Belize 2024 - Half Moon Caye Bird Santuary

Every Tuesday there is Blue Hole day trip from Turneffe Island Resort. We dove the Blue Hole when we were in Belize a few years ago so decided not to do it again. (It's a deep dive and a bit underwhelming after all the hype. Most divers agree you have to do it once and that's enough.) However, we knew the other two dives in the area would be very good.

It was a windy day though so it was quite the 1 1/2 hour boat ride to get there. Amazingly, only one person got sick on the boat. We went with the snorkelling group while the divers did their Blue Hole dive. It was nice but with how rough the water was, we decided snorkelling was harder work than diving! 

One of the highlights of the day was the lunch stop at Half Moon Caye which, since 1924, has been designated a bird sanctuary to protect habitat of the red footed booby birds. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of their red feet. When we saw them on the ground and could see their feet, I didn't have my camera with me. But I love the bright blue and pink of their beaks. 

They like "the orange-flowered Ziricote trees for nest building and raising chicks. In return, the booby colony supports the forest's stability by providing guano as fertilizer."  (From a sign along the path to the viewing tower.) 

It's also a nesting area for frigate birds. "The males proudly display their bright red gular sac to attract females; it may take them a full twenty minutes to inflate." (From a sign along the path to the viewing tower.) 

The seemingly uninterested females. :-)

There were also a lot hermit crabs on the island! So many that you had to be careful not to step on them. 

Gumbo limbo trees are often called the "tourist tree" because its red shaggy bark is always peeling. The bark is used as a remedy for sunburn and sunstroke. 

There are also lots of little iguanas slithering around and birds soaring the ridge line of the trees.