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Photo by: Bob Friel

Snorkeling
You can see a great deal around Ambergris Caye using just a mask and snorkel. The island is not known for its beaches because, in most areas, there's only a narrow fringe of sand, as lawns of turtle grass grow right at the water's edge. For snorkelers, though, this is a boon. Strap on your fins and wade in at a spot safe from boat traffic, and you're instantly floating amid schools of minnows being hunted by needlefish and occasionally divebombed by brown pelicans. In the grass below, conch slowly lurch along a bottom decorated with a prickly collection of urchins and sea stars. Look carefully and you'll see peacock flounders and yellow stingrays camouflaged against the sand, while razorfish and tilefish show off their best defense by doing kamikaze dives into the soft bottom.

Hotel piers are also do-it-yourself snorkel spots, as they commonly attract schools of snapper, baby tropi-cals, trunkfish and puffers, along with all manner of invertebrates, like shrimp, that cling to the pilings. If your hotel is close enough and your arms strong enough, you can even paddle a sit-on-top kayak out to the reef. Make sure to ask the hotel for a tether line you can hold onto while snorkeling, and don't cross the reef crest into open water – there's plenty to see on the back reef. Do check the weather, winds and currents before you go, and tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.

Ambergris Caye's snorkel operators primarily head to one or more of the area's marquee sites on each half-day trip ($20 for a single stop; $35 for two stops). A 20-minute boat ride inside the lagoon brings you to Mexico Rocks, where large mounds of star coral combine with 29 other species of hard coral to create the only patch reef near the caye. This garden of coral stands shoreward of the main reef, offering protected waters, and attracts thousands of small fish and plenty of invertebrates like lobster and crabs.

Five miles south of San Pedro, in a turtle-grass bed adjacent to Hol Chan and a part of the same marine sanctuary, lies an underwater petting zoo called Shark-Ray Alley. It could more accurately be called Shark, Ray, Turtle, Snapper, Hogfish and Big Fat Grouper Alley due to the profusion of animals that gathers here. Similar to Grand Cayman's Stingray City, the site began when fishermen anchored in the calm, shallow area to clean their day's catches, attracting scores of scavengers and acclimating them to the sound of boat engines. Snorkel guides have become adept at fondling the fish, hugging large southern stingrays and even cradling nurse sharks upside down, putting the sharks into a state of tonic immobility – temporary paralysis – so clients can gently stroke their skin.

Ambergris Caye's Little Channel is a big deal. Declared a marine sanctuary in 1987, Hol Chan remains the most popular attraction in Belize – and deservedly so. This snorkel and dive site also serves as a vivid example of how well underwater parks can work. While much of the reef had been depleted of edible species like grouper and snapper, protecting this one small area allowed populations to bounce back in such numbers that local fishermen working the waters outside the park now catch more and larger fish just from the overflow.

This natural cut in the reef spans only 75 feet, so you can see all of Hol Chan's shallow section in a single dive or snorkel. You could also come back every day and never tire of the experience. More than 160 species of fish, 40 kinds of coral, three types of turtle, and even dolphins and manatees have been spotted inside the park. The boat will tie to a buoy back in the sea-grass beds, and as soon as you hit the water you'll see nurse sharks and stingrays. Channels always attract marine life because of the water flow that carries food across the reef, and since Hol Chan is the only nearby inlet, its current can be quite strong at maximum ebb and flow. Your guide will judge the current and decide the best way to approach the site.

Corals and sponges grow profusely on both sides of the cut. The south side is healthiest, but there's a beautiful star-coral swim-through on the north wall. Schools of fish gather at Hol Chan in incredible numbers, and there's a good chance of seeing free-swimming morays snaking from coral head to coral head. Divers will experience stronger underwater currents, especially on outgoing tides, but if you stay low and find the current "shadows" behind bottom features, you can swim across the cut. The middle of the channel acts as a watery highway and hangout for Hol Chan's largest fish. Schools of big tarpon and horse-eye jacks stack up in the current while eagle rays fly patterns over the sand. Fat, happy grouper and hogfish, safe from hooks and spears, loll on the bottom between their hunting forays, as St. Bernard-size parrotfish lope past, stopping occasionally to chew off chunks of limestone.

After sunset, Hol Chan comes alive with the bobbing blue glow of night snorkelers and divers. Shine your light along the bottom, and it looks like a ski slope covered in moguls. Get closer, and you see that the bumps have eyes. Closer still, and a big stingray will erupt from the sand. Coral polyps extend their feeding arms, and the night-shift creatures – the octopus, cardinalfish and bright-red shrimp – join the morays working the reef. For those who've never snorkeled or dived after dark, this is a don't-miss experience.

Wind Sports
The broad lagoon inside the barrier reef makes for a beautiful aquamarine pond ideal for sailing, windsurfing and kiteboarding. Seas break against the reef, keeping the inside waters calm, and the winds usually come from the east, so there's no worry about getting blown out to sea. February through June offers the most constant winds, usually 10 to 20 knots, but you can rely on a breeze most of the year, outside the August and September doldrums (when the ocean is often flat calm and underwater visibility is at its best). 

While the winds here are not radical, the sailing area offers forever reaches and long downwinders. The calmest water lies just behind the reef, where the water shoals to two to three feet deep, making the area perfect for beginning kiteboarders. A chop builds closer to shore for those windsurfers and kiters who want to practice jumps, while advanced players head out to the reef cuts to catch air off waves hitting the crest.

Fishing
"I know all these fish personally," laughs Gilberto "Star" Acosta, a fishing guide who's been working the waters around Ambergris for 24 years. Star charters his lancha out of a beachfront fishing lodge appropriately named El Pescador. From this and other hotel docks, Star and his fellow pros lead their clients to bonefish, permit and tarpon, hunting all the way from Ambergris' Caribbean beaches to the mainland's estuaries to find the fish (half-days average $225; full-days $300, including lunch). The most consistent bite, though, happens right behind the island, in Ambergris' watery outback, among low mangrove cayes and sand flats.

Catching all three of the flat's premier game fish on the same day earns you a coveted grand slam, and your guide will decide which species to target first. Tarpon up to 100 pounds cruise gullies between the flats year-round, and summer (June through August) brings additional flotillas of 150-pound migratory monsters into the mix. Times around the new moon tend to have the best tarpon bite, and Acosta suggests fly-fishermen use Black Death and Green Hornet flies with 80-pound shock leaders on 10- to 12-weight rods. Once you've got your silver king (all fishing for tarpon, permit and bonefish is catch-and-release only), your guide will move to the skinnier flats to look for permit. April and May are the best months for these frustratingly wary and wily fighters that grow to 30 pounds around Ambergris. Spin fishermen can cast the permit's favorite food, live crab, while fly-fishers need to use their best-tied imitation. Nine-weight rods match up well against Belize permit. The easiest - and that term is most definitely relative - of the three fish to find and catch are bonefish. They school here in good numbers and nice size, 2 to 5 pounds (use a 6-, 7- or 8-weight rod), and will totally make your day if nothing else is biting. If you do catch your tarpon and permit, the guide will get you a bonefish to finish your grand slam even if he has to put on a barracuda costume and scare one into the boat.