Today is our first full day in Ambergris Caye.  We awoke to be ready for breakfast at 7:30 because we wanted to book the glass bottom boat and snorkel tour for 9am.  The front desk said the glass bottom boat was full and when we tried calling it, one number was disconnected and the other just went to voicemail.  I wanted the glass bottom boat because I'm not a snorkeler, but wanted to see things and go for a swim.  I'm not into snorkeling because I don't do well with the snorkel in my mouth and can't see without my glasses assuming the mask even fits.   Giving up on the glass bottom boat, we booked snorkeling for 2pm, had breakfast, inquired about tomorrow's plans and options (since it is Christmas), and got some groceries.  I was a bit stressed this morning when it was looking like we might have 2 days with nothing to do, but was much calmer now that plans were forming.

After lunch at the hotel, we changed into bathing suits, lotionized for the strong tropical sun, and grabbed our stuff for the snorkel trip.  We get to the meeting point for the boat, and of course they have no mask to fit over my glasses (at least they had fins for my small feet).  While waiting for the snorkel boat, I chatted with the snorkel saleswoman.  I asked about our trip- how long we'd be on the water, how far out we go, and what we would see.  Always the comedian, I asked her if we could use Lonnie to chum up the water for the sharks.  She said "Of course, yeah of course you can do that".  Wow, we did pick the right tour operator!  Lonnie seemed a little concerned, however.

We headed out to Hol Chan shortly after 2pm.  It's a fifteen minute boat ride and when we arrive there, there are already sharks swimming thanks to all the boats tossing bread and food into the water.  The water is a beautiful turquoise blue, probably in the upper 70s and about 4 feet deep.  The guide will lead a group further out, but I opt to stay near the boat where I can walk around and at least see things in focus.  A bunch of other people do the same thing.  For 10 minutes, there's nothing to see, but then a nurse shark buzzes by and I'm glad I made the trip.  There was another one a bit later along with some coral.  The water was a bit cold so I headed back to the boat about 30 feet away to warm up.  About 10 minutes later my travel team returned to also warm up.  

The boat's next stop was Shark Ray Alley.  It is so named because fishermen used to gut their fish here so sharks and rays congregate there.  This is still true today as we were about to witness.  One of our guides was holding a ray that  swam by the boat.  There were plenty of fish around also.  I didn't bother going in the water and only a few folks did- and not for very long.  We then took the boat back to shore and made the short walk to the hotel for a hot shower.