Belize: Unspoiled Caribbean in Central America

updated 4:14 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2007

SAN PEDRO, Belize - Needle-nosed ballyhoo fish leap from the water, lured by the wake as Capt. Bobby Halliday motors off Ambergris Caye. The turquoise waters here are so clear you can see blades of sea grass and lobster traps more than 20 feet below the surface.

Halliday has been guiding fishing trips through these waters for years, making some customers so happy that they gave him the two 60 horsepower engines that power his boat, the Blanca Lilly. He slows to troll, and suddenly even more is visible below: Parrot fish. Angel fish. A 5-foot bull shark, silent as a shadow.

He rigs up our fishing poles in more than 30 feet of water, and we quickly land a pile of Spanish mackerel, yellowtail snapper and one hard-fighting barracuda. Halliday pries a mackerel from a hook, spilling blood on the deck.

When I step back, he laughs.

"That's when Bobby's having a good day, when there's blood in the boat," he says. Then he nods to my husband. "That's a good catch, man."

We'd pondered where to spend a winter vacation, eager to swap gray skies and chilly weather back home for blue water and fresh seafood. We'd been to several Caribbean islands, but we wanted something different.

Our research led to Belize, an English-speaking nation of 280,000 that seems undecided on whether to market itself as Central America or the Caribbean.

Vicki Smith / AP Bobby Halliday, captain of the Blanca Lilly, pries a Spanish mackerel from a gaff during a fishing trip off Ambergris Caye in Belize, Central America.

No wonder. It has the best of both — friendly, welcoming people grateful for every tourist, and brilliant, varied marine life that snorkelers and divers treasure.

The mainland is 180 miles long and no more than 68 miles wide, but Belize is best known for its cayes, or islands. There are more than 200, most of them inside a coral reef that is the world's second-longest (after Australia's Great Barrier Reef).

The most popular and developed island here is Ambergris Caye, home to the town of San Pedro, white beaches and a laid-back mood.

To get there, you fly to Belize City, then catch a boat or plane. The flight is short, but the view is unbeatable: Even from hundreds of feet up, through scratched plastic windows, you can see massive rays in the water below.

IF YOU GO ... BELIZE Travelbelize.org/ or 800-624-0686. Lodging options range from simple one-room guesthouses to five-star resorts. GETTING THERE: Belize is about a 2-hour flight from Miami and Houston. Direct flights are available in several U.S. gateway cities, and from Cancun and Chetumal, Mexico. In-country airlines are Tropic Air and Island Air, serving Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel, Corozal, Placencia and Punta Gorda. THINGS TO DO: Visit the Shangri-La Spa, on stilts in San Pedro's resort district. The ocean breeze wafts over two massage beds. From the ceiling hang beautiful mobiles that the owner has constructed from shells, coconut blossoms, cockspur thorns, driftwood and seeds. A deep-tissue massage runs $80. Spend a day on Caye Caulker, the sleepy island next to Ambergris Caye. The village has only two streets and a handful of eateries, but vendors line the edge of the beach, selling bead, shell and seed necklaces at prices cheaper than San Pedro. Try lunch at the Rainbow Grill and Bar, where, for $15, you get fresh conch ceviche, a seafood platter, a Belikin beer and a lime daiquiri. Venture onto Belize's mainland to tour ancient Mayan ruins at Altun Ha, Lamanai, Caracol, Cerros, Lubaantun and Xunantunich. Most resorts offer organized tours, or book your own here. DINING: In San Pedro, at the sand-floored Reef Restaurant, two brothers catch fish and dive for lobster and conch every morning, then bring it back for Mom to cook; at Elvi's Kitchen, a bottle of sauvignon blanc is the perfect pairing for the "taste of the island" seafood dinner of fresh conch, lobster, shrimp and blackened snapper; and at Captain Morgan's, where the infamous "Temptation Island" reality show was filmed, the Belizean Night Buffet features blackened pork chops with pineapple relish, plantains and a Belizean spiced chicken. Source: The Associated Press

From the dusty airport, it's a quick water taxi or golf cart ride to the resorts, where the first impression is mixed. Though the water is a brilliant palette of blues, the beach is rimmed in weeds and flotsam.

But the trade-offs are worth it. Though Belize has ramshackle homes, rutted dirt roads and a less-than-immaculate shoreline, it has unspoiled Caribbean beauty at prices far below its northern neighbor, Mexico.

The beachfront is lined with pastel-colored houses and thatched-roof resorts, none more than three stories high. The water is too shallow for cruise ships. Nor are there Jet Skis to ruin the ambiance.

Though locals travel mainly by foot and bicycle, the best way to explore is by golf cart. The island has few cars and few roads.

But everywhere, there is construction — new condos and resorts, dredging and more. In 10 years, I wonder, what will it look like?

Snorkeling and diving are key attractions. At the Hol Chan Marine Preserve, I go under with my snorkeling gear and the first thing I spot is a green moray eel bobbing in a sphere of coral. Two giant tarpon and a spotted eagle ray glide by as we stare at hundreds of tropical fish. Then we swim through into a coral garden and out through a crack in the reef to the open sea.

The next stop is Shark Ray Alley, where — as promised — the first visible creatures are two nurse sharks. They quickly veer away, and underwater cameras start shooting the schools of fat, horse-eyed jacks.

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