AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Visitors from Afar- November 2025

Hello and well wishes to anyone reading this post!

My friend and I are visiting Ambergris for the very first time November 9-20 and are off-the-charts excited! We have been researching and researching for countless hours and ultimately, we took the plunge to sign up here. We are hoping for advice and suggestions from anyone kind enough to take the time to provide some information on the following topics:
[list]
[*]Snorkeling / Kayaking Options for Bacalar Marine Reserve
[*]Any safe snorkeling spots we can get to from shore in either our bare fins or with a kayak?
[*]nature trails on the island for walking / running
[*]we are staying at Feathers and Diana mentioned that it would be appreciated if we could bring along school supplies and items for the local animal shelter. Does anyone have any suggestions on things that are top priority?
[*]We heard tale of the Eco Museum and wanted to know how best to book an experience there - ecomuseumbelize.org I'm not able to access the site from this hyperlink!

Thank you, thank you in advance for any help and positive or constructive feedback.

Best Regards,
Megan M

See if you can look up the eco museum via facebook. If not I will help you figure it out another way.

Snorkeling - you can snorkel from the beach BUT you must be very careful because there is a boat lane a few hundred feet offshore and the skiffs can get busy- and sun reflection etc can make a swimmer difficult to see- we have a few boat versus swimmer incidents each year- we don't want that to happen to anyone! You can kayak from the shore and go to the reef. There are many areas that have mooring buoys you can tie up to.

Be sure to budget and book a tour guide operated visit to the Hol Chan Marine reserve and Mexico Rocks. It is well worth it.

Kayaking up at Bacalar Marine reserve may be harder you will have to kayak up there from wherever you book your kayak- there are not any guided tour operations in that area at this time as it is very natural and there are not any operational resorts. Again, it may be worth saving and booking a day trip with a guide in that area to check out all the cool sites and the stop in at the Bacalar Chico ranger station with small museum.

We don't really have many nature trails- just walking along the beach/coast line mainly.

For the donation of item- soccer balls, basket balls and general school supplies are always in need- and for the pets- leashes, collars, name tags, treats, toys - and perhaps some of your time to play with kittens or walk a dog.

Thank you so much for all the information, Amanda! Greatly, greatly appreciated. I will ask my friend to check out the eco museum on her facebook since I don't have one and will post back here if needed. Thank you for this tip!

For kayaking out to the reef- are the buoys pretty easy to find for first-timers?

Yes, whereever you get your kayaks from, they will let you know the best and safest moorings to aim for. Even if it is calm, do not kayak through the cuts to go into the deep sea. And if a north or westerly breeze is blowing be careful off shore as you can get sucked out through the cuts in the reef when the tide goes out.