Since we were in the Caribbean on an island, we wanted to take advantage of being on the water during our time in Caye Caulker. We had gotten scuba certified, which was an amazing experience, but we wanted to see more of the marine life and underwater environment. I had done a bit of research and really wanted to visit Hol Chan Marine Reserve, which is the oldest marine reserve in Belize. To go here, we needed a full day tour since it was a little way from Caye Caulker. Having never ridden on a sailboat before, we decided that a snorkeling/sailing combination trip was the way to go.

Our first time on a sailboat! It was so relaxing!

Blackhawk Tours is a small, friendly company owned and ran by a local named Steve. We signed up for the tour and showed up the next morning at 9am, greeted by their mascot – a 14-month old German Shepard named Blackhawk. We tried on masks and fins and then waited for the others who would be joining us on our tour. There were two other couples: a younger couple from San Diego and an older couple from Colorado. We spent most of our time talking to the older couple from Colorado, Ed and Paula, since they have been scuba diving and travelling around the world and offered some good tips and suggestions.

The mascot, Blackhawk, reminded me of our old King-dog that we used to have!

We walked barefoot to the dock where the sailboat, also named Blackhawk, was waiting for us. Joined by Harry, an assistant captain and snorkeling tour guide, Captain Steve navigated our boat by motor about 30 minutes north near Ambergris Caye (another Belizean island). As Steve and Harry called it, we had a couple of “bonus stops” that are not part of the normal tour, but that they try to include when weather and marine life allows for it.

A snorkeling selfie!

Our first stop of the day was seemingly in the middle of nothing, with not much fish or coral to look at. Harry jumped in the water first and started swimming, shouting at us periodically to follow him quickly. We soon discovered why; there were two manatees swimming in the water! A large male and slightly smaller female would float for a bit, then swim a few meters away when they thought we were getting too close. We swam and watched them for about 10 minutes before they got too far away and we had to turn back to the boat. Just based on our first snorkeling stop, we knew we were in for a treat of a day!

It’s a bit hard to see them in the picture, but there were 2 manatees swimming with us for a while!

Our second stop was within Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Zone D, Shark Ray Alley. As the name suggests, this area is known for its abundance of nurse sharks and sting rays. They are all used to people so do not pose any threats to us in the water, but it took me a few seconds to work up the courage to get into the water with sharks! Jon took a couple minutes longer, as this is one of his fears (a shark attack). I’m very proud to say that he got in the water despite his fears and swam with the sharks! We spent about 20 minutes floating around the boat watching the sharks, sting rays, and multitude of fish in the water. Once back on board, Steve told us that we had another “bonus stop” coming up.

Swimming with the sharks…no big deal!

Our third stop was another “bonus stop.” There was one small boat anchored by itself in the water. Steve told us that there are only a few people allowed to fish for conch and this was one of those boats. When they do fish for conch, it brings out a great deal of fish and on occasion, turtles. Harry quickly jumped in the water and led us to where the action was: one Loggerhead Turtle swimming among all the fish. We found out that he is about 80-years old, nearsighted, and blind in one eye. Harry cautioned us not to get too close to him, so that he doesn’t run into us while swimming and get confused. He was very graceful swimming in circles; I could have watched him all day!
Our forth stop that we made was also within Hol Chan Marine Reserve; this was the primary purpose for doing the tour. While Harry swam with us a few other times to point out the manatees and turtles, he actually led us on a tour through a part of the reserve. Whenever he would see a different type of fish or coral, his head would pop up above the water and he would tell us the name. I wish there was a way I could have taken notes on this tour since he contained a wealth of information about the sea life below! My favorite fish that we saw was a Stoplight Parrot fish. It’s very colorful, but has red, yellow, and green spots on its tail reminiscent of a stoplight.
After around 45 minutes on our tour of Zone A, The Reef, we were ready for a break!

Harry would dive underwater to point out a particular piece of coral or fish, then come to the surface to tell us the name.

Captain Steve welcomed us back on the boat with lunch, which gave us a chance to rest and refuel after our active morning. We each got a box with beans and rice, a small pasta salad, and roasted chicken. I don’t think anyone had anything left in their box after lunchtime; it was a delicious meal, made even better by the view of the water from the boat!

The GoPro was a bit foggy, but it didn’t matter since our lunch was delicious!

Our fifth and final snorkeling stop of the day was the Coral Gardens, another portion of Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Here, we all had about a half hour of free time to swim around the coral and explore. We didn’t see as many large fish while here, but saw a lot of smaller fish and very interesting coral. My favorite type was a large purple leafy coral that was like a fan, swaying with the current.

Some of the coral at The Coral Gardens area of Hol Chan – the pictures don’t show how colorful and active it is!

Once back on the boat, it was time to head back to Caye Caulker, but it was not time for our day to end quite yet! Steve and Harry had prepared some fresh fish ceviche and watermelon for us to enjoy as they put up the sail for a slow, relaxing trip back. They passed out some rum drinks and turned up the reggae music as we all sat back, unwound, and gazed out over the endless waters of the Caribbean.

We enjoyed the sail back to Caye Caulker, complete with watermelon, ceviche, and rum drinks!

Our day with Blackhawk Tours was amazing and is a highlight of our time on Caye Caulker. The weather was beautiful, we had a small but friendly group of people with us, marine life was abundant, and we got a few surprises added to our tour that we hadn’t planned on when we booked with them. Our tour cost $60USD per person and was well worth the cost! Our tour ended up including five snorkel stops, a filling lunch on the boat, and snacks and rum punch on the way back. This is in addition to the expertise of Captain Steve and Harry, who made the tour special and fun for us. We would highly recommend Blackhawk Tours to anyone visiting Caye Caulker! We loved our day with them and wish we could do it all over again!

Our boat captain Steve, on the right, and snorkeling guide Harry, on the left, fed seagulls the leftover chips after we finished our ceviche.