In Belize, I went to St. George’s Caye Resort. What a lovely place! Secluded, peaceful, safe and very beautiful. The island is so tiny there are no roads at all. John (one of the owners) met me at the airport and drove me to the dock, where their boat was waiting to whisk us away to the island. Everyone I met was friendly and helpful.

One morning a few of us decided to go snorkeling, so we piled into a boat along with staff from the resort. They motored us across glorious turquoise water, out to the barrier reef (2nd largest in the world). You could see waves crashing onto the outside of the reef, but inside where we were, the water was shallow and calm.

We had the place totally to ourselves — a great snorkel, admiring parrot fish, angel fish, sergeant majors, and soft corals that waved gracefully.

As we got back aboard, a few other boats showed up, and suddenly the water was full of dozens of people. The crew on their boats made them all attach to a rope! It looked like kindergarten class, except that these were adults, snorkeling along the reef. Our staff told us they were on an excursion from a nearby cruise ship, which explained the sudden throngs.

We got in and out of there at just the right time. The quiet time, when it seemed like our own private reef, was fabulous. And I suppose they have their reasons for the rope, but I’ll take the freedom to flipper around on my own, thank you very much!