When the two of us, one Argentinian girl and I, the snorkellers, finished with our enjoying in the shallow and clear waters that surround the Half Moon Caye within the Lighthouse Reef atoll in Belize, we went back with the guy from the agency who had taken us snorkelling to the central part of the island, near the wooden pier.
The island is covered in trees, but on the larger, western side of the island, there is a dense forest, while on the smaller, eastern side, the trees are much sparser and these are in fact mostly palm trees.
Visitor boards and the basic infrastructure in the central part of the Half Moon Caye
Still, in one place there is sufficient concentration of palm trees that they create nice shade and so there are wooden picnic tables and benches there. Since the scuba divers had returned in the meantime, it was time for lunch.
Lunch time during the excursion
After the lunch I went to the opposite side of the island in relation to the wooden pier. Let there be no mistake, it was less than 100 metres away. There is a smaller cove on that side that was beautiful by itself and worth the visit, but from there I had a much better view at the lighthouse that exists on the Half Moon Caye which is situated at the very southeast corner of the Lighthouse Reef atoll. It is precisely this lighthouse that has given the name to the entire atoll.
Cove on the Half Moon Caye and the lighthouse in the distance end of the islet
The part seen in the photo above is the east end of the island and every year three turtle species come here to lay their eggs. All three species are endangered, so this is a very important place for them and their survival.
I was so delighted by the colours that I wished I could have a photo of me here, but there was nobody else with me. That’s why I made one of my first selfies by placing the photo-camera in an approximate position while holding it turned around in my extended arm. Since it was approximately noon, the sunlight made shadows that are not good when taking photos, so I even used flash. I think it worked out.
Memory from the Half Moon Caye
Then I went back to the group that was still enjoying the break after the delicious lunch and since there were people around me now, I exchanged the photo-taking service with one girl – I took photos of her using her camera and she took photos of me using mine.
Posing on the wooden pier on the Half Moon Caye
Soon it was time to move on and so we all got into the motorboat and started off. Behind us, we were leaving the lovely Half Moon Caye on the western side of which there is a dense forest and a very important bird sanctuary that I wrote about in the previous sequel of my travel stories on Mexico and Central America.
Leaving the Half Moon Caye
Leaving the Half Moon Caye
Then we went to the surroundings of the Long Caye. With its 3.5 km in length it is indeed the longest islet within the Lighthouse Reef to which it belongs.
North part of the Long Caye
Here our motorboat stopped close to the edge of the coral reef, where deeper sections start abruptly and apparently this was much more interesting for the scuba divers than for a couple of us who snorkelled. Still, to start with, the guides threw overboard the rice that had remained from lunch and this brought here a myriad of fish.
Fish are having lunch
When the fish moved away, it was time for us to splash around.
In the water close to the Long Caye
I don’t know where all those fish swam off after lunch, but when I started to dive I really could not see many of them. Perhaps the waters were slightly deeper here than in the previous places, so I could not approach them. Still, that did not prevent me from playing by diving quite deeply for my standards.
Diving close to the Long Caye
While waiting for the scuba divers to return, I enjoyed for a while in the swimming without the mask and it really felt great. After some time we all gathered up on the speedboat and then we returned to Caye Caulker.
Upon the return from the excursion I first went to my room to have a shower. I also applied some cream since I felt I had sunburned a little. Some parts of my back were not covered by suntan lotion and I was sunburned right there. I never like when this happens, but, there, it happened. Admittedly, not too much and I had a good cream for the treatment of sunburns, so I was not too worried.
Still, it is important to know that one of the things to which attention is intensively drawn in Belize is precisely that visitors should apply protective creams regularly and abundantly. Not only are the sunrays strong because we are in the tropics here, but also because of the white sand that is everywhere the sunrays reflect against it and additionally impact the skin, thus one gets a double dosage of radiation.
Then I went to the restaurant of the hotel in which I was staying and ordered a light lunch, as well as a nicely cold draught beer. It felt good. I normally do not drink alcohol during the day, but when it is so hot, cold beer feels good and it seems to me that all of the alcohol evaporates quickly enough, leaving behind only the cool liquid that reduces the dehydration.
Later I went to the local post-office and sent the postcards I had written in the meantime and since I was exceptionally content with the excursion I went to earlier in the day and the experiences there, I went to the same agency once more and signed up for another excursion for the following day. That excursion, however, was only in the afternoon. At some point I also met with those two Argentinians to transfer the photos of them onto a CD. That was the least I could do to return the favour, since they took photos of me with a lot of patience.
In the evening I spent some time sitting on the shore near my hotel and it was good again. I felt some prickling in the parts of my back that were sunburned, but it was not too bad, so I slept fine that night. Especially since I knew I would not have to wake up early in the morning.
I spent the morning sitting on the piece of shore near the hotel, that could also be seen as a beach, although the access to water was not attractive on account of the large quantity of sea grass that grew there. Taking into consideration that I got slightly sunburned the previous day, although this was a mini summer vacation, I spent this entire time sitting dressed in a t-shirt and in the shade made by a palm tree. I enjoyed the relaxation and reading, and made a break only when I went to buy some breakfast since that was not included into the price of the room.
Around noon when it was becoming unpleasantly hot even in the shade of a palm tree I went for a walk around the village. In order to make some sense out of my walk, I went to the Split that was some 15 minutes on foot away from my hotel.
Part of the island where Caye Caulker was split in two, hence the name
As I’ve mentioned in the previous part of the story from my travelling in Belize, I could see on the internet that this part of Caye Caulker has been quite altered since 2008, meaning it has been developed and adjusted to tourists. I’m not saying that I think things have been ruined here, but only want to make a note that what is seen in the photo above does not exist any more.
From here I also looked towards the east, that is, towards the open seas and the depths of the Caribbean Sea that start some 2.5 km farther on. In-between there was space for the passage of boats, as well as some very shallow parts that are further from the shore.
Landscapes east of Caye Caulker
Going back from the Split towards my hotel, I saw a restaurant along the way where there was a constant light breeze and this seemed like a good place to have lunch. I ordered a shrimp seviche, but was not delighted. What I got in reality was a pile of nachos and very little seviche. Although I like nachos, I was starting to get fed up, especially when restaurants overdo it.
Once I finished with the light lunch, I returned to my room to get ready for the excursion. This excursion was only for snorkellers. The group was small, five of us, and we were taken on the trip by a local guide. Here is a very short video recording of the boat ride, more because of the colour of the water and for giving the idea about the speed.
Since I’m mentioning snorkelling and scuba diving, I should say that these are the main elements of tourism in Belize. There are several interesting archaeological sites, as well as nature reserves on the dry land, but there are such places in the other countries of Central America. What is lacking in the other places in this region, certainly to any larger degree, are the stunning marine landscapes that are abundant in Belize.
Thus, on this day, we went to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve located north of Caye Caulker and we made stops in three places where we snorkelled and looked at the underwater world around us. To start with, I took a photo of that world from the surface. The colours were spectacular.
Waters in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
As I’ve already mentioned a few times, my back had sunburned in few spots the day before (in those spots where I did not apply the suntan lotion), so I did not want to exacerbate the situation, while I certainly did not want to deprive myself of the pleasure in the form of going on an excursion that included looking through the mask from the surface, which meant that my back would be directly exposed to the sun. But, I came up with a very simple solution – swimming and snorkelling in an ordinary t-shirt.
Ready for snorkelling
Although there were not as many colourful fish as I hoped for, this does not mean that I did not absolutely enjoy. On the other hand, I did manage to take a photo of some of them.
School of fish in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
Parrotfish
But, even if there were not as many colourful tropical fish as I wanted to see, there were other inhabitants of this coral reef, so it was not too bad in the end.
The inhabitants of the reef come in different shapes and sizes
After the swimming and snorkelling in this spot, we got into the boat again and moved to another place. That other place is also known as the Shark Ray Alley. At least that’s what our guide told us. In this part it is possible to see stingrays, turtles and nurse sharks. On this day we did not see either turtles or sharks, which I personally did not mind since I had already swum close to a couple of nurse sharks the previous day, but there were many stingrays here.
Stingrays
Stingrays
Stingray from up close
Stingray
Then we moved slightly away from the area with sea grass above which glided the stingrays, so I even managed to take a photo of a couple of local surgeonfish.
Couple of surgeonfish
Here I struck a pose once more, again in the t-shirt, but this is the underwater edition.
Snorkelling in a t-shirt
Slightly farther away, there were parts of the coral reef with local small fish. These white-yellow that I saw in abundance are the French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum).
Different residents of the coral reef
French grunt
Here I also took a photo of several specimens of the sergeant major fish (Abudefduf saxatilis).
Different residents of the coral reef
Then we swam back to the area where the stingrays were still swimming slowly and where our motorboat was parked.
Stingray
Stingray
We got into the boat again and went to the third place where we were to snorkel. It was all more or less the same as in the previous spots, minus the stingrays and the sea grass, but it was absolutely fine with me. I even had an impression that the water was clearer here than in the other spots. I enjoyed.
Part of the coral reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
Part of the coral reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
Part of the coral reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
Part of the coral reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve
My only “objection” regarding the excursions I went on, this time and the previous day, was linked to what I could see while snorkelling, meaning primarily the (for me) insufficient number of colourful tropical fish. The reason for this lies in the fact that my first snorkelling in the tropics took place in the Seychelles and that made me put the thresholds on the subject far too high. Whether I want it consciously or not, I basically make the comparison. On the other hand, although aware of the difference that I found here, this did not diminish in the least my essential enjoyment in everything that I saw around me or that I experienced on these occasions and to this very day I feel extremely privileged that I had the opportunity to be here.
Moreover, I was keenly interested in going on an excursion to the Turneffe Atoll, one of the three atolls that belong to Belize. When we finished with the afternoon trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and returned to Caye Caulker, I went with the group to the agency in order to return our snorkelling gear, but I also asked if the excursion to the Turneffe Atoll was going to be organised. Unfortunately for me, there was not a sufficient number of people interested in this, but it was probably normal, since it was May and being a kind of a low season consequently there were fewer visitors.
Well, I said to myself, you will spend your last day in Belize idling on the beach. And that was not a bad solution by at all.