Sunday started with an unreasonably early boat ride to San Pedro so that we could make the 6am launch of our tour boat for the day. Soooo early. But we did it, and by 6am we were off!

I should pause here and note that I do not do boats well. Not big boats, nor little ones. Other than a kayak or a paddle boat, I am simply not a fan of boats since I feel awful on them. I’ve actually never gotten sea-sick – not even in South Africa when we had 1-3 METER swells – but I certainly get right up to that line and spend most of my time on boats fighting back nausea.

So, 6am, on a boat, crossing open ocean for 2.5 hours. I held it together, but was absolutely delighted when we arrived at the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is an old cave formation which was once above sea level but is now underwater, or so we learned from a patchwork of Wikipedia and guide details. We jumped off to go snorkeling, marveling at the sheer walls of the hole all around us.

Snorkeling in the Great Blue Hole was cool, but the day really got better from there. As is so often the case, the sight that has the most hype isn’t actually the most exciting. The two snorkeling spots we did after the Great Blue Hole were each better than the one before, with sting rays, green turtles, small nurse sharks, and oodles and oodles of fish. Our last stop – dubbed “the aquarium” truly feels like swimming in a fish tank since the fish come right up to you on all sides.

We stopped at Half Moon Caye for lunch and to walk around. The tiny island is the preferred nesting spot of the Red-Footed Boobies, and there were also some impressively large hermit crabs.

Christmas Day was a pretty chill day. After a leisurely breakfast, we alternated between sitting on the lounge chairs on pontoons in the water, kayaking, and watching Ian and Wyatt snorkel.

An afternoon stroll up the beach helped us gain a better sense of our surroundings. Ambergris Caye is an odd spot of land. It’s an island that is separated from Mexico by just a small canal, and the majority of the island is protected by a massive barrier reef. We can see the waves crashing over the reef out at sea, and the water is pretty calm here since the surf gets broken up before coming to shore.

Anyway, as we walked along the beach, we were struck by the plentiful bits of trash – especially plastic – that washes up on shore. I wager this is actually what beaches would look like all over the place if folks didn’t go out and clean them up. The trash really saddened me, and I plan on doubling down on my efforts to reduce as much plastic waste from my life as possible.

We planned a quiet evening since the next morning was a really early one. At dinner, we saw dozens of eagle rays in the water outside the hotel restaurant. They are hard to capture on camera, but they are pretty magical to watch. Once in a while one will launch itself out of the water, but usually, they just flap their wings and seem to glide slowly through the water. I find them captivating and peaceful to watch.

Despite hundreds of cancelled flights across the US today, both our Boston flight and Atlanta connection were on time. It’s a holiday miracle!

Belize City has their system down perfectly. Those with COVID tests go in one line, those needing on-site rapid tests go in another. Show your test, show your passport, show your customs forms, and that’s all. We checked in for our domestic flight, grabbed a beer (which you can carry openly around the terminal), and went to wait for our flight.

I adore tiny planes. I love that they don’t pressurize, and I really love being able to see the world go by from above. My love of tiny planes started on a flight from Hartford to New Haven decades ago, although no flight will ever be more magical than flying over the Okavango Delta in Botswana and seeing herds of elephants and Cape Buffalo from the sky. Still, this was pretty amazing – we clearly could see rays (and possibly turtles) in the aqua waters below.

There are no real roads near where we are staying, so we got picked up at the San Pedro “airport” in a golf cart, which took us to a boat. Half an hour across the water and we had arrived!

We got checked in, unpacked, and took a quick walk on the beach. We were warned that the mosquitos and sand flies are fierce at sunset and that is absolutely no joke, so we are sheltering inside until the sun goes down and the Kells arrive.

Tomorrow is a relax day. There’s a kayak available to borrow that I have my eye on. Maybe some snorkeling – I just need to remember to leave my watch and ring behind since apparently the barracuda love to attack shiny things. 😯