The Atolls of Belize

They say time heals all wounds - maybe time also diminishes the memory of bad trips. After spending time at Glover's Reef and Lighthouse Reef, I think the passage was worth it.

We enjoyed our time on the reefs. Belize has the second largest barrier reef in the world after Australia. Much of that reef parallels the coast, but there are also three off shore atolls. An atoll is a ring of coral which rises up from the deep sea bed and forms a lagoon within the ring. In each of the atolls there are a couple of little cays (islands) which offer protection from the wind, and the coral reefs break up the waves, so it is possible to be comfortably anchored even if the wind is blowing.

At Glover's we did some snorkeling and wandered around the dive resort on the island. In my opinion, however, Lighthouse was more spectacular. At first we were a little disappointed by the corals. The shallow water snorkeling wasn't as dramatic as we had hoped. We saw some fish, and lots of squids (neat) but not an awful lot of new corals, and much of what was there seemed a bit washed out.

The deep water stuff, however, was a different story! We set up our hookah system and dove a reef at Lighthouse. It was very cool to be down below the surface - looking UP at fish. There were new and different kinds of corals I had never seen before, and our system worked well. Unfortunately Andrew thinks he may have surfaced too quickly and he felt queasy when we got out. We decided it wasn't worth risking his ears, so we are limiting ourselves to snorkeling for now.

However, that didn't stop us from having one of the best snorkels I think I've ever had. At our first stop we started out at a shallow reef and were swimming along when we both noticed the rather large grey thing in the water in front of us SHARK!! And this time it wasn't one of those docile nurse sharks. The shark was probably just as alarmed by us and we were by him, but being in an enclosed reef, in very shallow water, with a shark was not something I was real keen on. Andrew and I both turned heel and quickly moved on. The shark apparently had the same thought in mind and we didn't see him again.

When we got back into the dinghy we headed out to the "wall." One of the amazing things about the reefs is that they literally rise up out of the depths. Within two boat lengths the water goes from over 200 feet deep to 12 feet or less. You'll be inside the reef tootling along in 12 feet of water, then it is 20, then 30, then 40, then DEEP! Nothing! I've learned that the corals that grow along the 30/40ft ridge, right before the wall drops off, are really cool! Even seeing the different colors of blue in the deepening water is beautiful.

In any case, we dinghied over to the 30/40ft ledge area and looked in. The visibility was incredible. We put on our snorkels and fins and, while hanging on to the dinghy, just drifted over the coral. It was fabulous. We saw big pelagic fish, huge corals, rays It was perhaps the most memorable snorkeling experience I've had. I couldn't get over the visibility in water that deep.

The other really cool, really memorable moment was another day when we were checking out the wall with the dinghy. Unfortunately Andrew didn't get to see this one because I was too captivated I put on my mask and stuck my head in the water to see if it was worth getting into the water. I didn't see corals, but I saw the largest spotted eagle ray I have ever seen. I was just swimming around under us. Man it was beautiful. I know water magnifies, but I swear it had to have had over a five foot wing span. I finally thought to pop my head out and tell Andrew to get his mask. Unfortunately by the time he was able to find his (I think I was sitting on it) and put it on, the ray was gone.

The other thing we did while at Lighthouse Reef was to go over to Half Moon Caye. It is an Belize Audubon Society park and is the nesting site of the red-footed booby bird. We followed a trail to an observation tower

From Belize

(easy to find - follow the guano trail!) where we saw nesting boobies (with babies) and frigate birds. I enjoyed being above the tree tops looking down on the birds.

From Belize

It felt like we were anchored miles from the caye. The waters around it are very shallow and we finally gave up trying to get any closer and anchored in 8 feet of water. There was no wind and the water was still.

From Belize

The water was so clear you could see conch tracks in the sand in water 12 feet deep! It was so clear, in fact, that I couldn't tell where the deeper water was - when you see every little detail in 12 feet of water, how are you supposed to know when it shallows to 6ft?

Glover's Reef also has a National Park so parts of the reef are protected - no fishing, no conching, no taking of any kind. I am pleased to see these areas being protected - the beauty of these sites really should be defended.

So yes, I think it was worth the awful trip to get there!