This day is entirely dedicated to a tour including
three stops:
- Viewing manatees in their natural habitat.
- Snorkeling at Goff's Caye, sited right on the
reef.
- Swimming with sharks and rays.
After
We must be at 10:15 AM at tour agency office and,
as usual, we’re up a lot earlier than that. We relax for a while,
looking at the beautiful sunrise, and go out for our breakfast at the
nearest restaurant.
It is in the second – and last – floor of a house
in the junction of two streets and we get good views of Caye Caulker
while we eat our eggs with bacon and toasts. We pay 18 BZ$ in total for
it.
Due to the slow way of live on this Caribbean
Island, after finishing our breakfast it’s time to go to the hotel for
our snorkels and appear in the agency for our 10:30 AM tour.
The group walks to the water taxi pier where we
all board into a small boat which leaves the island immediately.
The first stop is in the spot they call “The
Chanel” and it is 45 minutes swimming over this underwater paradise. We
see a lot of colorful fishes and even a green moray eel.
The second stop is in a shallow area of the reef
where sharks and rays are used to the constant visits of the boats with
tourists. Our guide throw some food around and we can go to the water
with the group has come to eat. The feeling of being surrounded by
these big fishes is fantastic. We can even touch them and I get
slobbered by a sting ray over the belly.
The third and last stop is close to the end of the
barrier, which is easily seen because the change in the color of the
sea to a darker blue and because is in there where the waves are
breaking against this natural border. This part is known as “Coral
gardens”. It is not deep here either and we can keep enjoying the
underwater nature in such clear water.
When we are back to the island, after more than
three hours out, we’re a bit tired but extremely happy by the
experience. We pass to the hotel to leave the stuff and change of
clothes before going to lunch.
We choose restaurant “La Cubana”, where we eat
from the menu, although they have a buffet there. We eat beef fillet
for my wife and a couple of tacos for me by 30 BZ$ in total.
We go out for a long walk to help our digestions and go up
to the end of the island to the spot known as Split. We can see in our
way how the streets are wearing Jamaican thematic as we’re reaching the
place until we end in a big area full of people, in land and in the
water too. There is music coming from two big baffles. The most popular
pub of the country is the Lazzy Lizard, and it is where we are now. It
is full of young people just in front of the narrow separation between
this island and the next. There is even a big yate docked by the bar.
We come back to the hotel to rest and only will leave it briefly for a couple of hot dogs in stand in the street.
The second stop is in a shallow area of the reef
where sharks and rays are used to the constant visits of the boats with
tourists. Our guide throw some food around and we can go to the water
with the group has come to eat. The feeling of being surrounded by
these big fishes is fantastic. We can even touch them and I get
slobbered by a sting ray over the belly.
The third and last stop is close to the end of the
barrier, which is easily seen because the change in the color of the
sea to a darker blue and because is in there where the waves are
breaking against this natural border. This part is known as “Coral
gardens”. It is not deep here either and we can keep enjoying the
underwater nature in such clear water.
