SNORKELING IN BELIZE AND HONDURAS

Before the snorkeling photos, here are a few from last week's trip back to the boat. I almost wasn't allowed on the plane because I had no evidence that I was returning to the US. I always knew that could be a requirement, but it never had been before. So, I ended up purchasing a return ticket at O'Hara and then getting a full refund as soon as I landed in Honduras. Makes a lot of sense, right?

My flight from Chicago to Houston to San Pedro Sula, Honduras went over the Yucatan Peninsula, including Belize. This photo shows Belize City, which is where friends and family have flown into. Then depending upon where we're at, we pick them up on the boat there or they take a water taxi to Cay Caulker. With a population of around 60,000, Belize City is the largest city in Belize, which received it's independence from Britain in 1981. Because of crime, including murder, most travel sites advise against going there. However, we've gone shopping in Belize City several times and have done some exploring. So like a lot of places, you just need to pay attention and not go anywhere stupid.

It was fun flying over the reef, and seeing some of the places we had anchored while sailing the previous two seasons.

On approach to San Pedro Sula you get a birds eye view of palm plantations, fields of other crops, villages and what they call "mountains".

The Honduran/Guatemalan border is about two hours from the airport and the border closes at 6:00 pm, so it's always a relief to make it through. Especially considering we went through eight or so police checkpoints before getting to the border. Each police check consisted of five or six uniformed 12 year olds with automatic rifles. We were only stopped at two. In each case they just looked us over and waved us through. Our driver Ricardo said that in Honduras, the authorities treat Americans well. We had two checkpoints in Guatemala also, and again no issues. Our driver, who really spoke no English, was also able to convey how much weight I had gained since he last saw me. The translation process was like a game of charades with Ricardo pointing at my stomach. Both he and Delana thought it was all pretty funny, 

Including our two carry-ons, we had seven suit cases, plus two back packs. The total weight was 350 lbs of stuff to bring back to the boat, which included clothes, kitchen gadgets, a propeller, other boat parts, etc.

This is our back yard. I guess one of the large homes across the bay is owned by the owner of Gallo Beer and another by the owner of one of Guatemala's telecommunication networks.

Okay, onto snorkeling. I'll try to keep the captions to a minimum. First the snorkelers. This is my daughter's friend Stephanie and daughter Grace in Isla Mujeras, Mexico.

Iowa State friends Harpo (standing), Jaynece, Elaine, Pete, Ted and Chip in Cay Caulker, Belize. I don't know who the two guys sitting down in the foreground are.

Walt, a friend from Iowa State, along with Tom and Noreen from the Twin Cities, in Cay Caulker.

Minnesota friends Christie and Dayton in Roatan, Honduras. Dayton also did a lot of scuba diving while there.

St Croix Economic Development Corporation friend Nita with her daughter, son-in-law and husband in Roatan.

Delana's sister Jennie and brother-in-law DJ in Roatan.

Delana's Swiss friends Vreni and Thomas in Roatan.

Manuela and Michael are two Austrian/German cruising friends that I originally met in Mexico. They ended up docked in front of us at the marina in Guatemala and we sailed with them quite a bit in Belize. However, Michael really has sea sickness issues so they are giving up cruising to open a brewery in Austria.

Delana's son Ryan and his partner Lauren in Cay Caulker.

My daughter-in-law Katie and son Chance in Roatan.

Hometown/Iowa State friends in Cayos Cochinos, Honduras.

The only sharks we've seen are nurse sharks. This one was hiding under some coral.

I don't know if this very short video will work with the Blogger format, but if it did, it would show me spooking a nurse shark.

A live sea biscuit with the five lobed design.

Moray eel.

This is a classic feeding frenzy, initiated by snorkeling guides from Cay Caulker throwing out food to attract sharks and rays for their clients. According to Google "Nurse sharks are slow-moving bottom-dwellers and are, for the most part, harmless to humans. However, they can be huge—up to 14 feet—and have very strong jaws filled with thousands of tiny, serrated teeth, and will bite defensively if stepped on or bothered by divers who assume they're docile." Well, after sticking my hand into a feeding frenzy to pet a shark, I fall into the "bothered by divers who assume they're docile" category. Though I can truthfully say I've been bitten by a shark, it loses some of its impact when asked what kind, plus my scars aren't quite as dramatic as Robert Shaw's character in the movie JAWS. 

You'd think I'd learn, but I've yet to be stabbed in the heart by a ray.

This shows the contrast between the reef and the pass that goes through it. The reef might come all the way to the surface, while the pass can be a 100 feet deep. Some passes are plenty wide and easy to navigate through, while others are very narrow. So depending upon wind, waves and sun, getting through some reefs can be pretty nerve wracking. Several times we've just moved on instead of risking it.

The fish are pretty, but so are many of the corals, with some reefs being much prettier and more interesting than others.

The sting of this little jelly fish isn't very strong, but if you happen to swim through a bunch of them it is pretty annoying. We've also ran into some that are more painful and leave welts. And then there are others that can really hurt you.

The lobsters in warm waters don't have claws and I don't think taste as good as the northern ones. We don't harvest any lobsters ourselves, but have bought them from local fishermen.

Shipwrecks are always interesting.

To get more of a workout, we use hand paddles sometimes.

Quite often there are mooring buoys to tie the dinghy to while snorkeling. A buoy is as likely to be a one liter soda bottle.

Some reefs have many more fish than others, but more surprisingly, some reefs have much friendlier/more curious fish than others.

There always seems to be a barracuda or two lurking around and watching.

As you can see, lionfish are very pretty. Unfortunately they are an invasive species, reproduce like crazy, have voracious appetites for baby reef fish, have poisonous spines and don't have a natural predator in the Caribbean. 

It's illegal to spearfish anything in Honduras, except lionfish. But first you have to take a course and become registered.

One less lionfish. We've eaten them before, but considering the hassle and risk of being stung while cleaning them, we just remove them from the spear and let them drop to the bottom. The thinking is, that this might help the local fish develop a taste for them, like they have in other parts of the world. 

No, I'm really not spearfishing with a hot dog fork. We use it to push lionfish off our spears.

It's fun snorkeling around the remnants of this 16th century Spanish fort, which is on the south side and near the east end of Roatan.

Besides various types of shells, we've collected some pretty cool bottles.

Can you spot the ray?

Spotted eagle rays are very cool.

In conclusion,  we love snorkeling, often go out a couple times per day and always see something new. In general we like snorkeling around the Bay Islands of Honduras the best. Not only are the reefs great, but where ever we anchor, we're never more than a short dinghy ride from a reef. Plus, unlike some places in Belize, you don't have to use guides. And our favorite area in the Bay Islands is the north shore of Guanaja. Other than a couple dive shops, the island really hasn't been discovered by tourists yet. And that's especially true for the north shore, where there really aren't even cruisers.