Postcard from Belize: Sailing from Ambergris Caye

Sailing is simply the best thing in the world .  There is truly nothing like it and nothing I love more. Today, we went sailing on a 40-foot catamaran….just me, Janie, Eric, our snorkeling guide, and Hubert, aka “Shorty”, our captain and cook for the day. (www.catamaranbelize.com). We headed out just before noon on a perfect day, with full sun and following wind.  

It took about 45 minutes to reach Hol Chan, Belize’s offshore marine reserve, which covers approximately 4,500 acres of coral reefs, sea beds, and mangrove forest. With masks, snorkels, and fins, we jumped in and immediately came face-to-face with a juvenile green sea turtle in about 10 feet of water. In the crystal clear water, we encountered varieties of snapper, grouper, barracuda, graceful slow-moving stingrays, harmless, but intimidating nurse sharks, a green moray eel…each playing a part in the fragile reef ecosystem.

Back on the boat, Shorty served up a Belizean lunch of stewed chicken, grilled fish, slaw, rice & beans and homemade flour tortillas, with Belize’s ubiquitous Marie Sharp’s habanero salsa. To wash it all down, Eric served us a local cocktail specialty, descriptively called a “Panty-Ripper”.  Embarrassing to order, not bad at all to drink!

After lunch, we docked at Caye Caulker’s famous “Split”,  where Hurricane Hattie, literally split the island in two in 1961.  We walked the main street, lined with colorful guesthouses and a few bars and restaurants that survived Covid and have recently opened for the last few weeks before the rainy season sets in and the tourists (mostly) disappear again until just before Christmas.

After a quick dip at the locals’ beach club, we reluctantly set off for San Pedro.  We sailed and drank cold Belikan’s (“The beer of Belize”), as the late afternoon wind picked up and, finally, Mother Nature served up the perfect sunset to end the perfect last day in Belize. Tomorrow, we head back to Atlanta.