also did a bit of eavesdropping.

A group of girls sat at a table behind us. From their conversation, I gathered they had just met that night, presumably at a hostel or other accommodation. One of the girls was a one-upper. When one girl talked about swimming with sting rays, One-Upper of course swam with sharks, without a cage. When one girl talked about going bungee jumping, One-Upper of course bungee jumped off of the highest bungee in the world. On and on it went.  I could already imagine the other girls congregating in the hostel that night, formulating a plan to ditch One-Upper for the rest of their time on the island. I assumed this would be quite difficult given the island’s small size.

Our food eventually made its way to our table.

I ordered the jerk chicken. 

Terry himself came over and explained his process, which included first smoking, then grilling the chicken, hence the wait. Terry takes his cooking seriously. He doesn’t like to rush things, in his exact words,

“It’s gotta be right!”

Shannon got the BBQ pork ribs. 

All of the dishes that evening came with the same sides, coleslaw and rice. I’m not a big fan of coleslaw, so for me to say it’s good is a compliment. Both sides were tasty.

The food is good, but I think the best part of Terry’s Grill, is Terry. When he wasn’t flipping chicken on the grill, or wrangling his four year old son, he was roaming around conversing with guests. Part grill master, part comedian, and part philosopher, make sure you get a chance to chat with Terry. He will happily share his views on everything from parenting, to entrepreneurship, to properly grilling chicken.

I’m so glad we ended up eating at Terry’s Grill on our first night. It was like being thrown into the deep end of go slow island life. We left with our tummies satisfied, our bodies relaxed, and our minds filled with new memories. 

Is Caye Caulker Right for You?

After a satisfying dinner, we slowly walk back to Oasi. On our way  we pass through the now familiar part of our evening stroll. A few lights shine down through the palm trees, creating interesting shadows that spread out across the dirt road. There is something magical about those shadows. We love it here. We are sure a lot of other people would love it here too, but we admit that Caye Caulker probably isn’t for everyone.

In my upcoming posts I will gush love for the Belize island that is Caye Caulker. It was exactly the kind of place that we like, but I didn’t want to be deceptive. What we like isn’t what everyone likes, and for your sake, as well as the island’s sake, I thought I would discuss some of the realistic aspects of the island.  

Beach

It is a common misconception that just because Caye Caulker is an island, it contains vast, sprawling beaches of white sand. There isn’t much beach on Caye Caulker. There are a few small, sandy, beachy spots, 

but if you think you will be spending your days building castles on white fluffy sand, you may be disappointed.

There are lots of picturesque docks stretching out into the blue water. 

Many hotels and restaurants do their best to create cool waterfront hang out spots.

If all else fails, you can always go and hang out on the dock at The Split (really you should just do that anyway).

Things to do

We once took a trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina with a bunch of other couples. One of the couples found the Outer Banks so boring, they packed up their stuff in the middle of the week, and left.

Caye Caulker’s motto is, Go Slow. 

You won’t find an amusement park or a ton of fancy, flashy entertainment. Watching the sunrise and sunset is a legitimate activity. 

There are plenty of tours available, especially for scuba divers and snorkelers. 

Of course plain old swimming is also fun. 

Windsurfing is also popular. 

Our days pretty much consisted of sauntering to town for breakfast, then taking a walk. Afternoons consisted of reading, followed by a swim in the pool at Oasi. In the evening, we headed back to town to catch the sunset, and then enjoyed a leisurely dinner. Not having to run around or feel pressured to make sure that we saw this thing or did that thing was pure bliss (not that we don’t enjoy those types of trips too).

If you like taking it easy and having a laid back time, Caye Caulker is great. If you are someone who requires a lot of stimulation and entertainment, or have children who require that, you might get bored.

It's a Real Place

Caye Caulker is a real place. This is an island where people live and work. One day while heading back to Oasi, we found ourselves walking with the kids going home from school.

This isn’t an island that exists specifically to cater to high maintenance tourists. It isn’t an all- inclusive resort where everything is pristine and people are clamoring to bring you drinks in pineapples (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

There is beautiful scenery with blue skies, and bluer waters. Palm trees sway in the breeze. Bright, colorful flowers abound. 

This is Caye Caulker.

This is also Caye Cauker. 

There are some run down looking spots. There are vacant lots. There is trash laying around in various places. I just want to be realistic because I can see people criticizing this lovely little island for not being completely perfect. If you like completely perfect when you go on a trip, that’s cool, but you might want to think twice before visiting Caye Caulker.  

There it is. I laid it out as best I could. Caye Caulker was definitely a place that was right for us, but you must decide if it is a place that is right for you.

Staying at Oasi on Caye Caulker

When it comes to accommodations, we can go either way. For short trips and trips where we are crazy busy running around, a clean, safe place to fall into bed is all that is really needed. For a more relaxed trip where we know we will be spending a decent amount of time at our accommodation, we tend to be more selective.

Though I  take Tripadvisor reviews with a grain of salt, I have never seen so many glowing reviews as I did when I was reading up on Oasi. Review after review raved about the wonderfulness of Oais and its owner Luciana. Since it ticked off most of the boxes for a place we would want to stay, I decided I had to see the wonderfulness for myself.

The Owner

As you can probably tell by her name, Luciana is originally from Italy. Artist, entrepreneur, scuba dive instructor, she is an amazing, renaissance woman. She had the perfect balance of letting us do our own thing, while ensuring that we had everything we needed, and making sure we were enjoying ourselves. She was friendly, energetic, and offered great suggestions. She mentioned that we should eat at Aladdin’s, and it ended up being our favorite meal of trip. I believe that Oasi minus Luciana would not be the same.

Other Cast of Characters 

Also encountered at Oasi was Micheal, Luciana’s other half, and Mama, Luciana’s Italian speaking mother. I wish I knew Italian because Mama was a friendly,lively lady. There were dogs and cats on ground. We grew particularly fond of Fifi, as she usually let us pet her and give her attention.

Some guests included two friends from Texas, a couple from New York, and by far our favorite guests, Brian and Evelyn from Ontario, Canada. We got to talk with them for a bit while enjoying some afternoon drinks. Brian and Evelyn were staying at Oasi for two months. Brian is a writer. He wrote a noir novel, Belizean Sextet:Six Tales of Adventure. I plan on acquiring it once my to-read pile reduces. Brian is also a travel blogger. You can check out his blog, Brian's Belize, here. Before we left for home, Evelyn was kind enough to give me a copy of a Canadian Geographic Travel Magazine. The magazine featured  Canada’s national parks. It definitely provided more places for us to add to the list.

The Apartment 

Oasi is comprised of four apartments. We stayed in apartment 3. 

There was air-conditioning, but we never used it. It was cool enough in the evenings to sleep with just the fan and the windows open, delivering fresh island air throughout the night. During the afternoons we hung out outside on our lovely little patio, because... hammock. 

There is no better nap, than the one taken in a hammock. 

If our stay was longer, we probably would have taken more advantage of the kitchen. It was nice having a refrigerator to store our juice. Our room also had a water cooler, so we could refill our water bottles.

Our room was always clean, and there were nice touches, like the fresh flowers that adorned  our table.

The Grounds

We found out during the week that Michael is a landscaper, which I’m sure attributed to the loveliness of the grounds. I always have to take the obligatory picture of a hibiscus.

The Location

Perhaps the only slight downside of Oasi, is that it isn’t on the water, but we did have use of a dock, and that was just fine. The dock almost looked too beautiful to be real.

Oasi is right near the island’s airport. It was fun relaxing in the lounge chairs while watching the planes and boats go by. 

We happened to visit during a few days of constant breeze. Really great for keeping things cooled down, and keeping the bugs away, but it made the water surrounding the dock too choppy for swimming (the water at The Split was still calm). 

No worries though, as Oasi had a pool. 

The pool was great for cooling off during the warm afternoons. The pool's water temperature was perfect. We said it over and over again,

“The water is perfect. How can it be so perfect?”  The pool had a nice deck with chairs that were great for reading.

The distance from the main town area is a plus or a minus, depending on how you look at it. Oasi is located away from the main town near the opposite end of the island. We enjoyed being able to walk to town, and then escaping back to the relaxed quietness of Oasi. It’s an easy walk to town, and given that our day jobs are rather sedentary, we enjoyed indulging in the physical activity, especially after a filling dinner and ice cream. If you prefer to peddle instead of pad, there were bikes assigned to each apartment that were free for guests to use.

 Il Baretto 

On the grounds of Oasi there is a wine bar, Il Barreto. Wine is pretty scarce on the island, where beer and rum abound. The bar opens only in the evening, and serves drinks and bruschetta. One of the evenings there was live music, so we decided to relax for a spell before dinner. 

Tommy, the musician, did a great job. I enjoyed all of the songs that he played. Note that Mama had a special, on stage seat. 

I liked that we were able to choose from a variety of bruschetta. 

The one with grilled peppers was my favorite, followed by the eggplant, which was like an eggplant spread. It was nice to have a little snack, a glass of wine, and some good music. Even if you don’t end up staying at Oasi, I’d recommend music night at Il Barreto.

A Special Event 

If you knew me well, you would know that the sign caused laughter, because of course we just happened to be staying at Oasi when it was hosting a Book Fair and Art Exhibition. 

I’m obsessed with books.

The event was very nice and well attended. 

I think our favorite part though was watching all of the local artists and authors setting up. Maybe I just like organization and logistics a little too much, and what artist, no matter their craft, hasn’t fantasized about painting, writing, sculpting, etc…while living on an island. Here folks are living that dream.

I am in desperate need of a new camera and deeply regret that the picture I took of Luciana with her artwork did not turn out, but believe me when I say that she is a very talented lady.

Just like the reviews on Tripadvisor, I couldn’t think of a single complaint about Oasi. The apartment was ideal, the grounds and pool are lovely. The company and Luciana were amazing, and it offered a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, while still being in walking distance to town.  I couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else while on Caye Caulker. It was wonderful.