Sailing Destination to Pine for: Belize!

3:21 AM Tue 16 Dec 2008 GMT

'Belize diving' .

Off the coast of Belize in Central America lies the second largest coral reef in the world, but maybe the most interesting when it comes to diving to see the sea life.

Long range sailors with plenty of time find it hard to drag themselves away, but you can also charter a sailing boat to get the best of this still pristine paradise.

Here David Whitley describes his interlude with a manatee on a sailing adventure off the coast of Belize.

Belize location map - .. .

If I stretched out my arm, I could give my ugly new friend a pat. But he's heavier than me, so it's probably not a great idea. A manatee would never win a beauty contest but they are adorably cute. Swimming off the coast of Belize, they don't mind company.

The reef that runs parallel to this small Central American country is arguably the world's greatest aquatic playground. It's the second biggest barrier reef in the world. But while the Great Barrier Reef wins in size, Belize has far more crammed into a smaller space. In Queensland you can see more colourful coral and a greater variety of smaller fish but here the big guns come practically guaranteed. On our six-hour jaunt, we swim with sharks, barracudas, eels, turtles and stingrays, leaving the massive brain coral, bright blue tang fish and huge marauding shoals as mere sideshows.

Belize anchored over the reef - .. .
The manatee's home is the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, near the islands of Caye Caulker, off Belize City. The crew of our boat, the Ragga King, spot him and drop anchor. Twenty of us pull on snorkelling masks and fins before plunging into the Caribbean in pursuit. He's a big one - 2.5metres long and weighing at least 600kilograms. Apparently, he'll eat 10percent of his own body weight a day.

He stands out like a blubbery beacon in the brilliantly clear water. We all jostle for position. He could leave us for dust at any minute if he chose - indeed, after 15 minutes or so he decides to speed off.

Belize raggaking - .. .
But before that, I get my magic moment. The manatee slows down and starts to turn. He ends up face-to-face with me, inches away from my nose, then flaps his front flipper. It's almost as if he's waving goodbye.

The Ragga King is under the laid-back command of Captain Miguel. It's not his real name but he thinks it sounds cooler so he's sticking with it. 'Miguel' isn't from Belize - he arrived from Nicaragua in the 1990s and decided to make Caye Caulker his home.

Caye Caulker is a small island - or rather two, as it was split by a hurricane in 1961. Everything here obeys island time; you can feel things slowing to a crawl the moment you step on the jetty.

The main street is lined with brightly coloured restaurants, bars and clapboard hotels. Each has its own happy hour but, again, things are flexible. The Bamboo Bar on what passes as a beachfront says that happy hour lasts 'until everyone is happy'. Given that it can take about 25 minutes to rustle up the half-price cocktails, this is probably a good thing.

Caye Caulker - .. .
Nearby shacks serve as open-air restaurants, where seafood is cooked on oil-drum barbecues. Shuffle along to the top of the island (no one walks; shuffling is the only acceptable form of transportation) and you reach the Lazy Lizard. It's the sort of place that really sums up the island.

Most of the bar's tables are in the water - they've created their own sheltered swimming area and guests wade out to the picnic tables with a beer in hand. Guests stay until well after the sun sets and the tide has come in, covering all but the top of the table.

belize blue hole first explored by French Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau - .. .

Caye Caulker about which David speaks measures about 5 miles (north to south) by less than 1 mile (east to west) and is about 16 nm north-north ease of Belize City. Some have said the islands name is derived from the practice of caulking or sealing the seams in wooden boats to make them watertight, due to the high number of shipwrights on the island. It is now generally agreed that the name was derived at a much earlier date from the Spanish name for the island 'Cayo Hicaco'. This refers to the Hicaco plum which grows wild on the island and was gathered by Spanish seafarers to combat scurvy.

Off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye is Belize's oldest marine reserve,the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Hol Chan is Mayan for 'little channel.' The entire reserve focuses on a cut through the reef (called a quebrada) which is little more than 25 yards (23 m) wide and 30 feet (9 m) deep about 4 miles southeast of San Pedro.

Belize contour map - .. .

The reserve was formed because of concern about the high level of uncontrolled, often destructive fishing and diving activities in the area. The entire reserve covers approximately three square miles (7.8 sq km). From Belize you can also sail the barrier reef, the outer atolls, Rio Dulce (although there's a travel warning for that area at the moment), and the Bay of Islands.

Chartering a sailing boat for a bareboat or skippered holiday is easy as well. Belize Sailing Charters can organise this, as well as other travel related activities such as exploring the rain forest, caving, scuba diving trips, or touring Mayan ruins.