By Lyn and Arthur Dobrin
At the north end of Belize we found out. Taking a plane from Kanantik’s private airstrip, we flew to Belize City, changed planes and, a few minutes later, landed on the island of Ambergris Caye (pronounced key).
With more resorts, inns, hotels, restaurants and shops than any other area of Belize, the spirit is different in Ambergris Caye. There were more people than we had seen in days and souvenir shops and other stores you’d expect to find in a seaside resort.
Yet Ambergris Caye is still small and off the beaten track. Once you leave San Pedro, the island's only town, which has no paved road and where most people walk or ride golf carts, there is nothing more than a path that leads from one end of the atoll to the other.
Generally people travel from one part of Ambergris Caye to another by water. We boarded Mata Chica’s launch at Fido’s dock and zipped along the eastern side of the island, passing many condos and resorts (nothing was more than two stories high). Twenty minutes later we arrived at Mata Chica.
Mata Chica Beach Resort in Belize
This secluded San Pedro resort is aptly named, as the property is filled with “little palms” that separate each of its 14 casitas. Each villa at Mata Chica is built above the sand and is named after the color it is painted — banana, kiwi, mango, etc.And each has its own personality and is decorated in an idiosyncratic style with a unique mural behind the bed, one-of-a-kind knick knacks on sideboards and coffee tables and a throw rug. Every porch has a hammock and all the double front doors open towards the water.
Some come to Ambergris Caye for relaxation and romance, such as Brian and Susan Flaherty from San Francisco. The two had wed six days earlier at Mopan River Resort in the jungle to the north in a ceremony attended by ten family members and friends.
The couple went on to Mata Chica for the second week. “I like the feel here,” said Brian, “the relaxed and easygoing staff and the fact that there are no bugs or sand fleas.”
Monika McLaughlin from Toronto, there with her new husband, David, said, “I love waking up and watching the sun come up over the water. I enjoy watching the resort come to life as the boat docks and the staff arrives to set up for breakfast.”
Hol Chan Marine Reserve in Belize
To experience the adventure and romance of exploring the barrier reef, you can easily kayak out or dive off the end of the pier and find yourself amidst of a school of fish. Or take a ten-minute boat ride from town (we went with Ambergris Dives) and go to Hol Chan Marine Reserve. (Bring $10 U.S. for the park entrance fee. A ranger pulls visitors aside when they anchor and will not permit them into the water without paying first.)Our first stop was Hol Chan Channel, where the coral formations are large and the numbers of fish impressive. Once again we snorkeled and, for the first time, saw a sea turtle.
The swim at Shark Ray Alley, also in the reserve, was thrilling. A spotted eagle ray glided just beneath us. And we can say that we swam with sharks! Yes, really. They are only nurse sharks and are vegetarians. They appeared to be about three feet long and those were definitely sharks’ fins we saw.
Swimming with the big guys were honeymooners Dara and Peter Fishman from New York. These two experienced divers ventured to the Blue Hole, a remnant of the Ice Age that was once the opening to a dry cave system. When the ice melted and the sea level rose, the caves were flooded, creating this almost perfectly circular area more than 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep.
Dara and Peter dove down to 130 feet. “It was eerie,” said Dara, who said she saw silhouettes of huge grey reef sharks and particles in the water that seemed to glow. “You don’t see a lot of color in a place like that; the dive is for seeing the structure of the cave. But I’m glad I did it.”
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