AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye 18 are in our group

I'm of the opinion that is NOT possible (nor in MHO should it be) to swim/snorkel/scuba with such beautiful, ENDANGERED creatures.

You can go on several Manatee "WATCHING" tours, however, Tanisha being one of them.

Thank you for your input. I have been doing a bit more research on this subject and now I think I might have an inkling as to the manatee situation there. I thought there might have been a similar program in place like there is in Florida. I was reading a trip report and several items like this came up

"Before interacting with the Manatees you are required to watch a video on the rules for interaction. The rules are simple - don't harress the Manatees, stay at the surface and they are strict abotu these policies. The video is short, and includes some good history and information about Manatees as well. If it wasn't at 7am I would have enjoyed it much more.

The Snorkeling: Saturday Morning

We did the Crystal River site on the Saturday morning. As we pulled up there was already a number of other boats there. The depth here is about 4 feet, so you can stand if you want. Some people didn't bother wearing fins.

There is a buoyed off area where you are not allowed to enter, and a big herd of Manatee were happily sleeping in this area. Occasionally one or two would come out and say hello, and a single calf came out and played with a group of about 12 people for half an hour. "

To me it sounded like this was the type of program that is in place for the protection and preservation of the manatees... especially with all of the propeller injuries they have sustained as of late . The wonderful thing about this kind of protection is that you are the one on display... not the other way around. I thoroughly enjoyed the many underwater pictures in this gentleman's trip report. (It is located at www.scubadiving.com on their message board.) As an amateur underwater photographer, I was hoping to capture underwater images of these wonderful creatures to be able to share with family, friends, et al. The more people who know about them, the more numbers of people will care about them.

It now makes sense to me that to initiate, maintain, and enforce such a program is expensive and time-consuming. I can see how in Belize the easiest way to help preserve the manatees is just to restrict any interaction with them except by topside (boat) means. I just hope they all watch where their propellers are This is of course, just my humble opinion, especially since I have not been to the Florida Springs before.

klcman - thank you for your response. It pushed me to do more research and learn more about these amazing animals.

As they say in the diving industry... take only pictures, leave only bubbles!

As Jackie said..you are going on vacation that usually works for me alone...but....just think about once you get there take your shoes off, don't put them back on (it's ok, even in restaurants), kick back, enjoy the beauty, the difference, the people of Belize. Don't turn the TV on, don't think about impending war, Iraq, Terrorists, gas prices, economy situation etc....
Yes, there are internet cafes if you get really desperate for a touch of "home" but you will probably be too busy. Snorkling/diving, shopping, seeing the Mayan ruins and learning about the culture, cave tubing, kayaking, reading that book you've been meaning to read, chatting with the locals and the tourists you will meet and on and on and on.....