...and then swam across the "The Split" the body of water that divides the southern, inhabited side of Caye Caulker from the uninhabited and undeveloped northern half of the island. I explore on my own for about 30 minutes, but then got nervous about accidentally surprising a crocodile and decided to swim back over to where the rest of the humans were.
After a two-hour boat ride going over 8-foot swells THE ENTIRE TIME, we finally made it to the calmer, reef-protected area of the ocean near the Blue Hole.
I thought the room was so cheap just because it was terrible. But that night I also learned that the discount was also due to the fact that the room is twenty feet away from the island's only MEGA CLUB that plays insanely loud reggaeton music (played over a PA, inside a rectangular building entirely constructed of corrugated sheet metal - like it was MEANT to be heard) until 2am every night. (I'm laughing as I type this because I remember myself laying in bed that night reggaeton-dancing-myself to sleep to the bed-rattling beat.)
On the other side of the sandbar, we stopped off to dive down and check out the Lighthouse Wreck, a Japanese World War II landing craft that was bombed and sunk just before landing with a large shipment of cement destined for a gun emplacement. The ship is down only about 15'. It was fun trying to hold my breath and dive down for a closer look.
Before passing out, we had managed to book a snorkeling tour with a local named Ricky who pulled his boat up on the beach right next to where we were finishing our breakfast!
