Snorkeling at Hol Chan Marine Preserve & Shark Ray Alley

by Gordon Kirkland
(Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada)

My wife Diane and I recently spent a week at Las Terrazas Resort on Ambergris Caye. We spent two days snorkeling in Hol Chan Marine Preserve including Shark Ray Alley. As I am partially paralyzed we took your suggestion and bought Tusa Split Fins, and couldn't be happier with them. It took very little leg movement to provide me with good forward thrust.

Our first day out we saw a large sea turtle (see picture). Its shell was approximately 3' long. In addition we saw quite a large number of Southern Sting Rays, which were much darker than the ones we had seen in Grand Cayman and St. Thomas. The one in the picture below is approximately 3-1/2 feet across its wingspan.

The real thrill came when we saw our first Nurse Shark. Over the two days we saw a great many ranging from about 3 feet to 9 or 10 feet long. Nothing can quite describe the feeling of having a large shark glide past close enough to touch (we resisted that urge.) I've attached two photos of sharks. One shows the size, and the other shows just how close they swam with us. (Our cameras do not have zoom lenses!) I did get one unexpected and slightly unpleasant experience. While watching a large shark swimming past me a Horse-eye Jack bit me. It was an odd juxtaposition of swimming with a large shark and being bitten by a much smaller fish.

The vacation was the best snorkeling trip we have ever taken. Together we took over 1700 underwater photographs. Between the 100' visibility in the water, the huge variety of fish we saw and photographed, and of course relaxing at Las Terrazas with Belikan Beer, rum or tequila, we hated to come home. Our next trip will be to Peter Island in the BVI in July.