10 eco wonderlands

INLAND & ISLAND

Belize
I’m sitting on an inner tube in a dark cave. As a diver I’m fairly used to being wet, but right now it’s just my bum stuck out through the bottom of the tube, and the water’s a tad chilly. Luckily, the guide motions us over, so we extricate our wet nethers and climb up onto a clay shoreline. There, a few shards of pottery and bone are revealed in the light of our headlamps. Calcium crystals have permanently imbedded them in the rocks where they lay. It’s an eerie and compelling sight, and the silence is interrupted only by the occasional drip of water as it falls into one of the many pools, intruding on the quiet with a PLOP.

We’re in a river cave system that begins at the Jaguar Paw Jungle Resort, located in the jungled interior of Belize about an hour and a half from Belize City. For three miles we’re in and out of the light; we see birds, bats, bugs and low vines and hear the bloodcurdling call of the howler monkey between caves. Ignoring the inner tube and headlights, it’s easy to feel the ancient presence of the jungle, palpable, creeping, wet and thick with oxygen.

You needn’t travel far to reach jungle in Belize; the country probably glows a bright green from space. Dirt roads lead to nearly impassable footpaths. The jungle is so pervasive and unrelenting that it actually engulfed an entire civilization for centuries. Even today, the pyramid cities and temples of the Maya are being extricated from the jealous grip of the forest.

We’d been hiking the impossibly steep steps of the temple of El Castillo at Xunantunich (which translates as “Stone Maiden”) the day before, and we had visited the ruins of Lamanai (“Submerged Crocodile”) and the famous Belize Zoo during the week that preceded our dive plans. Exotic creatures and cultures echo through Belize, and we had to add an extra week just to fulfill our jungle curiosity.

Ty Sawyer / Sport Diver Magazine

After a week of jaguars and howler monkeys, it was time to take on a different primitive world. We headed back to Belize City, boarded the 50-foot Pelagic and took the 2-hour trip to the southern tip of Glover’s Atoll, on the Belize Barrier Reef. The trip took us from the dense world of the jungle to a world of sea breezes that have traveled across the Caribbean to caress our cheeks.

When we arrived at the private island of the Manta Resort, our transformation from explorer to diver was complete. Here, the whims of time and tide are on full display right from your beachside cabana, and the 80 square miles of Glover’s Atoll stretch out before you. The blue water that stretches over the dive sites offers a profusion of marine life and hundreds of virtually untouched places to dive. In fact, a 2,000-foot wall drops off right in front of the resort, and most of the dive sites are less than 20 minutes away from the PADI dive facility at Manta.

You confront an abundance of marine life here. At most sites, there are large tube sponges that erupt from the reef like parts of a pipe organ and bathtub-size barrel sponges. Encounters with eagle rays and turtles are possible on every dive. All kinds of critters, from delicate purple tunicates to chunky groupers, can be seen.

Unlike in the jungle, where stealth allows long life, the ancient chess moves of marine predator and prey unfold before your eyes. And with 150-plus feet of viz and water temperatures around 80 degrees, you’ll be able to hang out and watch the show in the comfort of your own private reverie.

Must Do: Cave Tubing
See ancient pottery shards and bones as you ride an inner tube on a river coursing through the primitive heart of Belize.

Must Dives:
Pinnacles
Long Caye Wall
Emerald Forest Reef
Split Reef
Southwest Caye Wall

FOR MORE INFO:

Manta Resort
PADI facility, rentals available, sea kayaks, snorkeling, sport fishing. All rooms have air conditioning, private porch, hammock; onsite Cantina Restaurant. Phone: 800-326-1724, www.mantaresortbelize.com.

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