Belize lies inside the world's second-largest barrier reef and features three major atolls.  Although, it doesn't have much in the way of beaches, it has some of the best diving sites in the world.   Most of the best diving is reachable from live-aboards or from resorts on the offshore cayes.  The deeply-cut, spur-and-groove coral reefs of Ambergris Caye, the largest and most developed of the Belize's cayes, are interesting, but not as adrenaline-producing as the rugged underwater scenery of the outer cayes, where the walls are among the more spectacular in the Caribbean. There's a chance to see large schools of fish, a big one here and there, and plenty of large nurse sharks.  There's good diving off Placencia, a funky fishing village in southern Belize, and, since it's on the mainland, you can visit Mayan ruins, the Jaguar Preserve, or take river tours. The trade-off? It's an hour's boat ride to the pristine barrier reef.

Our favorite spot on Caye Caulker, is the calm uninhabited inlet on the western side of the island, immersed in wildlife.   There you may experience seeing a small, brown shark slipping through the placid Caribbean waters of the cove. Moments later, a ray whisks beneath my kayak like some underwater prehistoric bird.

Schools of juvenile fish surge and stop, surge and stop. Young barracuda, nearly transparent but for their black eyes, lurk in the sea grasses.

The small airstrip is the only pavement on the island.  The airport terminal consisted of a small plywood shack. Coconut trees twist in the distance. Most notable was the lack of people: There are no haggling taxi drivers vying for your fare, no other tourists. Just you.

From the airstrip, you walk down a sand road toward town, population 1,000.  Ask for directions, since English is the national language of Belize, but you won't get lost.  It's easy for Spanish-challenged Americans to get around.

The hotels, are like nearly every structure on the island, made of brightly painted plywood elevated several feet by stilts. When the seas get rough or the big winds blow everything away, they just rebuild atop the stilts. There's something refreshing about a place where none of the structures are permanent.

After walking the town, which consists of two parallel streets with small stores, a couple of groceries, and local and tourist restaurants, you can visit the shops which offer snorkeling excursions.  Half-day snorkeling trips cost $20 to $25, gear included.

Ask about the manatee preserve about an hour's ride away on another caye (the word is synonymous with island here).  You will cut your engines and push the boat by pole. Since the coral reefs break the waves farther out to sea, the water
around this island and Caye Caulker is very gentle.

Stare at the lugubrious, bottom-feeding manatees - hippos with flippers. Mayans hunted them for ages and used their tough hides to cover shields. Unfortunately, motor boats, hunting and habitat loss have killed off most of the gentle herbivores.

Then proceed to Goff's Caye, an island about 100 yards across with a dozen coconut trees, white sand and coral reefs. As you snorkel, have your captain cooked foil-wrapped packets of snapper, onions and potatoes and a pot of coconut rice. Pack a few cold Belikins - the local beer, which comes in stout or lager in thick, recycled bottles.

Your second snorkeling excursion should take you to the Hol-Chan marine preserve, an underwater park of extensive reefs where the colorful fish, rays and grouper were most plentiful because no fishing is allowed. A park ranger in a motor boat will collect your admission to this underwater park.

Hol-Chan means deep channel. We soon found out why.  As we flippered through the shallows, dazzled by the parrot fish nipping at the coral, we suddenly came to the edge of a shelf that dropped into a 30-foot channel. Feeling bold, I followed the guide as he plunged to the bottom and swam through a small cave - a major no-no among safety-conscious divers, but what the heck.

Later, we motored to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, the best-known of Belize's islands and also the most developed. Compared to better-known and overbuilt Caribbean resort islands, San Pedro is still small.  Nevertheless, it held none of the charm of Caye Caulker. College kids looking for an exotic Spring Break drinking destination would probably love it.

Which brings up a note of warning to folks considering a trip to Caye Caulker: Don't expect white sandy beaches. The island has none. Swimmers jump off the numerous docks and piers, but travelers who want to oil up and flop on a beach during their vacation should go elsewhere.

The lack of a big beach is likely why Caye Caulker has kept its charm, although it's just a matter of time before a developer brings in some barges of sand and builds a beach, as has been done on some of the other cayes.

Most of the small cayes have no beaches because of the way they were formed, by mangrove trees. Mangroves knot the shorelines and spread by dropping 6-inch pods that float until they strike ground in shallow water. Then they set out roots and begin the process all over. Over the ages, islands form.

The mangrove forests are viewed as swamplands by resort developers, who have chopped away great swaths of the trees in parts of Belize to create golf courses and hotels for the rich and famous. But without the mangroves, there would be no islands, no manatees, fish or wildlife.

On the north side of Caye Caulker is a 105-acre forest preserve, a littoral forest that was a coconut grove before Hurricane Hattie in 1961. Here can be found abundant wildlife, some species rarely seen elsewhere.

Throughout Belize can be spotted the keel-billed toucan, called the "bill bird" locally, noted for its enormous beak and bright coloration. It is the national bird of Belize.

Locals say an occasional crocodile can still be spotted among the mangrove thickets. It sounded dubious. As proof, they said dogs occasionally disappear in the night. Dogs don't swim for the mainland, so they must provide an occasional midnight snack for crocs.

How could I dispute this?

The islanders are a mix of Mayans, ex-patriot Americans and Europeans, and others of Afro-Caribbean descent. The food is part Central American - beans, tortillas - and part Caribbean, with coconut appearing in many dishes. We ate fish every day, and after some snooping, found which restaurants cooked local food and which served tourist junk.

Lobster, shrimp, barracuda, snapper (curried, barbecued or fried and served with piles of coconut rice) could all be had for $5 to $10.

The best food for your money can be had at Wish Willy.  Wish Willy is a mellow, dread-locked, ex-patriot American whose real name is Maurice - he lived for 25 years in Chicago before moving back to his native Belize to escape the American
hustle.

Our suggestion is to buy a ripe papaya the size of a football, slice it, squeezed a fresh lime over it and feast upon it on the hotel porch.  Nothing like a papaya to clean the system.

The homemade ginger ale in a restaurant called Martinez is one of the must-do gustatory experiences on Caye Caulker. The owner, a tiny man who speaks broken English, may even share the recipe: Shred a heap of ginger, boil it and strain out the shreds, leaving a concentrated ginger water.  Stir in some sugar and squeeze as many limes as possible into the sweetened ginger water.   The resulting drink is a cure for whatever ails you: It puckers your lips, cleans your nostrils and clears your throat all in one.

In destinations such as Caye Caulker, the acquaintances one makes provide as much amusement as the geography and food.

But of all the activities, food or people, the kayaks provide the most fun on the island. You can rent them for four hours for $15 apiece and paddle along the town's waterfront of coconut trees, fishing piers and plywood hotels.

Plan to slip through to the other side of Caye Caulker by floating through a channel that slices through the narrowest section of the island. Approach the inlet cautiously in case there is a current. When you emerge on the landward side of the island, paddle into a wide inlet to the north. The inlet is sheltered from waves and wind and the water is clear and gentler than a lazy lake.

As you look at the the fish your voices will be the only human sounds. Fish splash as they break the surface to avoid predators.

Explore the several narrow channels which are crowded with overhanging mangrove trees, then tie your kayaks to a fishing shanty on stilts about 100 feet from shore and eat lunch.

You will find well fed Cormorants relaxing and digesting their lunch in the mangrove trees, whose finger-like roots knot the shoreline. Pelicans, the belly floppers of the diving shorebirds, plop into the shallows and gulp fish by the gullet-load.

Eventually, the blazing sun begins to cook your Yankee flesh and it's time to paddle home.   

Do not leave the island until you go over there. It's beautiful.

LINKS

St. George's Lodge -- a small, dedicated dive resort on St. George's Caye, 30 minutes from Belize City, in operation since 1977

Island Dreams Tours and Travel -- A travel agency specializing in scuba diving and world-wide watersports adventure, including land-based and live-aboard dive operators.

Tropical Treasures was recommended by a good friend as one of the better Caribbean vacation providers.  They are your connection for the best vacation values in the Caribbean, and Fiji.  They specialize in all-inclusive vacation packages offering the best values to their clients.