Half Moon Caye is part of LightHouse Reef Atoll, and where we went for lunch the day i dove The Blue HOle.
....i've been trying to organize a trip there to do some serious snorkeling ... before i head off to Utila :)
the Caye (island) is managed by the Belize Audubon Society and i have been emailing them in Belize City finding out what i needed to do to stay out there a couple of days .... i can camp in a tent.... bit they do have rooms in buildings that i can rent :) ... and there are kitchen facilities, showers, and composting toilets, like we had at Glovers. i need to bring my own sheets, towels, food, and ..... drinking water .... that's the 'biggie' as far as transportation is concerned. but i've got it figured out.
the 'getting out there' is the difficult part. there is no water taxi nor shuttle service out there ... you need to 'hitch-hike' a ride out their with one of the Dive Boats that is going to the Blue HOle. Darrel said that i could go out with Aqua Scuba when they go out there ... the problem is that they don't have a set schedule... they go when they have enough people signed up ... and when the weather is good .... so i've been emailng the Audubon Office that i might be going on Wed ... then, no, they are not going on Wed .. maybe Thurs ... then maybe Fri ... and so on ... but she said that is typical and they are flexible since not that many people want to go out there under those conditions. so, i've been patiently keeping in touch with Darrel and with her ... and
... it finally came together. Aqua Scuba had a boat going to the Blue HOle on Sat ! ....i already had menus planned and most things bought and packed for the trip, due to the several 'false alarms' over the last week. so Fri i made my final list and in the evening i walked to the store to buy another gallon of water. on my way i passed the Sports Bar, and heard live music ... a band playing great 60's and 70's music ... right here on Caye Caulker, ...and the place was packed! i couldn't resist, i walked in, and couldn't leave ! i guess they play every Fri night :( .... i need to get out more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...i stayed for a couple of hours, then got my water and went home and did a last check on my list. i was excited and ready!
up at 5:15am ... i asked for a taxi to pick me up ... i could handle my snorkel gear, sheets, bug net, food, camera equipment and clothes ... but i couldn't carry 3 gallons of water at the same time :( LuLu the Taxi Man was on time ..thankfully !
the ride out there was a pretty rough ride ... a 'cold front' had come in, and the waves were big ... several people didn't look so good, and one girl tossed her breakfast over the side of the boat ... poor her! .....i am so fortunate that it doesn't bother me ... i think it's like a carnival ride :)
here is a map:
the boat came in from San Pedro and picked me up at Caye Caulker; we headed southeast and crossed through the beautiful clear turquoise waters of Turneffe Atoll
then out to LightHouse Reef, and the Blue HOle ... 2+ hour journey ...
while we were going through Turneffe, we saw a 'Pirate Boat' ... :)
we took a larger boat today, it had a deck above where the Captain sat ... (i know it has a name) ... so you could go up there and have a better view of the 'Hole' ... you can see the coral on the outside and then the darker blue in the middle ... you still need a plane to get the full view :(
they dove the Blue HOle and i elected to snorkel ... i didn't think i really needed to see the Blue HOle again; and i'm glad i did ... my mask was totally fogged up and leaking, not the conditions under which i want to be at 140ft :( .... i don't know what's with it ... but it is aggravating ...it was good for a couple snorkels, but fogged up on both of the dives i did with Ken :( ... maybe i just should have left it at the bottom of the sea in San Pedro!
so, although i couldn't really see much, i could tell there were a lot of corals that looked really pretty through the fog .... i aimed my camera and took a few photos ... i am glad i did ... it really WAS pretty ... no 'fish' photos because i couldn't really see them :(
really pretty corals of all colors ... nice to see that they are healthy !
because of the distance from shore and the cost ... going to the Blue Hole is expensive, so not that many people come out here ... and the ones that do are mostly divers ... so the coral doesn't take much of a 'beating' from snorkelers ... unlike West Beach in Roatan :( ...so nice to see (through my photos)
i'd like to do that snorkel again ... with a clear mask !
back in the boat, we headed for our next destination ... Half Moon Wall for the divers ... and the second snorkel was basically snorkeling from the boat to the shore at Half Moon Caye ... mask was better .. but the current was really strong, i'm ok with it; but most of the people were struggling; i saw several people standing on the coral OUCH! :( ... i kept my mouth shut ....... so we headed right for shore and didn't do much 'snorkeling' ... but i took a few photos and thought this would be a good spot to return to while i was there ...
a pretty little Queen TriggerFish... one of my favorite and one that you almost never see in Honduras ...
at the dock ... looking at my new home for a few days ... ahhhhh... paradise
we had a nice lunch, then i got my bags and crate of food and water off the boat, said goodbye and thanked Darrel and Aqua Scuba and checked in.
Cliff, i think is the Manager out here, and Bill are very nice guys ... and they put me in a 'nicer' building than the one i 'signed up' for ... i have a little 'apartment' all to myself. my building is the white one ... and i had the whole left side that you see :)
... kitchen, with frig and stove, and 2 bedrooms !!!!!!
...2 bedrooms, so i had to decide which one i wanted to sleep in :) i picked one, started unpacking, and then decided on the other one ...
i got my bed 'put together' ....
then i headed out for a snorkel .... after experiencing the current on the way in, i asked which side of the island would be the best to snorkel ... here ... in this lagoon ...
ahhhhhhhh, it really felt good to get in the water by myself and just go at my own pace and where-ever i wanted :)
first thing i saw was a couple big Midnight ParrotFish ... these guys are really big. i'd only seen a glimpse of a couple in Roatan ... i got much more than a glimpse today :)
a 'cousin' to the Midnight ParrotFish is the Rainbow ParrotFish ...
and this juvenile 4 Eye ButterFly Fish against the coral ... actually this area had been hit hard by the 1961 Hurricane Hattie and has mostly rocks ...
this cute little Juvenile BLUE Tang ... yes, it is YELLOW when it's a baby :)
a mean-looking big fish showing his teeth .... a Dog Tooth Snapper ... and his teeth did look like dog's teeth ... i've seen them before, but none of them were showing their teeth like this one :(
a huge school of StopLight ParrotFish ... over a hundred i am sure ... they were everywhere !
and several Porcupine Fish ... swimming freely around, which you don't see very often ... most times they are hiding under a rock or coral .... they were big too !
i was starting to get cold and time to come in ... i was just cruising parallel to the shore when i saw this big lobster .... everything seems to be bigger out here ! ...he was pretty bold .... again, usually they are hiding .. it's very unusual to see them out and walking about, especially during the day ... but this guy was boldly climbing up one rock then another ...
this is a 'protected' Marine Park ... i guess he knew he wasn't in any danger ...
i cleaned my equipment and took a shower; when i got back to my room, i realized i left my other underwater camera and case and ALL my extra batteries and battery chargers and ipod on the boat :( without a battery charger, i can not take any more photos :( ..... now THAT really upset me .... maybe i'm getting too old for this.... i seem to be so irresponsible lately :(
the little bit of internet that we have here is down tonight, so i can't even ask to make sure they found my camera stuff on the boat :( ... HUGE BUMMER for me ..... and for all of you too, i imagine :(
i fixed myself a drink and some dinner: a lipton-type soup mix, with sauteed onions, garlic, carrots, and jalapeno, extra pasta, and a can of chicken .... topped off with some cream cheese :) ...it was pretty good for roughing it :)
it was 7pm, dark and quiet ... i worked on my blog for awhile and went to bed at 8:30 ....
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