We entered the turquoise shallow waters of Belize, famous for its barrier reef and atolls where you go diving and snorkeling. Belizes barrier reef is the longest in the western hemisphere and the second longest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We planned to spend about 45 days cruising the area.
Carrie Bow Cay, which has a smithsonian research centre
The Belize sailing boats have an interesting design with huge sails & very friendly people
Coral & fish life
The visibility in most of the offshore waters we snorkeled and dived was clear so great for seeing the marine life. The atolls were definitely the best.
spotted trunk fish
Parrotfish
Queen Triggerfish
a small lobster trying to hide
Elkhorn Coral
North Coast Belize
San Pedro and Cay Caulker were the larger islands we went to first where a lot of English and U.S. Tourists come to enjoy the casual feel of these islands. There was definitely a bigger local population base on these islands than others, with lots of restaurants and bars to go to.
the motto on these islands
yeah our motto too
the mangoes were delicious and cut up for you
Relaxing at the Lazy Turtle showing the reef in the background
it’s so windy here the kite boarders love the Caye Caulker area
golf carts are mainly used to get about these islands
lots of places to stop for a break!
Offshore atolls
We ended up going to all 3 atolls; Turneffe, Lighthouse and Glovers to enjoy some of the best snorkeling and diving Belize has to offer and were not disappointed. Lots of good wall dives with colorful coral and lobsters hiding in the most bizzar places. Also saw lots of spotted eagle rays which glide thru the water with such ease and a very large loggerhead turtle who swam to us to check us out and slowly kept going.
the coral rises from the ground at Glovers
Diving with Richard & Jen again
Tube sponge
Giant Brain Coral
The 1M Loggerhead turtle coming to check us out
Slowly passing by
Even managed to catch up with lots of cruising friends at the Atolls.
At Turneffe, lobster with Ramone (Ron & his father Bernard) thanks to a local fisherman
With Aussies Out of the Bag (Bill & Jean), Tactical Directions (Tony) and Blue Dream (Stoney)
At lighthouse on the beach with Spirit of Argo (Quinn, April & Cain)
Diving with Jen & Richard, at Glovers Reef
At Lighthouse Atoll we walked to the observation deck on Half Moon Cay to see the red footed booby’s and frigates nesting in the trees passing lots of hermit crabs and iguanas. It’s a reserve where they care for nesting turtles and the bird life.
The white fluffy one is a baby bobby & the others are baby frigates
A huge hermit crab eating a coconut
This guy looks very healthy
Central Coastal Belize
The further south we got the islands were sparsely populated and mainly consisted of mangrove islands for protection. Some islands had palm trees and small beaches enticing us to come ashore.
South Water Cay was a favorite for kayching, snorkeling & diving.
lots of marine life out snorkeling. This is a Scrawled Filefish
At Hatchet Cay the staff were very friendly showing us around the island. Great restaurant & bar too. I got this shot from the internet so you can see what these islands look like from above with the coral around them to go snorkeling at.
We saw a couple of Spotted Drum fish, so pretty
We enjoyed the snorkeling and diving but at this time of the year the winds get up so you need to be off the outer cays and seek better protection so we are off to Placencia Cay for some inland travel and the lobster festival.