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| Bike Trip with the Pull Ferry in the background! |
One
afternoon, the entire group rented bicycles.
We went for a 3 hour ride to the end of Ambergris Caye. As we traveled
down the strip, we came to a water crossing.
There was a ‘pull’ ferry to get us across the narrow canal. We all loaded our bikes on the wooden barge
and pulled it across to the other side.
I have read that the pull ferry was recently replaced with a
bridge.
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| The Great Blue Hole was amazing!!! |
A highlight
of the trip was our excursion to the Great Blue Hole. It takes a day to get out to the Blue Hole by
boat. Our excursion included diving and
snorkeling during the day, an overnight stay on Half Moon Caye, and a morning
dive at the Great Blue Hole.
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| Nurse Shark Turtle Ray |
Our morning
started at 5:45am. We loaded the boat
and headed to Caye Caulker to pick up another diver. There were several stops during the day for
the divers (Rondavue, Long Caye Aquarium at Light House Reef, Half Moon Caye
Wall) where snorkelers could jump in and swim around.
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| Boobie Birds |
In the late
afternoon, we arrived at Half Moon Caye, where we would camp for the night. Half
Moon Caye is a national monument and home to the famous red-footed boobie
birds. You are actually no longer
allowed to camp there. The Boobies live
on the caye for about 10 months of the year. Flying fish are their favorite
food, caught at night when the fish are nearer the surface. Half Moon's Boobies
are a bit special because most are white, instead of the normal brown color
found around the Caribbean. Over 120 other types of bird have been seen on the
caye.
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| Half Moon Caye |
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| Tent Camping on Half Moon Caye |
You must
bring everything you need with you on the island, and take everything with you
when you leave. Our diver masters and
crew made us a barbecue dinner (chicken, beans, coleslaw, and bread), and we
washed it down with Panty Rippers (coconut rum and pineapple juice). We all slept in tents. As soon as the sun goes down, the hermit
crabs come out. There were thousands of
them crawling around at night in search of food. We had to zip up our tents to keep the
critters out.
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| Ready to explore the Blue Hole! |
We were the
first boat to arrive at the Blue Hole at 7am in the morning! The Great Blue Hole is a site made famous by
Jacques Cousteau. It is 984 feet across and
480 feet deep! It is home to reef
sharks, black tip sharks, bull sharks, and hammerheads. The dive masters throw chum into the water to
bring the sharks to the surface. The
snorkelers are able to get in and swim around while the divers get ready. It’s a relatively quick dive for the scuba
divers. Our particular group of divers
descended down to about 140ft. At those
depths, narcosis becomes noticeable, and you need more time to decompress
before reaching the surface. The divers
are not able to stay at the lower dept for long. Amazingly, the water was just as clear and
blue at 140 feet as it was at the surface!
On our long trip back to Ambergris Caye, we stopped at Caye Caulker for
lunch.
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| Turtles An Eel |
Belize and
its surrounding islands may be small but have so much to offer. Divers, sunbathers, snorkelers, anyone
wanting some relaxation while looking out into the clear, blue water, this is a
place for you!
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