Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley seem to get all the attention for easy and great snorkeling. On our last day in Belize, we wanted to have another snorkeling outing (we had been kayaking out to the reef and going on our own), and decided on Mexico Rocks. It was rainy, windy, and rough. We weren’t sure we would be able to go until the last minute. As the surf picked up, waves kept crashing over the top of our snorkels.
But the snorkeling? Amazing. We were also all alone, in part due to the weather; there wasn’t a single other boat at the buoy.
(I really told you all about the weather conditions to provide an excuse for some of the photos being a bit blurry. It’s hard to take great underwater shots while you are being rocked around, clearing your snorkel, and swimming nearly all the time to combat the currents. And….we also just aren’t superior underwater photographers, so there is that.)
Mexico Rocks was also half the price of the Hol Chan excursion from our hotel…so if you are looking for another snorkeling experience but don’t want to pay for Hol Chan for a second time (which may be a bit longer, granted), Mexico Rocks may fit the bill. We definitely don’t regret going to Hol Chan, but Mexico Rocks exceeded expectations. It was a quick boat ride for us–probably 10 minutes or so–but we were staying pretty far up the island away from town.
Without further adieu, here are some pictures from Mexico Rocks. If you look carefully, you can see the elusive (at least for us) stoplight parrot fish, and a very well camouflaged little fellow (a sand diver). Plus there were lots of princess parrotfish, sergeant majors, blue tang, and spadefish! And so many rays. They were everywhere.
I’d love to go back to Belize, and maybe even try diving….back on the destination list it goes!
Where else did you snorkel in Belize? What other fish and species did you see?
