Caye Caulker

One of the main attraction of Belize is its reef and the Great Blue Hole.  The Belize Reef is the world’s second longest (after the Great Barrier Reef) and offers some truly amazing sights including coral canyons, an astonishing range of tropical fish, manta rays, sharks and barracudas.

The Great Blue hole is located around 100 kilometers off the coast of Belize. Its one of the Must-Sees for divers therefore I took the opportunity to go on a daily diving trip (including 2 more dives at the barrier reef), while Niels viewed it on a bird’s eye view. It is circular in shape (over 300 meters in diameter and 125 meters deep), in the middle its dark blue and surrounded by an atoll with light turquoise water. The sinkhole originally formed as a limestone cave during a time when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise, the cave system flooded and eventually collapsed, creating a "vertical cave" in the ocean. To be honest the marine life inside the Blue Hole is not very interesting, besides some fish, barracudas and reef-sharks there was not much to see. Its more about the geological formations that now lie in the ocean's depths. Going down to 35 m huge stalactites and stalagmites arise, some reaching 9-12 meters  in length. We got the opportunity to dive through them.

"Captain MueWi speaking - do you all feel save?"Blue Hole from the bird´s eye view

Diving the Blue Hole was dark and a little creepy 

We did it 35 meters in the Blue Hole

After the Blue hole we did two more dives at great dive sites

After the second dive we had a lunch stop at this nice little island

Hermit crabs everywhere

Third dive 

After the diving we received a reward for the exhausting day (rum punch served by my dive buddy)

Some more impressions from Niels bird´s eye view

The Split

Sailing off for a daily-snorkeling trip around Caye Caulker visiting 3 amazing snorkeling sites:

At the first spot (Hol Chan Marine Reserve) we got really lucky to see the by now very rare manatees. He greeted us with a full view as he swam by very close. But my personal highlight was the second stop @ Shark n Ray Alley, where we snorkeled with friendly nurse sharks and stingrays. Coral Gardens was also a great place to see: colorful tropical fish, turtles, eagle rays and more.

We finished this perfect day, cruising back to Caye Caulker while sipping rum punch and enjoying some snacks.

My first video cut (hope you still like it)

Some friendly nurse sharks

Stingrays all over

A huge conch shell

Guckuck

Green moray eel

A lot of tunas

Green sea turtle

Enjoying the sailing trip 😉  

Goodbye snorkling

Caye Caulker is a relaxed and easy going island approximately 20 miles north-northeast of Belize City in the Caribbean Sea with a reggae-tinged vibe. The local residents a very friendly and welcoming. The main street is a sandy pathway through the center of town surrounded by restaurants, seafood stands and bars. It’s the ideal place to snorkel, dive and enjoy life!

First sight of Caye Caulker  The Split was created by Hurricane Hattie in 1961 and is now a norraow waterway which divides the island in two. At this side of the island there is a nice bar also called the Split, we we spend most of the time 😉