However, one of the biggest thrills of the show was getting to meet the legendary Laird Hamilton, who in credited with ‘inventing’ tow-in surfing and who has been a leading figure in big wave surfing for years. In addition to also ‘inventing’ paddleboarding in its current form, Laird is probably the best known surfer on the planet due to the extensive media coverage he has received for his exploits taking on the biggest, meanest surf on earth. Laird has been featured in all the major surfing movies and other surfing productions. While he was conducting a lake demo for his paddleboard line with Surftech, both Cully and Victor were able to meet him and get a few tips on paddleboarding. Cully told him he would like to get a picture of himself knocking Laird off his board, but decided it might not ‘work out’ after Laird said go ahead, but there would be repercussions…

What accounts for the abundance of food and shelter in the midst of an ocean deficient in food? How can food and shelter be manufactured out of what appears to be nothing? The answer is primarily the coral polyp. The coral polyp is a small, simple animal that produces a stony skeleton and forms colonies with adjoining polyps. Together the linked skeletons can result in a colony weighing many tons and occupying dozens of cubic feet of space. Neighboring colonies form reefs that may extend for hundreds of miles. Coral is a living invertebrate and flourishes in warm, tropical waters. By drawing calcium carbonate from seawater, they build skeletal structures in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes. Because hard corals form the foundation for all of the tropical reefs of the world, they are considered to be the most significant invertebrates in warm, shallow seas.

But the polyp cannot by itself create and supply with food the inhabitants of the tropical reef. Left alone a coral polyp grows too slowly to build, and after a hurricane to rebuild, a large reef. Since a polyp is an animal it consumes food but does not create it except for the few fish that eat coral.

The key to the ability of polyps to be productive, shallow water reef builders and food suppliers lies within the fact that the coral polyps live in a close symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with a plant, an algae called zooxanthellae (zoh-zan-THELL-ee), that lives within the tissues of the polyps. Using photosynthesis, the zooxanthellae take the polyp’s wastes and convert them into nutrients and oxygen for the polyps. Also, since polyps are animals they do not require light and do not need to live near the surface of the ocean. Reefs built by polyps alone would be smaller than those we see at Glover’s Reef, and they might well exist at great depths where we would never see them (some corals have been found at depths of 18,000 feet.) Because the zooxanthellae are plants, they require sunlight for photosynthesis. As a result, reef-building corals flourish only in shallow tropical waters. Zooxanthellae also promote calcification. A coral skeleton will grow 14 times faster in sunlight than in darkness. The reef wall of Glover’s Reef is at least a million years old.

The presence of the zooxanthellae within the tissue of the coral polyp was not discovered until after WWII. The discovery solved a great mystery. All food chains are build on a foundation of plants which produce energy and food for animals. However, plant life was thought to be lacking in tropical reef communities. Without the availability of plentiful food for organisms on the lower end of the food chain, scientists were unable to explain how coral reef ecosystems supported themselves. The discovery of enormous quantities of microscopic zooxanthellae enabled scientists to understand how coral reef ecosystems are able to flourish. Zooxanthellae are so numerous that in some instances the biomass of zooxanthellae comprise as much as 80 percent of the total weight of the coral polyps.

Coral reefs are composed of numerous individual coral polyps, which form immense colonies. As larvae, polyps initially swim freely; this is how they spread out to form new colonies. In order to begin formation of a coral head, the coral has to attach to an existing rock beneath the surface of the water. The polyp is pushed up as it builds and its’ calcium carbonate secretions harden. It then remains on the surface of the skeleton it has created. When an old polyp dies, the living polyps remain attach to its skeleton, continually growing. The living part of the polyp is composed of small tentacles that move continually, collecting minute plankton to provide the coral animal with food. Most corals feed at night but a few, like pillar coral, feed during the day. If they are feeding and you look closely, you can see each individual tentacle waving gently in the current. A coral reef is build by billions upon billions of individual coral polyps.

Although each polyp is an individual animal that can survive by itself, the usual mode of life is communal. Colonies of polyps are interconnected by a horizontal sheet of tissue that connects their body walls. Through this connective tissue they can share food. Digested nutrients can be passed throughout the community.

Corals reproduce and spread in three ways: (1)asexually (2)sexually, and (3)regeneration.
1. Asexual reproduction: Corals grow by budding polyps that are arranged in patterns according to their species. Buds form from the oral disks, the area around their mouths, which gradually lengthen out and divide to make two individuals. In brain corals,, the two individuals never completely separate, their rows of polyps all arise from a single, shared dish that becomes a convoluted trench, hence its’ brain-like appearance.
2. Sexual reproduction: Eggs and sperm develop in the stomach walls of the polyps. Waterborne sperm, released through the polyp mouth, are drawn inside other polyps. Eggs are fertilized internally, develop briefly, and then leave the parent as a free-swimming larvae. The timing of this spawning is seasonally rather than constantly. Each larvae carries with it some of its’ parents zooxanthellae and a built-in preference for the proper substrate. The larvae that survive settle after a few days or weeks, attach to an appropriate hard surface, forming a new coral colony.
3. Regeneration: Pieces of coral that break off in a storm drift about and, if they land properly and the piece is big enough, continue growing to form a new colony.

The reef does not always build up, however. Hurricanes destroy reefs, and animals like parrotfish transform hard corals into sand as they feed. However, competition between the different species for space is fierce and destroyed reef is not likely to go unoccupied for long.

Common star coral is one of the Atlantic’s principle reef builders. It grows in massive boulder-shaped heads. A young one, 2 feet square, will already be the basis of an infant patch reef, harboring a few small fishes and invertebrates. Growing at an average rate of 10 millimeters in diameter a year, a single colony may attain a diameter of 15 feet wide and 9 feet high. Such a coral head would be 4-500 years old. A 1973 census of a medium size patch reef 7.5 feet in diameter located off the Bimini Islands yielded 563 fishes of 39 species.

Over 70 species of coral occur in the Caribbean. Corals are divided into 2 categories: Hard, or Reef-Building, and Soft, or Non-Reef-Building. The hard corals are responsible for laying down the structural foundation of the reef, which provides fish habitat and is therefore the basis for the success of the ecosystem. Soft corals provide fish habitat also, but do not build the reef for future generations. The important reef-building corals are Staghorn, Elkhorn and Star Corals. ther hard corals that don’t contribute quite as much toward the long-standing physical structure of the reef are Brain, Pitted, Finger and Pillar Corals, to name a few.

Nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere is there a coral reef ecosystem comparable to the one in Belize for its size, unique array of reef types and luxuriance of corals thriving in such a pristine condition.

What do we do, as visitors, to help preserve the reef at Glover’s Atoll? Belize is one of the few places left where there is a chance to avoid ravaging resources and instead to engender a hallmark of responsible stewardship of this unique barrier reef ecosystem. Glover’s is the richest and least spoiled reef eco-system in the Western Hemisphere, and the Belize government recognized this by designating it a National Marine Reserve. Every visitor has to help to keep it pristine.

Just because coral colonies appear rugged does not mean that they are not delicate. Severe damage does not require a direct hit with a boat anchor. All it takes is a kick from a fin to harm generation of living polyps. Many species of hard corals secrete a layer of mucus that helps to protect the coral. This layer is removed when you touch it, exposing the coral to a wide variety of environmental threats.

Human-induced disturbances introduce artificial stresses into the environment by altering the ecological conditions to which corals have adapted. The principal methods by which corals have been degraded or destroyed are: Direct breakage, asphyxiation by excessive sedimentation (sediment gets stuck in the mucus layer and the coral cannot breathe), chemical contamination of polyps and unnaturally elevated water temperatures. These processes are accelerated by various kinds of development such as urban, industrial, agricultural, shipping and fishing; but tourism also plays a role in exacerbating destructive forces to the corals.

What we can individually do to minimize our impact on the coral reef? Do not touch any coral in any way, including standing on them, or bumping into them. Do not wear gloves. Gloves encourage people to touch the coral. Touching a coral injures its tissues, thus subjecting the corals to invasion and infection. When in a shallow area, try not to kick near the ocean floor. Any stirred up sand can land on the coral and suffocate the individual polyps. Even exhalation bubbles from a snorkel can harm the coral! Tie anchors to dead coral only. Never collect any live corals. Kindly correct others you see who may not be as knowledgeable as you are.

For one crust:
½ box (1-1/2 packet of graham crackers) graham crackers
¼ cup sugar
½ cup (2 sticks) butter

Melt the butter. Crush the graham crackers in a bowl using something like a full rum bottle (readily available in Belize!). Mix with melted butter and sugar. Coat the inside of a pie pan with butter, then press the graham cracker mix against the bottom and sides of the pan.

For filling for one pie:
3 egg whites
½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

Beat egg whites about 5 minutes until very light. Stir in lime juice, gelatin and condensed milk. Pour into crusts and chill or even freeze. Should be made a minimum of a few hours before.

To see our full Belize Night menu, see our Private Island menu page

In addition, we will see a new Mayan ceremonial cave at Che Chem Ha, were a multitude of artifacts and a deep ceremonial chamber are explored. Later that same day we then descend a section of the Macal River with sit on top kayaks, threading through easy rapids as we exit the stunning 1500′ high gorge.

Our third day is spent running the underground chambers of the Caves Branch River, where we navigate 3 miles of caves in sit on top kayaks. This adventure remains the same as in our previous itineraries, and is probably the most exciting day of the trip.

Returning to Belize City, we take our shuttle boat out to the island on Wed, where we enjoy the myriad of water sport adventures that have made our island the premier adventure sport location in Belize. We have now added paddleboarding and kiteboarding to our roster of activities, but our surf sports , sea kayaking, and snorkeling remain ever popular as our featured events.

The windward end of Long Caye is owned by Slickrock Adventures, and it is off this point of the island that a channel though the ring reef of the atoll sets up a nearly perfect surf break. Swells coming in from the Caribbean hit the point of this break in the reef, and roll on through another 200 yards of sloping shoal before dissipating. The shoal is composed of broken coral rubble, not live coral, which has been deposited in the lee of the reef. This forms a safe sea floor on which surfers can walk in the shallower zone, and falling off the break poses no danger in the deeper water since there are no sharp, protruding coral heads in the break zone.

The swells vary in size from an average of 3-4’ but often will break with a 6-8’ face when it has been windy. The NE Trade Winds blow fairly strong and are reliable, so there is almost always a break to surf. The wave begins in 8-10’ of water and rolls with a right shoulder break for several hundred yards on a good day. Surfers can thus enjoy a fairly long ride before the wave finally dissipates in the shallow water near the island.

Slickrock provides surf boards, surf kayaks, and stand-up boards as part of our surfing program, which has been enormously popular with our guests. See these links to our website for more information on the break and pictures of the action:

http://www.slickrock.com/paddleboarding.html

http://www.slickrock.com/surfingbelize.html

http://www.slickrock.com/kayaksurf.html

Atolls are made of coral. Coral is a tiny animal, usually about 1/4″ long, that lives in huge colonies. The individual coral animal is called a “polyp”. The coral polyp takes minerals out of the sea to make their house. When there are thousands of polyps doing this together, they create a huge, expanding, home. Although different species create different shapes, the coral structure often resembles a big rock with fantastic textures on the surface.

Corals live in a symbiotic relationship with a plant, an algae called zooxanthellae (“zoh-zan-THELL-ee”). This is a win-win relationship where they each get something out of the deal. Because this plant is so important to the coral, coral thrive near the surface of the ocean, to be nearer to the sun. It’s the plant that needs the sunlight, not the coral animal.

Since corals create their rocky home from scratch, they need somewhere to start. Coral doesn’t float around in the sea, it has to attach somewhere. So any hard surface in a location that is conducive to coral growth will soon be covered with coral.

Many people think that atolls have to be associated with volcanic activity. This is because in the Pacific most of the rock structures that coral is attached to are volcanic in origin. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Even a sunken ship is covered with coral. In the Caribbean, there are only 4 atolls: Banco Chinchorro, Turneffe Islands, Lighthouse Reef, and Glover’s Reef. All but the first are in Belizean waters. Banco Chinchorro is just north of the others in Mexican seas. To view a detailed Belize map that includes the location of all four atolls, visit our website.

The reason these atolls are where they are is due to several underwater ridgelines that formed when the super-continent Pangaea broke up, Pangaea existed about 250 million years ago.

When it broke into the proto-continents of today, it left several underwater, but shallow ridges just off the coast of present-day Belize and Mexico, a perfect place for coral to attach to. The Belize Barrier Reef formed on two of these ridges, and the atolls of Belize and Mexico formed on two of them also.

Originally actual islands formed where the four atolls are today. But as the continents drifted slowly apart, this region also sank slowly, allowing the coral that was attached to the edges of these islands to continue to grow to stay near the sunlight to benefit the zooxanthellae. So what remained after all the drifting and sinking finished were 4 rings of coral way out in the middle of the ocean.

Islands formed on top of these coral rings. Long Caye is one of them. There are 4 islands at Glover’s Reef, one at Banco Chinchorro, three at Lighthouse Reef, and numerous islands at Turneffe, which never did sink completely.

To read more about Belize atolls, visit our website.

“I bought a full body wet suit and Dick bought a skin for snorkeling. I am pretty cold-natured and was very comfortable snorkeling for a couple of hours. TAKE THEIR ADVICE on the fins and booties. We both had fins that fit like a shoe over thin snorkel socks. Mine are short – Dick’s are longer. We had no problem in the water but the problem was getting to deep enough water to snorkel when you walk from the shore. We bought booties – they were a life saver but we realize that we should have bought the ones suggested by Slickrock. Ours were OK but a thicker sole would have been better – you can not use your Tevas. Believe me we thought it was wasteful to spend the money on the booties but were glad we got them and wished we had bought the suggested ones. We also wished that we had bought new fins that could go over the booties. We would walk out in our booties – then balance to take them off and in the water put on our fins and either tow our booties or get someone to take booties back to beach and go through the process when we got back. SPEND THE EXTRA AND GET NEW SHORT FINS WITH STRAP AND SUGGESTED BOOTIES. You will wear them everywhere. You will not regret it. Once the staff was comfortable with our snorkeling we were able to go out on our own. We loved going to the end of the island – it was like being in an aquarium.

We brought all light quick drying clothes – Magellan shirts, zip off pants/shorts. Everything gets damp if it rains. Do bring a rain jacket and if you have waterproof pants if you have them. A fleece is a good idea also. Plan on cool temps with rain – layering clothes- and if you have sun and light winds the whole time Great!! Bring a headlamp with batteries. Bring a couple of paperbacks. You will also want a robe or something to go to the bathroom if needed in the night as it is a little walk to the facilities from your cabin.

We enjoy air conditioning and comforts of home but knew that being on a private island would be a change. It was like going to camp when you were a kid. If you want 4 star resort style vacation you will be disappointed. If you like a change, beautiful scenery, away from tourist crowds then Long key is the place for you. You will have lots of stories to tell. I agree that the only way to travel is light but we were not able to fit everything for 2 weeks into carry on luggage. We did bring a gear bag for our snorkel stuff.

Marilyn Craig