Island names, what a pain in the butt!!

July 11th, 2008

We’ve always been fascinated by the interesting names that have been given to islands. Often times the name of the island is either a reflection of some notable feature on the island or its location, or even of a family name from way back when. Some are so odd that you don’t even question it. It’s just a collection of letters that formed the name in some native tongue from a long time ago. The name no doubt has a meaning but good luck finding it.

Katafanga Island? Beats me. But with views like this, who gives a rip? Besides, I like the sound of it.

For us, island names are an important topic and a constant source of frustration. After all, it’s the only real “address” the island has. So you can probably imagine how the name might change over time and the resulting confusion it causes for us AND you as potential island owners.

The islands of Belize are particularly confusing. At least 50% of the time, the island’s name on a map (if it even shows up on one) will be different than its official name. Plus the local fishermen and boat captains may know the island by an entirely different name. And if well meaning folks like us get involved to publicize an island, you know we won’t want to market an island called “Mud Caye” or “Mosquito Caye”! So the name changes again!

There are easily a thousand islands in Belize. Many of which have no name at all. So these and even the named islands are simply referred to by the name of the range they sit in rather than by the individual island name. There are several ranges of islands including Pelican, Sand Fly, Blue Ground, Cockney, Lark, Drowned, and many more.

Historically, Belizeans just didn’t have much of an imagination when it came to naming islands. I can’t tell you how many islands are named after bugs or birds, but there are a lot! But even though you’d think the selection of names those two categories might offer would be HUGE, they’re really not. So what happens when you run out of bug and bird names? Well you start over of course! As a result, there has to be at least 4 islands named Pelican plus the range name itself. Mosquito Caye? Yeah, there’s about 5 of those. Sand Fly? At least 3 that I know of.

One of several “Sand Fly” Cayes. This one I affectionately re-named Ugly Boat Caye after catching a glimpse of the presumed owner’s craft.

And then there is the “Long” Cayes. Long Caye, Middle Long, Southern Long, the Long at Lighthouse, the Long at Glover’s, Long Coco, North Long Coco, Little Long Coco, Long Loco…aaaah! See what I mean?

Then along come us well intentioned Island Brokers. It doesn’t make sense to have two islands of the same name, for sale on our site at the same time. You can probably imagine the time wasted just trying to carry on conversations where both islands may be discussed. With that and the risk of duplicate content from a search engine perspective, it simply makes sense to give the islands new names.

This by no means changes the official name of the island but it does tend to establish a new way of referring to the island locally. It also gives us a chance to give the islands more fun and romantic names that reflect the dream of owning a private island.

So before you pack your bags, it’s important to know that any island could have 3 or more names. Just because a local boat captain has navigated the waters their entire life, doesn’t mean they know an island by the same name as us. He may unintentionally take you to the wrong island simply because he thinks it is the correct property and he wants the income from the boat charter. This is one of the biggest reasons we choose to personally show our clients the islands.

We will have personal knowledge of every island we market and will have properly documented and verified the island by GPS points to ensure we’re selling the right island. Believe me, we learned this one the hard way!!

Yes you can officially change the name of an island if you wish. But that’s a whole different story. Give us a call and we’ll fill you in.

Categories: Island Fun