Letter from the Indies: Belize, north-west Caribbean

9:15 PM Tue 26 May 2009 GMT

'Spinnaker up and catching fish.JPG' Ian & Andrea Treleaven

From West End on Roatan, Honduras, to the outer atolls of Belize, we have a perfect 80nm daylight sail and manage to hook two beautiful Dorado. As provisions have not been easy, we have become hunters not gatherers.

Arriving with the sun behind us, entering the most outer atoll requires a bow watch to negotiate the coral heads; my t-shirt is flapping against my belly in time with my nervousness.

Lighthouse Reef Atoll is 40nms outside the Barrier Reef that borders Belize and her hundreds of cays. Here the cobalt blue Caribbean

The Blue Hole from the air.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

Sea turns in an instant to turquoise blue over the sand. The depth and width through the breaking reef is only metres with clear visibility (too clear) but once inside we weave our way to Half Moon Cay and anchor.

This is the perfect cay; a grove of coconut palms, a red footed booby bird colony, white sand and waters 27 degrees Celsius for snorkelling. Well.almost perfect; just as we are about to jump from the dinghy, a three metre shark passes under us in a depth of 1? metres. Big, black and whilst only a nurse shark, it stops me from getting wet. I know they are harmless but I have lived in Australia for too long.

The Blue Hole from the water.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

Ian ignores it and is thrilled to find lobsters everywhere in only 2 metres of water. Unfortunately it is out of season, we have to be content to look at them now.

In the middle of this 24nm long reef is the famous Blue Hole; a perfectly round, very deep hole with all the features of a cave including stalactites at 120 metres. Made world famous by Jacques Cousteau in 1972, his discovery of the stalactites proved it was at one time above the water.

It is too shallow to cross the lagoon to the hole in our yacht so we hitch an early morning ride with the park rangers. On arrival I couldn't believe we had arrived but as

Spotted Trunkfish, The Blue Hole.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

you look closer you can see the deep blue perfect circle 150 metres across. We snorkel the rim which is covered in colourful ferns, coral and teaming with exotic fish. My exit is quick as a blue bottle wraps its trailing long tentacles around my legs...ouch. Ian loves his new found hobby of underwater photography. We are content to just snorkel as a few divers, including one only three months ago, did not return to the surface.

Through sparkling seas, we meander from atoll to atoll, Lighthouse to Turneffe to Glover, until we enter the

Not what I wanted to see.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

Barrier Reef which runs the length of the country for 190nms and is 15nms off the coast. It is the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere and second in the world to our Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Unique to this area are the small islands on the edge of the reef. Saltwater Cay has a perfect resort where you can snorkel out to the edge and then observe the sheer drop deep into the Caribbean Sea.

We meet Ray, a local, who is out here with a group from the USA on a 'reefology' tour. On learning we are from Australia he tells us the story

Cabana Grover Atoll.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

of Steve Irwin's visit to their local crocodiles. Apparently he hopped into the enclosure, as was his habit, and when they chased him he hurdled the fence claiming "crikey they are more ferocious than ours".

This is the season to visit the whale sharks which come every year to feed off the spawn of the snapper. Growing to over 14 metres in length, we just missed seeing them as they are moon dependent and we were a day too late. Next time!!

Belize is a very small enclave wedged in between Mexico and Guatemala. Not of interest to the Spanish during their quest for gold and silver

Resorts Belize.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

in the early 1600's, it became a haunt for English pirates and subsequently became a British possession known as British Honduras.

In 1981 it converted to the independent nation of Belize. Unlike other Central American countries and due to their British heritage, they have had very stable government. The current English speaking population of only 300,000 people is a mix of Creole (European and African, mestizo (European and Amerindian) and of course full blooded Mayans.

The government has developed the country as an Eco friendly destination preserving her national

Hot and steamy.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

treasures. Over 45% of the country is national park protecting the Mayan ruins, forest and especially jaguars which still roam wild and were idolised in Mayan culture.

The reef has similarly been protected with many parks to preserve this beautiful area. Eco lodges are to be found everywhere. Believe it or not we are still in the Caribbean with this area known as either the North West Caribbean or Continental Caribbean.

Turning south there are so many cays to explore; some are covered in mangroves and some a circle of white

The Caribbean Sea.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

sand with coconut palms. We can't enter the Rio Dulce until May 25th because of a very shallow sandbar at its entrance and we can only enter on a high spring tide, so will stay in Belize until that time.

Placencia is our main landfall where Moorings have a large fleet of charter yachts and we suggest you consider cruising Belize sometime, especially in a catamaran. The feeling is like being back in the Eastern Caribbean with colourful Rastafarians, cottages with thatched roofs and reggae music filling the bars at night. Nearby is the upmarket resort Turtle Inn owned by Francis Ford Coppola (of The Godfather fame), which along

Turtle Inn.JPG - Ian & Andrea Treleaven

with another one in the mountains are run as eco resorts.

The Sapodilla Cays are the most southerly islands on the barrier reef and it's very nice to spend our last days here in such idyllic surroundings. After seven months sailing 3200nm through the Caribbean Islands, with wonderful following winds, we are now motoring our last days as it is steaming hot, there is no wind and the seas temperature is now at 28 degrees Celsius.

As we depart Belize a new experience awaits us up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. We will be swapping turquoise seas for the huge fresh water river, sandy islands for a green jungle and fish for monkeys and maybe a jaguar. But as the hurricane season approaches 'Cape Finisterre' will be well protected here.