It feels like I could write a book about this very fun day! We were all looking forward to this Lobster Dive Cookout on the Beach Day!!!! Mike did this same type of thing on his very first trip to Belize. Ten years ago. I dreamed of doing it as a family and here we are .... with a day planned out for us!!!!
I made these reservations weeks ago and I just couldn't wait for it! We woke up to another gorgeous morning! Every single day is so nice here!
I have a lot of videos from the day that are fun but my blog only does photos so I'll try to take you through the day! We walked from our resort just down to the next pier to get on a fishing boat! There were two native men were waiting for us and were our tour guides all day. We got into the boat and our first stop was to catch a bunch of smaller fish to be used for bait. The tour guides threw in a big neat and brought in bait!
Then we sailed off to our next stop where we were looking for the large shells in the ocean that are as wide as your thumb to your middle finger. These shells are called Conch and there is a large snail that lives inside. Everyone had snorkeling gear and jumped out to see what we could find. Snorkeling is actually way harder than you may think it to be. It's easy to panic and try to swim and breath and flip your flippers all at once and it was not for Jere and I! Everyone else kept trying and did good! We found a few Conch Shells and we were off to the next place.
Gunnar was lathered in sunscreen for the day but the boat went fast and his naps were happening. The poor guy had a few moments of wondering what in the world was going on but mostly he did a really good job!
Our next stop was fishing! Austin caught the first fish and Matthew caught one too. After a few catches, we were off in the warm breeze cruising the clear ocean water! At our next stop, we were going to be looking for fresh lobsters! We needed at least a dozen lobsters to make a meal for us all.
Austin was all about it and did good!
The girls loved it too! They got in the water at each location for the shells and lobsters!
It took some practice to use this gear but they got it figured out after swallowing the salt water a few times.
It was hard work to keep swimming around and looking for lobster so we got Austin a life vest to use.
Matthew found a few large shells and Hadassah was loving it!
After swimming around for awhile, we realized lobster hunting is hard work! Thankfully one of the guides went out hunting too and found all these lobster! We tricked Mike in believing that we all found lobster while he was way out near the reef trying to find lobster. He was shocked and could hardly believe it when he got back in the boat. He was so happy we found so many.
We boated off to this lovely island where we were going to eat the fresh catches we found! Conch ceviche, grilled fish, grilled lobster with veggies and scalloped potatoes. Everything with a side of glass bottled soda!
Mike was still so proud of Austin catching lobster. We didn't tell him the truth till we were eating.
The two guides cleaned out the shells and filleted the fish and got the lobsters ready for the grill.
He loved every moment even though he didn't really catch a lobster!
The island we were on for the cookout was so pretty!
Still couldn't believe we actually got this whole trip accomplished! It was my dream for many years!
This is what the big shells looked like and baby dear finally got a simple nap on the beach. Any nap at this point is wonderful!
Here's what the snails inside the conch shells looked like. They were cut up raw, tossed with lime juice and cilantro and served with tortilla chips.
For someone like me that liked sanitary and clean spaces and hate germs, this was a trip that I had to turn my head at times and just face the fact that life is simple here and you wash everything in the wild ocean to clean the food and knives and hands and then eat it! Even if it's right off of the boat deck.
While we waited, the tour guides threw any trash from the lobsters and fish into the water and two huge sting rays came to eat it. The bowl of conch ceviche was devoured by the kids because we were so hungry at this point. We did not have Neri's this morning but grabbed a quick breakfast at the resort before leaving for this trip. By 2:00 PM, we were hungry! I didn't eat this though. I did have a bad reaction to some raw sushi a few years ago and didn't trust the raw shell fish here.
The lobster and fish was grilled up with a side of potatoes and everything gets served with tortillas! And at this point, we confessed to Mike that we actually didn't catch any lobster but only the guide did! He laughed!
This was a very fun experience for the kids and after our bellies were full, we were off to return back to the resort.
What we didn't know about this trip was that we would get the next opportunity! We zoomed off into the water with the fishing boat and after a few miles, the guides said that we were going to stop and swim with sharks and sting rays. Years ago, Mike and I did this. I was terrified to swim in the water and only stuck my toes in the ocean but Mike actually did it! Who was gonna be brave this time????
Any leftover bones and shells from the cleaning of the fish and lobster and any little bait fish were cast out into the ocean after an anchor was lowered. It didn't take long before the boat was surrounded by sharks and sting rays! Everyone was flipping out! My videos are priceless here! Mike was the first to get into the water! The kids were nervous and not sure about it!
The sharks were about four feet long. Huge sting rays!
One by one they all decided they were going in. Mike was surviving! Jere and I said again that Gunnar needed us on the boat but everyone jumped in!
Ashlyn was swimming around and was right next to a shark and she was screaming through her snorkeling tube and grabbed ahold of Mike! The water was deep here and Mike couldn't hold on for long but they braved it out and did swim!
They stuck together for the most part and was both freaked out and happy to be doing such a brave thing!
That ended up being the highlight of the entire day! Nobody touched any wild sting rays or sharks but were pretty close to them! They loved this!!!!!!!
We got back to the resort around 4:00. It was a long day in the sun and we had tender sun-kissed skin! Everyone was tired and after baby had a good nap, we went to The Truck Stop again! We didn't stay up late any night we were there. Each day was full of sunshine and fun and after watching some winter Olympics each night, we were ready for bed!
This is a day we will never forget!!!! It was so much fun!
