Fish are friends

Not food. Except, of course, for other fish. That was the first takeaway from my snorkelling trip. If you’re in a place famous for its watersports then I figure you should probably give something a go. And therefore I took the plunge (ba-doom tish) for my maiden snorkelling voyage on the world’s second largest barrier reef.

We started with a couple of sightseeing trips. First, to see seahorses - tiny and, if I’m honest, barely visible - and then the rather more impressive tarpons. These hefty fish can grow up to 2.5 metres and are a protected species in Belize (oh yeah, I’m in Belize) and started to circle the boat, knowing that they were going to be fed. We were shown how to hold a fishy treat just above the surface and then wait for the tarpon to leap out of the water and snatch it from our hand. After flinging a few fish to some nearby pelicans the warm-up was complete and we moved on to the main event.

I can’t say I was a natural snorkeller and I can say I was quite nervous beforehand, but I did get to grips with it and ended up enjoying it. Once I got the hang of how to keep the mask attached to my face and how to breathe through the tube, it was the start of a beautiful, if not particularly graceful, relationship between me and the ocean. I was surprised at how clear everything was and saw numerous varieties of colourful fish and corals. 

The highlight of the trip was the second of our three locations: shark and ray alley. It did exactly what it said on the tin and it was amazing being so close to sharks and, my personal favourites, stingrays (I find them cute, funny and elegant in equal measure). The sharks were nurse sharks so were safe to be around and not that big, though they seemed plenty big enough in such close proximity! Amusingly, they all swarmed on top of each other in a shambolic pile while squabbling over food, rather like overgrown koi. It’s the closet I’m likely to get to a Blue Planet experience. Come in, David Attenborough, your time is up.

The biggest negative was that the water was not particularly warm and getting out of it back into the boat was particularly cold, especially being whipped by a fair wind. It was the right day to do it though, with at least some sunshine, as the following day it rained. 


And rained and rained. Caye Caulker is a tropical island paradise and has a strong Caribbean vibe, but with its beach and watersports culture it’s not exactly geared towards wet weather. This led to a very lazy day dashing between cafes and bars during lulls in the rain, reading and swapping stories with a couple of others in order to stave off cabin fever.

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