Cay Caulker and the wonderful Glover’s reef

PHOTOS LINKS–>>

Cay Caulker to Glover’s reef and back to Placencia. https://photos.app.goo.gl/fcWX6dQzCngKDtBM8

Under water at Glover’s reef:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LPbi6DaYqmrCMDF66

Cay Caulker

Over the next few days we enjoyed walking the pathways of Cay Caulker, exploring the various little grocery stores trying to find supplies for the following weeks.

We managed to get our laundry done at the same place we had always used, Marie’s laundry. We saw many of our old haunts and had another wonderful Chinese dinner.

Everyone wears their masks and socially distances, well that is nearly everyone. There is a happy, fun atmosphere. The various eateries are open, everybody is ready for business.

We really enjoyed our time in Cay Caulker, but we needed to move on.

Ambergris Cay and San Pedro

It was time to re-up again. Belize is unusual in that every month you have to visit the authorities and renew your immigration, customs and port authority for both us and Aeeshah.

We had all decided to make a trip over to Ambergris Cay to accomplish this and also pick up a few bits and pieces we couldn’t get in Cay Caulker. Off on the ferry we sped for a fast half hour ride to San Pedro the small town on the cay.

Now Ambergris has a totally different atmosphere to Cay Caulker and Placencia, the place is usually a bee hive of activity. While it was busy it was nothing like it used to be.

We walked to immigration and customs by the airport and managed to finished with them rather quickly for Belize, just taking about 90 minutes. Then off we went via taxi to port authority at the very for end of nowhere at the end of Ambergris.

Back in town we had a really nice fish and chip lunch by the beach and then hit the streets.

Luck was on our side we managed to get everything we all wanted and returned to Cay Calker on the 3:00pm ferry.

Turneffe and Glover’s Reef

Our next destination was to be Lighthouse Reef followed by Glover’s reef, both are atolls off the Belize shores. We left Cay Caulker and headed first to Turneffe by way of Long Cay pass over the reef. Turneffe is also an atoll, but mainly made up of mangrove cays. We anchored off of Blue Creek for the night.

Next day the aim was to head towards Lighthouse, but the wind and seas were not in our favour, it was going to be a very rough passage heading right into the conflicting seas and wind. We all made the decision to head southwards to Glover’s Reef.

This was a much easier angle, plus a quick passage. John and Chico were very happy when we had a strike, it turned out to be a large bull Mai Mai. These fish are so wonderfully colourful, just magnificent, I really felt awful having to kill the fish. However not one piece would be wasted.

Approaching Glovers the cays and the shallows looked like a paradise set in the turquoise waters, just stunningly beautiful. We anchored off of the Southwest cays the one where the Manta Resort is found.

We had visited Belize 11 years previously along with our Grandson Ethan and Glovers was where we had spent a week diving and snorkelling so we were really looking forward to reuniting with the area.

The first place we visited was the cay where the Marisol Resort was and still is located. It is found on the cay just past where we were anchored. From our approach the place looked exactly as we remembered, just lovely.

There was one of the workers at the dive dock, he told us we were welcome to wander s it is an all inclusive resort. I asked if my dive master Mora was still working there and sure enough he was.

The fellow went off to call him and a short time later Mora came to say hello. As it turned out he had been stung/speared near his knee by a sting ray and was resting, but suffering from the poisoning. It was still great to see him after all this time. He really was a wonderful instructor.

We wandered the pathways to the other side of the cay, everything was as it had been, just beautiful and so peaceful. A wonderful place to stay.

After a good hour of reminiscing we set off to the nearby reef to snorkel.

Snorkelling Glover’s reefs

The snorkelling was/is excellent. We saw all types of corals and reef fish, plus large tarpon in the deeper waters and squid over the reef.

Many live conch and the molluscs crawling over the sands, Flamingo Tongues attached to the sea fans,…….and so much more.

The water was/is lovely and clear, plus the perfect temperature for snorkelling. Some of the best snorkelling I’ve done for quite a while.

Over the next several days we had many snorkelling trips to many of the closer reef. Each time it was just wonderful! We saw dozens of differing fish and corals, conchs and other shells. This area is a dream to snorkel!

Middle Cay

Another excursion was to Middle Cay where there is a research station run by Wildlife Conservation International. It was quite a long dinghy trip of 2 and 1/2 miles but the water was more or less flat calm as we were inside the reef.

On arrival we met Buck who welcomed us to visit. He was in charge of all maintenance for the place. Buck explained that they were a World Heritage site funded by the New York Zoo.

That visiting scientists conduct field studies, do research, closely monitor the reef environment and species living within the area. It is a park so the parks people have folks there, fisheries also. They do a 2 to 3 week shift while the scientists stay as long as necessary.

While he was explaining I was noticing loads of no-see-ums, I was going to get our bug repellent, but Buck offered his. John didn’t think he needed it….

We then met a visiting Brazilian scientist. She explained that she was there studying the tiny little reef fish the Goby. These are tiny reef fish with more than 2,200 species. They are a scaleless fish, typically elongated bodies with weak spines.

She said she was studying, not so much the ones you see acting as cleaners to the larger fish, but the ones that live in and around the tube sponges, on the corals. Her study was nearly complete and then she would be off somewhere else. The gobys they had kept in saltwater fed containers in the laboratory area.

By this time John was itching and in need of the bug repellent.

We then set off to walk around the whole cay. John hung onto the bug repellent…

The walk around was just lovely, very peaceful with peaceful view points over the sea and reef. However as we entered the more mangrove areas there were many more bugs. The no-see-ums were joined by the mosquitoes. These I found very annoying as they buzz around your face and ears. And they did make me hasten my stroll into a quick walk back to the breeze of the dock.

Overall it was a lovely visit to Middle Cay. I was hardly bitten, maybe 2 or 3 bites, but John was covered in bites which itched him for days and nights after.

Another boat had joined us for the last few days, Latitude, with Derick and Carol.

We had a very nice late afternoon drink at the bar over the ocean at the Marisol Resort. Enjoying catching up on all that we all had to share.

After nearly a week at Glover’s reef it was time to return to reality. Out there we had no wifi or data, no news, no emails, just our own reality.

Leaving Glover’s we had rather rough seas as the wind was up, but soon we were in the protection of the land and reef. We headed into Blue Ground Range for the night and then the next morning heading off to Placencia.