Relaxing on South Water Caye

We spent our days on South Water Caye with no plans. We were able to play in the sand, swim, read, take naps, play games, kayak, fish and snorkel whenever we wanted. Meals were served in a two hour window so we could loosely plan our activities around that. But the best part about this type of vacation was we didn’t really have to plan much. The hotel brought us a big crate full of sand toys, and our kids were set for the week. Mabel, our 2 year old, wanted to just dig and play in the water. She was perfectly content in about 6 inches of warm water digging in the sand. Our 4 year old Henry was a bit more active, but he mostly only ventured out to waste deep water unless he was practicing with his snorkel mask. 

The water was so warm and calm, we were able to just bob along, swim back and forth, and get up on the swim dock whenever we wanted to dry off. There was some seagrass once you reached chest-deep water but the sand was easy on our feet and the swimming was perfect.

The snorkeling was great even from our beach, and Henry got to be quite a fan of snorkeling! We weren’t able to swim all the way out to the coral but we saw tons of fish and even a stingray (from a safe distance) right close to the island. The current was lazy, and slowly took us from the dock near our cabana to the other side of the beach where we got out, walked back and did it again. 

We grabbed the kayaks from the beach a few times, loaded up the kids and paddled to the far side of the island. Below us swam rays and fish and pelicans bobbed and dove into the water all around. Other times we played beach Jenga or corn hole, or read books in the hammocks. The kids took long naps in the afternoon, allowing me to read and relax while Evan went fishing for bonefish on the lagoon side of the island. 

We normally are more active when we travel, but taking the time to slow down and just enjoy the island was exactly what we needed.