Snorkeling, diving and swimming in the crystal clear water of the outer cays of the Belize Barrier Reef, suspended as though we were flying at the edge of the drop-off, a submarine precipice plunging thousands of feet into the depths of the abyss below us, what a fantastic way to begin our exploration of the reefs and rivers of Central America! We spent the day today along the edge of Lighthouse Reef, one of the three great atolls off the coast of Belize. No matter whether we chose to snorkel from the beach of a small palm-covered cay or in the deep water off the stern of the ship, or donned scuba gear to look a bit deeper along the face of the great coral wall, or simply swam and splashed in the beautiful warm water, it was a magical, delightful visit to a truly wild reef.
Huge schools of bright blue creole wrasse patrolled among the corals, green morays and spiny lobsters lurked in the crevices while enormous tarpon visited for a few minutes before disappearing again into the blue. Some of us encountered a loggerhead sea turtle and others found a school of ocean triggerfish resting at a cleaning station where smaller fish were removing their ectoparasites. Right under our ship a large school of horse-eye jacks hid in the shade, still under the watchful eye of a silvery barracuda, while an enormous tiger grouper hung in the water below. Solitary beauties like this queen triggerfish came and went, a never-ending panorama of lovely surprises for us to discover.
The coral reefs of the Caribbean have faced many challenges in recent decades, many of them have suffered considerably from temperature change, hurricanes and other factors. It was truly a moving experience for us to visit this remote site and see a reef community so healthy and vibrant; we felt we were welcome visitors in a beautiful, alien world.
