Gales’s Point, Manatee and Goff’s Caye, Belize
We arrived at the mouth of the Manatee River at daybreak and an early round of adventurers headed out on Zodiacs and kayaks to explore the river. A boat trip up the river is a perfect introduction to the biological wealth of tropical watersheds. The Southern and Northern Lagoons empty into this river and are surrounded by limestone hills, mangrove forest and savanna marshland. This area is also the breeding and calving grounds for one of the highest concentrations of manatee in the Caribbean. The coastline here has the largest nesting concentration of loggerhead and hawksbill turtles in Belize. The government of Belize has recognized the lagoon’s significance by declaring them part of a Special Development Area, requiring special planning procedure before development.
After lunch, we repositioned to the east side of the barrier reef in the nicely protected lagoon and dropped our anchor west of Goff’s Caye. Goff’s Caye sits on the barrier reef of Belize about 12 miles southeast from Belize city and used to support a community of several families before the Hurricane Hattie storm discouraged them from moving back. The government of Belize now owns it and it has become the popular weekend get away spot for many Belizeans because of its proximity to Belize City. The divers found spiny lobsters, a green moray and a spotted scorpion fish. Wrapped around a fire coral was a fire worm with its very sharp piercing bristles flared out. The snorkelers had a grand time right off the beach while others relaxed and enjoyed the Belizean tropical breeze. It promised to be another spectacular sunset and here we were in this paradisiacal wonderland to share it with one another. It feels good to be home!
We arrived at the mouth of the Manatee River at daybreak and an early round of adventurers headed out on Zodiacs and kayaks to explore the river. A boat trip up the river is a perfect introduction to the biological wealth of tropical watersheds. The Southern and Northern Lagoons empty into this river and are surrounded by limestone hills, mangrove forest and savanna marshland. This area is also the breeding and calving grounds for one of the highest concentrations of manatee in the Caribbean. The coastline here has the largest nesting concentration of loggerhead and hawksbill turtles in Belize. The government of Belize has recognized the lagoon’s significance by declaring them part of a Special Development Area, requiring special planning procedure before development.
After lunch, we repositioned to the east side of the barrier reef in the nicely protected lagoon and dropped our anchor west of Goff’s Caye. Goff’s Caye sits on the barrier reef of Belize about 12 miles southeast from Belize city and used to support a community of several families before the Hurricane Hattie storm discouraged them from moving back. The government of Belize now owns it and it has become the popular weekend get away spot for many Belizeans because of its proximity to Belize City. The divers found spiny lobsters, a green moray and a spotted scorpion fish. Wrapped around a fire coral was a fire worm with its very sharp piercing bristles flared out. The snorkelers had a grand time right off the beach while others relaxed and enjoyed the Belizean tropical breeze. It promised to be another spectacular sunset and here we were in this paradisiacal wonderland to share it with one another. It feels good to be home!
