The outstanding snorkeling on Half Moon Caye is one of the things that brings me back year over year. One of the best things about Belizeans is that they love their country and they are always excited to show it to you. The guides on Half Moon are just as excited as you to see nurse sharks, lemon sharks, rays, or simple things like this peacock flounder. This flounder can change colors to match it’s surroundings or apparently, to look like a random piece of gauze.
There are several walk-in snorkel sites around the island and others are only accessible by boat. You typically have the opportunity to snorkel with a group at least once each day, and once you know the area, you can do the walk-in sites on your own.
There’s no way I could describe all the amazing animals I’ve seen over four trips to Half Moon, but I’ll highlight a few here with my favorite snorkel sites.
Click on the upper right corner of any video to pop it out into a new tab.
Lobster Gardens
Lobster Gardens is a walk-in snorkel site and unique in that there are HUGE spiny lobster walking around in broad daylight not knowing that they are delicious!!! More likely, they do know, and also know that they are in a marine park and therefore, completely safe. Check out the video of this big dude! Notice that the spiny lobsters don’t have big meaty claws like the cold water lobster.
Mitch’s Bay
I have hurricane Mitch to thank for my favorite walk-in snorkel site. It is off the point of the island and you do have to cross a bit of coral rubble to get there and to enter the water. I love this site for the variety of sea creatures, big and small. It’s common to see both nurse sharks and lemon sharks here, as well as rays. One of my favorite fish is the big French Angelfish. You get a quick look at their cartoon-like faces in this short video. You can exit MItch’s Bay the same way you entered, but there is a more exciting exit on the other side of the point near the fallen lighthouse. I prefer this exit because we would often see big midnight parrotfish and giant grouper in the deep water. There is a bit of current and you need to take care that you don’t get pushed up to the rocky part of the beach. It really isn’t hard, you just need to kick, kick, kick!
Coral Gardens
This is an easy access walk-in snorkel site. You may see some big things here like nurse sharks and rays, but a lot of the beauty comes from the many schools of colorful fish. I believe these are yellow grunt in the video. If you catch one while fishing, you will hear why they are called grunts!
The Dock
Not a snorkel site per se, but the dock is a great place to just hang out with your snorkel–and maybe a huge barracuda like the one in this video!! I’ve seen turtles, schools of tiny fish, and chased rumors of a seahorse here as well.
Boat Accessed Snorkel Sites
The famous Belize Blue Hole is a short boat ride away. It is interesting in that on one side you have a wall of coral, and on the other deep, deep, water. The history of the site is interesting and the guides will explain it all to you before you go. Because it’s so easy to do from Half Moon, you should do it, but I don’t feel that it is great snorkeling. I prefer the Aquarium site, which you will visit after the Blue Hole. As long as the visibility is good, you will see moray eels, sharks, cool corals, rays, and an abundance of fish. It does feel like being in an aquarium!