Lance's Commander's Snorkel Trip to Belize, Ambergris Caye

In May of 1998 I found myself in the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. The streets were sand and the most popular vehicle was a golf cart. Everyone walks around in their bare feet or sandals and are very friendly.

Downtown San Pedro

On the second night that we were there, we went night snorkeling. This didn't seem prudent to be submerged in the ocean surrounded by hundreds of fish especially since I didn't know which fish were dangerous and which fish weren't. Making it even more unnerving was the idea of using small hand held flashlights to find our way through the maze of coral and schools of fish. It was more fun than I could have imagined. Some of these underwater pictures during the day give you an idea of what we saw.

Pretty fish in coral

The first time I saw a shark while in the water, I asked the guide if that type shark was harmless to humans. He said yes and brought the shark up to us to pet.

Fish and a shark

During one day, we rented a golf cart the explore the Caye. The only thing we found were wild lizards, thousands of hermit crabs, biting flies and a mangrove swamp.

Cart to explore the Ambergris Caye and Coke to stay cool

Every time we went snorkeling, we encountered new types of fish.

Colorful fish

Sharks and rays were numerous too.

Ominous looking nurse sharks

We took a boat trip to the mainland and then a bus to the temple Altun Ha. With the temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity above 90 percent, it was still worth climbing to the top of the temple. This temple is one of the national symbols of Belize.

Altun Ha temple

After a long boat ride, our guide told our group to dive into a thick cloud of these Bottlecap Jellyfish. Well, since jellyfish sting, nobody dove in. Frustrated, the guide drove the boat to the nearest island and told us our waterproof suntan lotion would protect us from the burn of these jellyfish. Otherwise, we could shower back at our rooms to get rid of the burn in areas the lotion didn't cover. I went for a quick dip in the ocean between the waves of jellyfish and that was enough for me.

Bottlecap Jellyfish

We went snorkeling above the Blue Hole and around this island. Notice the rusted ship stranded on the coral reef.

Shipwreck near the Blue Hole

Lighthouse near the Blue Hole

Toward the end of our trip, we went to the Belize zoo.

Colorful Toucan in Belize Zoo

Belize was hot and humid yet an interesting place to learn about nature.
Return to Lance's home page