Tropical Marine Biology Belize 2024 - Day #7 - The Island Without Time

Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize

Greetings friends and family!

Today was an adventurous day that involved a bit more travel than usual. Due to the taxing day we had yesterday, we decided to give everyone a break and we started 30 minutes late. Woo hoo! That means that, after breakfast, we headed down to the dock at 9:30AM. Instead of our usual ship, the slow and steady Goliath, today we were booked on a fast boat that would help us cover some distance:

Much smaller but much faster, this boat helped us zip from San Pedro out toward another island. But on the way, we stopped to snorkel at a beautiful and large reef with the apt name Coral Gardens. The students enjoyed a nice tour of the area, spotting many species they had learned about during the semester.

Upon returning to the boat, we headed to a unique snorkel spot: a sunken barge that had founded on the reef in the 1970s and now serves as an artificial reef upon which a new coral reef is growing. Unfortunately, the wind and current were too strong, preventing us from snorkeling there.

We were once again reminded that Mother Nature is calling the shots on this trip! So we motored over to Caye Caulker, an island half way between Ambergris Caye and the mainland. I joked with the students that Caye Caulker is where we go to escape the hustle bustle of San Pedro! 

We docked at San Pedro and headed into "town," which consists of a few dirt roads lined with restaurants, bars, and lots of gift stands and shops selling local goods:

We visited a local restaurant for a mellow lunch:

Afterwards, the students had a few hours to wander the island. It really is a remarkable place, the type where you could think to yourself "I'll walk over there and get something to eat" and, next thing you know, five hours has passed. It has an incredibly mellow and laid back Caribbean vibe, which we all appreciated after a busy week. I took the students to a "sea horse ranch" where some netting and seaweed provided an ideal habitat to spot these cool fish in the water:

After relaxing on some chairs watching the birds and the clear water.

As the time to depart neared, some students found me and reminded me of my previously stated rule: Any time we walk by ice cream on one of my trips, I'm buying!

Thus fortified, we headed back to the boat and motored back to San Pedro.

The students enjoyed a quiet evening with dinner at TREC followed by work on their projects and posters. As they always do, the students worked diligently, and went to bed fairly early, excited for tomorrow, our last day on the island.

Everyone is working hard and getting a lot out of this unique experience. I'm proud of all our NEC students!

Thank you for reading,

Eric J. Simon