Belize, Part 2-The Island/Ocean "Surf"

For the second part of our Belize trip, we took the Belize Express Water Taxi from Belize City to San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye. It was over an hour, through smooth water, and even I didn't get seasick ;)

On our way out, the water was the crystal blue of all the postcards and travel websites. I hadn't seen water this clear since my study-abroad days in the Turks and Caicos, so I was excited to get to the island and get in the ocean!

On the water taxi...

We stayed at a small B&B, Changes in Latitudes, and it was clean and served a nice breakfast every day. They also included the use of cruiser bikes in their nightly pricing, which was a huge plus for us.

San Pedro is the capital, and it's noisy and there is a surprising amount of golf-cart and taxi traffic, making it smell like exhaust fumes throughout the town-kind of a turn-off.
But once you get through the main part of town, the island quiets down and you can experience the beautiful water and clear skies.

Other than snorkeling and diving, the two best things we did were to use the bikes to explore the smaller side streets, and rent a golf cart and drive it as far as we could to the northern end of the island.

San Pedro on bikes!

Belizean Firefighter Hal!

Golf cart island journey

The "road" rapidly disintegrates once you get about ten miles north of San Pedro. Then you come to appreciate why they would only rent you a golf cart, and not a car!
The road disappears and you head to the beach, which would be great, except that the beach isn't always passable. When that happens, you follow a smashed trail of literally trash (plastics, old fishing nets, bottles) and driftwood through the jungle until the beach opens up again. Of course, Hal had a blast navigating through all this, and I only wish I'd taken a picture of what we had to drive through!

One of the best local places to eat, 'My Secret Deli'!

The rest of these photos are from the various snorkeling and diving sites on the island. We only went outside the barrier reef once, and it was harrowing for me and made me seasick, so henceforth all other underwater expeditions were made closer to shore!
And contrary to what the locals tell you (and what the guidebooks say) you can access many beautiful snorkeling spots from shore, as long as you're willing to swim a bit...! Oh, and the water was warm, fantastically we-didn't-need-wetsuits warm!

Diving outside the reef...

Perspective...

Following the dive master...

Hal getting friendly with a nurse shark

Coral canyons

Blacktip reef shark coming in to say hello

Hal, the "Shark Whisperer"! 

Hal, floating in the abyss...

First time I've seen a moray eel in the wild!

Beautiful, healthy corals

Big sting ray

Snorkeling through shallow waters

Vibrant sea fans

Hal following a little hawksbill sea turtle

Under our dive boat

Goodbye Belize, until next time...!

Thanks for reading, and apologies for this second portion falling short on details. It really was all about the water and sea life while we were out on the island; hopefully the pictures do it a little justice!