Swimming with stingrays

Today was one of those experiences to last a lifetime. I decided to go snorkeling for my first time ever. I don't know if I could have chosen a better spot – the barrier reef in Belize is second only to the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. I took a tour with a guide, along with six other people, all European tourists, and all of whom have snorkeled before.

We took a small boat about 10 minutes out onto the water to where there's a coral reef, and we snorkeled in three different spots: South Passage, Shark and Ray Alley, and Coral Gardens. I managed to get some prescription goggles that corrected my eyesight so I could see beautifully underwater. We also had flippers. The water was incredibly clear, and you could see very well under the sunny sky.

We anchored in a sandy area just a short distance from the coral reef, and our guide, José, led us over to the reef. The water was filled with amazing schools of colourful tropical fish that darted in and out of the coral. I never could've imagined there would be so many different fish species in one small area. There were plants in amazing shapes and colours rising from the reef. At one point, a green eel slithered by.

At our second spot on Shark and Ray Alley, there was a boat already stopped and tourists were swimming among the stingrays. We also anchored and swam over towards the other boat. I was amazed to see dozens of stingrays sliding just above the bottom, sometimes right below me. It was an amazing experience. The thought of Steve Irwin occurred to me, but apparently these rays are fairly accustomed to people, and the trick is to respect them and not annoy them. They are used to being fed, and they simply swam around a few feet underneath. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we didn't see any sharks this time, but swimming among the stingrays was an incredible experience. As we were leaving and back in the boat, we saw a huge spotted eagle ray.

At our last stop, the Coral Gardens, we anchored in shallow water and the guide just let us explore the reefs on our own. In this area the reefs came very near to the surface, but you can swim through the channels between them that were deeper and had sandy bottoms. The fish here were just incredible. Sometimes as I approached the reef, a whole school of medium-sized and multicoloured fish would dart out in front of me. There were little creatures that moved along the bottom, and others that lurked in caves. The reef was teeming with life.

This is my last day at Caye Caulker. Tomorrow I'll catch the water taxi back to Belize city, and then the bus to San Ignacio in the jungle close to the Guatemalan border.