The Caye (pronounced as "key", meaning an island, derived from Spanish:
cayo) is about 40 kilometres (25 mi) long from north to south, and about
1.6 kilometres (1 mi) wide. It was named after large lumps of ambergris
which washed ashore here.
The Belizean island, where it has not been
modified by man, is mostly a ring of white sand beach around mangrove
swamp in the centre.
A Maya community lived on the island in Pre-Columbian times, and made distinctive polished red ceramics.
San
Pedro Town is the largest settlement and only town on Ambergris. There
are also a number of small villages and resorts. Captain Morgan's and
Mata Chica resorts north of San Pedro played host to the first season of
Fox's Temptation Island in 2000, aired in 2001. More recently, the
availability of skydiving during the winter has become a draw for
tourists so inclined.
Tourism development of Ambergris Caye began in
the early 1970s and grew considerably in the later years of the 20th
century. The main attractions are the Belize Barrier Reef and its
beaches. That barrier reef is the second largest in the world, after the
Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The caye has a small airstrip serviced
by Tropic Air and Maya Island Air, and can be reached by plane from
Belize City as well as by numerous fast sea ferries. In the meantime
Ambergris Caye can also be reached by ferry from Chetumal in Mexico.
Because of the island's small size, the main form of powered transportation is the golf cart.
