Cayo Espanto: The Belizean Private Island Escape of Your Dreams

The writer was hosted.

Imagine waking in a breezy bungalow on a private island in Belize to a breathtaking view of the Caribbean Sea. Fresh fruit and coffee await just outside, delivered moments ago by your personal butler. In your robe and bare feet, you can pad to your sunrise dock and enjoy the quiet morning, watching pelicans scoop fish from the water mere steps away. The only decision you need to make is what you’d like the chef to prepare for your waterfront breakfast. This is the good life, at Cayo Espanto.

Cayo Espanto is an intimate island resort with six beachfront villas and one overwater bungalow. It has played host to celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper, CEOs, and guests happy to splurge on a special occasion. My husband and I were in the latter group, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in Casa Estrella — an open-air beach house with panoramic ocean views.

What’s So Amazing About Cayo Espanto?

Well, everything. The service at Cayo Espanto is next level. When you arrive on the island, whether by boat or by helicopter, you are greeted by resort staff at the ready with cold towels and frozen welcome drinks.

After a short stroll through palm trees and elaborate designs raked in the sand, you’re introduced to your oceanfront hideaway. Grab a chair next to the water and enjoy a welcome snack. Ours was a plate of mouthwatering cheese quesadillas.

As you settle into this new life of laziness, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only guests on the four-acre island. The resort chef caters gourmet meals to your taste and housemen serve them to you at secluded spots with a view.

If you want a spa treatment, attendants come to your deck for a seaside experience. Even excursions are private, with boat rides that leave directly from the island. You start to understand that the true meaning of luxury is personal attention and care.

Read More: Best Caribbean Honeymoon Destinations

How To Enjoy Your New Life of Luxury

So, now you’re here in this paradise along the Belize barrier reef. What to do first? You can wade right into the clear Caribbean water and watch fish swim around your legs, or grab snorkel gear for a closer look. The beach resort also has kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and a catamaran, if you want to try to get a peek at your possibly-famous neighbors.

To explore beyond the island, you can take a complimentary water taxi to San Pedro or request an excursion or boat tour, for an additional cost. These options may include:

• Snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Reserve and swimming with nurse sharks in Shark Ray Alley.
• Scuba diving in Blue Hole, where you may see Caribbean reef sharks, with a picnic lunch at Half Moon Caye.
• Reef fishing for snapper, grouper, barracuda, mackerel, kingfish, and jack, followed by a Belizean meal.
• Mayan ruins tour and cave tubing.
• Water sports like kite surfing, water skiing, and tubing.
• Sunset cruise with champagne.

Al Fresco Dining at Cayo Espanto

Whether you plan to do a little or a lot on your Belize vacation, meals at Cayo Espanto are sure to be a highlight. Before you leave home, you’ll receive an extensive survey about your food preferences, and your excitement will start to build. What delicacies will the chef spoil you with during your visit?  

Each day, you’ll be in for a treat. Your housemen will bring daily menus and you’ll get to pick your pleasure:

• Sample lunch menu
• Sample dinner menu
• Wine list (additional charge)

Your meal schedule is your choice. And when meals arrive, it’s an occasion. You may be dining on your dock by tiki torchlight or surrounded by palm trees, with personalized messages drawn in the sand. My favorite was a sand portrait of me and my husband smooching, in celebration of our anniversary.

Read More: Best All-Inclusive Resorts from Barbados to Mexico

Is Cayo Espanto All-inclusive?

Yes, guests at Cayo Espanto get the following included in their stay:

• Airport greeting and transfer to the private island.
• Personal butler service from breakfast to dinner.
• Three tailored meals each day, made to order.
• Water, juice, beer, and soda.
• Walkie-talkie for room service.
• Island-wide wifi.
• Excellent air conditioning and ceiling fans in your villa.
• Oversized robes and Egyptian Yves De Lormes linens.
• A mosquito net over the bed.
• A stocked mini-fridge with water, soda, and beer.
• A TV and iPad in your villa.
• Daily day trips by boat to and from San Pedro.
• Non-motorized activities, such as kayaks and SUP.
• A small fitness center.

Overwater or Double Docks: Which Casa is Right For You?

There are seven casas of varying sizes on Cayo Espanto, accommodating up to 18 guests total on the island. You can choose from:  

• Casa Ventanas. 1,100-square-foot overwater bungalow with a glass floor section that showcases the marine life swimming below.  
• Casa Brisa. 1,200 square feet with a wrap-around deck and private dock with a plunge pool.
• Casa Solana. 1,500-square-foot bungalow with a private infinity plunge pool.
• Casa Manana. 1,500-square-foot villa with a private dock, beach, and plunge pool.
• Casa Olita. This 1,500-square-foot villa is the most luxurious, with a private dock, beach, and plunge pool.
• Casa Aurora. 2,100-square-foot villa with the largest plunge pool and a living room that opens up to be two-level deck and pool area. Aurora sleeps up to four guests.
• Casa Estrella. 2,600-square-foot two-story villa with two bedrooms. Nestled in a corner of the island, you’ll have both a sunrise and sunset dock, as well as a private beach area with a plunge pool.

Cayo Espanto Reviews

At the end of your stay, you’ll be invited to add to Cayo Espanto’s expansive guest book. It’s really something to read through its pages. Guests rave about their time on the island and praise the resort’s incredible staff.

Here are a few standout comments from the past year:

• “One week will never be enough! Our stay was magical! The attention to detail was unsurpassed.”
• “The service was better than we have ever experienced and the tranquility of the island made it easy to relax and unwind.”
• “The peacefulness you find here is hard to match. The sound of waves and whistling birds follows you throughout the island — it’s part of what makes it magical here.”
• “I love how the bedding feels and how fluffy the pillows are. Your head sinks deep into them and hugs your cheek. What I find most impressive is the five-star experience without the stuffy snobbery. Everyone’s warmth and kindness makes your stay feel like home.”
• “We have been to many places but never to a place as warm, welcoming, and beautiful all at the same time.”
• “Every meal was a gourmet experience, the soups as our favorite (and the ceviche).”
• “This has been one of the most epic adventures and a trip of a lifetime (that we hope to repeat!).”
• “What a truly incredible experience! The care provided to us was astounding, and we feel immense love for this island and everyone that makes it so special. In a short time, we acquired a wealth of memories and experiences that served as the best possible medicine — reading on the dock while our bird friends hunted fish, watching all the fish through the crystal clear water, eating the most incredible meals, enjoying the walks around the island, laying under the stars in our carefully prepared star-gazing bed, and so much more. We are certainly ruined for anywhere else, but we’ve resolved to budget wisely so we can return as often as possible!”

Getting to Cayo Espanto

So, how do you get to a tiny private island in the Caribbean Sea? Well, that’s half the fun. From Belize City, you can:

• Helicopter straight to Cayo Espanto. This is both the quickest and spendiest option.
• Take a regional Tropic Air flight with a dozen fellow passengers to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. This may either be exhilarating or anxiety-inducing, depending on how you feel about small planes, but the views are incredible. From the San Pedro airport, you’ll take a quick minivan trip to the water and a seven-minute water taxi ride to the island.
• Choose a slower route and take the ferry from Belize City to San Pedro, followed by the water taxi ride to Cayo Espanto.