Halfmoon Caye , Lighthouse Reef, Belize
Sunrise found us moored to our buoy on the south side of the Lighthouse Reef Atoll where the waters were protected from the Caribbean swells. The stern of the Sea Lion was suspended over a 4,000 foot dropoff at times and then would swing back up into 20 feet of turquoise water. It was an incredible sight!
Our guests were soon on their way to visit the Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument, the home of the red-footed booby (pictured above) and the nation’s first reserve to be created under the National Parks System Act of 1981. It was no wonder that this site was chosen because of the abundance of nesting sea birds and marine life. An observation platform made it easy to view the nesting boobies alongside the magnificent frigatebirds with their inflated gular pouches. While people were observing the bird life on the caye, others were discovering the underwater world. The snorkelers swam on the surface winding their way in and amongst the coral heads. Meanwhile, the scuba divers donned tanks of air and sank slowly down towards the sand bottom where garden eels with their heads darting this way and that fed in the water currents streaming past them. Huge pinnacles of coral created grooves of sand which were occupied by massive silvery tarpon that seemed unaware of our presence. A school of several large great barracuda swam parallel with us almost out of sight. And backed down into a massive basket sponge that sat upright on the edge of the precipice, was a channel clinging crab.
After a scrumptious buffet lunch served on the sun deck, we all once again headed in different directions. For the scuba divers, the day was topped off with a night dive along the Halfmoon Caye Wall. Gigantic silvery tarpon with reflective red eyes moved back and forth across the small beam of our lights. An iridescent squid hovered above us rapidly displaying a rainbow of colors. On our way back to the ship, the water around us was lit up with the glow of bioluminescence. It was hard to tell if it was really a reflection of the thousands of stars above us.
Sunrise found us moored to our buoy on the south side of the Lighthouse Reef Atoll where the waters were protected from the Caribbean swells. The stern of the Sea Lion was suspended over a 4,000 foot dropoff at times and then would swing back up into 20 feet of turquoise water. It was an incredible sight!
Our guests were soon on their way to visit the Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument, the home of the red-footed booby (pictured above) and the nation’s first reserve to be created under the National Parks System Act of 1981. It was no wonder that this site was chosen because of the abundance of nesting sea birds and marine life. An observation platform made it easy to view the nesting boobies alongside the magnificent frigatebirds with their inflated gular pouches. While people were observing the bird life on the caye, others were discovering the underwater world. The snorkelers swam on the surface winding their way in and amongst the coral heads. Meanwhile, the scuba divers donned tanks of air and sank slowly down towards the sand bottom where garden eels with their heads darting this way and that fed in the water currents streaming past them. Huge pinnacles of coral created grooves of sand which were occupied by massive silvery tarpon that seemed unaware of our presence. A school of several large great barracuda swam parallel with us almost out of sight. And backed down into a massive basket sponge that sat upright on the edge of the precipice, was a channel clinging crab.
After a scrumptious buffet lunch served on the sun deck, we all once again headed in different directions. For the scuba divers, the day was topped off with a night dive along the Halfmoon Caye Wall. Gigantic silvery tarpon with reflective red eyes moved back and forth across the small beam of our lights. An iridescent squid hovered above us rapidly displaying a rainbow of colors. On our way back to the ship, the water around us was lit up with the glow of bioluminescence. It was hard to tell if it was really a reflection of the thousands of stars above us.
