Guided Activities on South Water Caye

Since we were traveling with small children, we were nervous about going out on the scheduled activities the lodge provided. The lodge was small, there were only about 12-14 guests and we didn’t want our kids or our needs to affect their experiences. At the same time, we wanted to get off the island and enjoy all there was to do as well! So we talked to the manager and the guide and arranged for them to take us out a couple of times in the afternoon, after the other guests had returned from their excursions.

Our first excursion was snorkeling. Jay was our guide and he took us to a nice easy place to snorkel not far from the island. I stayed on the boat with our captain while he took Evan and Henry snorkeling. They were in the water for nearly half an hour, doing a big loop around the reef. He showed them all sorts of colorful fish, coral and other creatures. They even got to swim with a huge barracuda! By the time they got back, Henry was exhausted and it was my turn. We tried to put Mabel in the water but her face was a little too small for her mask, so I ended up getting my own private snorkel swim with Jay. I felt safe and the coral was so healthy and the marine life was incredible. 

The next day, they took us out to go hand-line fishing. We boated for about 20 minutes to what seemed like nowhere special, and they loaded our lines up with cut up pieces of sardines and tossed them into the water. After a few seconds, you could feel them nibbling and you yank the line up and “reel” it in with your hand to see what you got. We managed to catch several snapper and grunts. We kept quite a few to take back to the hotel and tried trolling on the way back, where Evan caught one of the biggest needle fish I’d ever seen. When we got back to the island, Jay cleaned our fish for us and brought them to the kitchen. The cooks fried them and served them as an appetizer for us for dinner that night. It was about as fresh as could be!

Our third excursion was a short trip through the mangroves to Bird Island. We saw the shadow of a manatee but never saw it close up. Bird Island was filled with frigate birds and brown boobies. The kids were not as impressed as we were, but Jay still spent some time describing their habits and mating rituals while we puttered around the island. We then went for a boat ride to a break in the reef where the big swells were coming in before heading back to our hotel for the evening. 

The excursions are planned around the guests' wants and they obviously are great about accommodating what would work for our family. Jay was such a great guide and so wonderful with our little kids. We always felt safe and taken care of, and we were out just the right amount of time on each excursion.