Where oh where might I find my perfect vacation spot? I am looking for a place where I can stay right on the beach (resort or rental) and snorkel from the shore with easy water entry. I know that one can snorkel from any shore pretty much, but I am looking for some really good, wild life and coral reef filled snorkeling. Any suggestions?

Have you looked at South Water Caye? Or one of the other small cayes on or near the reef?

--Lan Sluder

Coconuts Caribbean, Am. Caye. Nice beach, you can walk the sand bar out for 100's of feet, jump in to deeper areas anywhere, or see tropicals swimming around feet. Great staff, best beach chairs, free bikes, south of town.

Lan Sluder/Belize First,

You wrote:

"Have you looked at South Water Caye? Or one of the other small cayes on or near the reef?"

South Water Caye looks a bit rustic for us, though otherwise it looks wonderful! I have a physical disability that makes walking any distance a slow task, but I snorkel like a fish and really enjoy being in the water. Water entry from a boat is no problem (jump ... splash! What could be easier?), but it is sometimes difficult for me to get back in the boat. That's why beach entry would be perfect for me. I'd also like a place with a big enough area for snorkeling that a week's stay wouldn't be redundant.

One would think that on the internet it would be easy to find a map of the reef and shore area with names of land marks or some sort of island names to search on, but so far I have found none. My husband and I will be retired as of the first of the year, and we intend to do a little bit of splurging on travel for the first year, so this sort of information would be of great use to us.

You mentioned "one of the other small cayes on or near the reef." Can you give me some names of some of the cayes or resorts so I can search on them?

Thank you!

Serendipity,

I have never found any really good, high-quality Belize maps on the Web. There are some, but they're all lacking in some way or another. The best general map to the country is the Belize Traveller's Map from ITMB, and it does show the reef and many, not all, of Belize's 200 or so islands. It's US$8.95, plus shipping. We sell it, but it's available from other sources, too.

There are a quite a few places where you can snorkel from the shore, even on Ambergris Caye and Placencia. For example, in Placencia Kitty's has some fair snorkeling areas and on Ambergris Caribbean Villas has a little artificial reef area by its dock. As long as you're not in a busy area such as the water off Front Street you can pop in and snorkel. It's not like being on the reef but there is a surprising amount of sea life.

Islands on the reef and/or with coral heads nearby are mostly small -- places like South Water (which isn't all that primitive), Tobacco, Goff, Rendevouz, Northern, Little Water, English, Half Moon, Ranguana, Laughing Bird, French Louie.

Some of these have lodges or houses, some don't. But all are pretty isolated and offer little except water sports. One of the guidebooks such as Moon Handbook or Rough Guide can be of help.

I know what you mean about getting back into a boat. I have a touch of arthritis and am getting fatter by the year, so it gets harder to embark the bark. But it depends a lot on the boat -- some are set up for ease of getting in and out, and others aren't.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First Magazine http://www.turq.com/belizefirst/