Belize, Lighthouse Reef, Half Moon Cay – A break from diving to visit the Red Footed Booby colony on Half Moon Cay.

The reef and drop off walls in and around Long Cay have been superb for snorkelling and diving. There has been a great proliferation of sponges and corals along with a whole host of reef fish to entertain you. The humans spotted the usual reef inhabitants including jacks, hawksbilled turtles, big groupers, tarpon and one massive Jewish, but no large schooling fish or sharks.

I talked them into taking a break and doing the ‘tourist’ thing which includes a visit to the lovely Half Moon Cay and it’s famous Red Footed Booby colony. As it is breading season the trees would be filled with white fluffy hatchlings. And they were. There is a pass around Long Cay that leads over the shallows of the atoll, weaving through the many patches of coral, to an anchorage off Half Moon Cay. Unfortunately our boat is a little to deep to get through. Cruisers we questioned sighted depths of 1.8m in a few places and we need over 2m. Besides I am sure they would not welcome me on the beaches. So the humans left the ‘big boat’ at Long Cay and took the dingy instead. They had a pretty ‘bumby’ ride crossing the open waters of the atoll and dodging coral heads, but they said it was very beautiful.

Half Moon Cay turned out to be a wonderfully manicured perfect representative of a pacific island. Surrounded by white sandy beaches that contrast against the startling turquoise waters. Coconut palms draped lazily over the waters edge giving just the right amount of dappled shade. Caretakers on the island have lovingly raked sandy trails around the island. One leads to a viewing platform that brings you eye level with the tops of the tropical canopy and the nests of the Red Footed Boobies. Frigate birds stay near, either perched or swooping by, trying to snatch any food they can from the parent birds as they come in to feed their hatchlings. The cay also has a big palm shaded picnic area on the beach and a big enough dock to take both dinghies and some of the smaller dive boats visiting from the near by resorts.

The winds are meant to ease so I have talked the humans into continuing on with our visit to the outer atolls. There are a group of small islands, Turneffe Islands that form an atoll like ring around a central sand flat. These islands are only 20 nautical miles east of us, so this is where we are off to next. We here there a few drift dives here. The current brings much larger oceanic species and we may be lucky enough to see eagle rays, sharks and even ‘maybe’ a manta ray!

I will be just happy if they have a beach!
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