Showing posts with label Nurse Sharks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nurse Sharks. Show all posts

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Photo of the Week - Snorkeling with Nurse Sharks in Belize

Nurse Sharks

One of the highlights of our last trip to Belize has to be the day we went snorkeling with the nurse sharks and string rays in "Shark Ray Alley" off the island of Ambergris Caye.  Getting to Shark Ray Alley is only a short boat ride from the island and you won't have a problem finding a guide on the island to take you there. 

Nurse Sharks are considered mainly non-aggressive but they have very powerful suckers rather than teeth, kind of like a catfish.  If they latch on to you it can be bad.

It can feel a bit intimidating sitting on the side of a boat about to jump in with these sharks, but it is well worth it.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Swimming with the Sharks and Stingrays - Hol Chan Reserve and Stingray Alley

The Shark Bait

Nurse Sharks








While in Belize we took a glass-bottom boat excursion to Hol Chan Reserve and Sting Ray Alley for snorkeling.  Hol Chan (which means "little channel" in Mayan) is a national park and is considered part of the barrier reef and is located at the southern tip of Ambergris Caye.  Hol Chan also has a large sinkhole considered a smaller version to the famous Blue Hole located at Lighthouse Reef. 





 



Bill Feeding the Sharks






Our Captain


Dive and Snorkel Boats


Our first stop was Stingray Alley where you can swim and snorkel with nurse sharks and large stingrays.  Bill got to feed the sharks, they were immediately surrounding the boat.


Our Tickets


The next stop was Hol Chan, which was so amazing and only cost $10.00US per person.  The coral is beautiful with lots of different shapes, colors and sizes.  The water is pretty shallow until you get to an area which drops off dramatically...you suddenly feel very small in this great big sea of water.








That is my hand with the orange band on..so that is proof that I really did touch the nurse sharks and the sting rays.  The sharks felt really kind of rough and hard..while the stingrays felt very soft and velvety.  I am not sure I liked the way the sting rays felt. 










Moray Eel

One of the guides was actually bitten by an eel, so beware.


Stingray

You can also check out the Hol Chan video we filmed at the bottom of our blog.