Cruising Day 5 - Snorkeling in Belize
Another morning, another morning sun over the Caribbean. This morning's sunrise was too hazy to be of interest, but once the sun rose into a cloud layer, we passed by this tiny island.
Today's excursion - snorkeling in the Coral Gardens along the barrier reef. We didn't realize that this was the second largest barrier reef system outside Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Scott booked our tour through Coral Breeze / Hammerhead Sports. The boat took us from the Belize City port out to Caye Caulker, a small coral island, about a 40 minute boat ride. En route, we encountered a trio of dolphins:
Caye Caulker's marina area:
The coral life we saw along the reef was extensive - the best snorkeling we have ever experienced. These pictures really don't capture the detail and colors of the reef and tropical fishes.
I even shot a short video:
After an hour of snorkeling along the reef, we took a short ride to the Shark / Sting ray alley to hang out with the sting rays.
And watch the barracuda from a safe distance:
I would love to go back again.
Awesome, such a close encounter. All fabulous under your len.
Oh my gosh I am soooooo jealous! Beautiful island!
Shirley - I am loving your vacation shots. Roatan is my 'home base' for scuba diving. There's a resort there that I've been back to 8 times now, and I visited another resort there several times before I found my home away from home.
I had a dive trip in April in Honduras, and my next trip is scheduled for the end of September. I go to Belize diving in December.
So your vacation posts are hitting all of my favorite spots.
Laurie
That first image is so gorgeous. Love the tones. Your u/w images are not bad. I only tried this once and WOW is it a lot harder than it looks!
Looks like the cruise we took out of New Orleans last September, but we didn't do all the exciting trips--two old fuddy duddies that simply strolled, laughed, slept, and relaxed. Belize and Roatan were beautiful. Have a good weekend.