Our nest is officially empty unless you count the granddogs. It took some getting used to, but one unexpected perk has been a little extra disposable income and the freedom to spend it on experiences we enjoy. In recent years, we've chosen to invest much of that in travel. Since we're both still working, we look for destinations that are easy to reach and can be fully enjoyed in a week's time.
If you've read many of my travel stories, you already know I'm happiest when a trip includes wildlife encounters and outdoor adventure. My husband, on the other hand, defines vacation as a comfortable chair, a good book and nowhere to be.
Most years we vacation in Grand Cayman with some of our adult children and family friends. The island gives us the best of both worlds. I spend a few days scuba diving and snorkeling with sea turtles while David enjoys exactly what he considers the perfect vacation. After last year's trip, I told David I wanted to plan a dedicated dive vacation. I offered to join a women's dive group since he doesn't dive, but he surprised me.
"I'll go," he said, "as long as there's a beach where I can sit with a good book."
That conversation led us to Blackbird Caye Resort in Belize.
Located on Turneffe Atoll, about 20 miles off the coast of Belize, Blackbird sits on the largest of the country's three coral atolls. Before this trip, I wasn't exactly sure what an atoll was. It turns out it's a ring of coral islands surrounding a shallow lagoon, formed over thousands of years as ancient volcanic islands slowly sank beneath the sea. Today, Turneffe is a spectacular maze of more than 150 mangrove-covered cayes and vibrant coral reefs that support an astonishing array of marine life.
The trip itself was a first for us in several ways. It was our first all-inclusive resort and easily the most remote place we've vacationed. Blackbird staff met us at the airport in Belize City, handled our luggage and escorted us to Old Belize, where we boarded a boat for the hour-and-45-minute ride to the resort. Thanks to recent winds, it was a lively crossing, and I was especially grateful I'd convinced David to wear a seasickness patch before we left the dock.
With just 20 guests, including us, the resort felt wonderfully intimate. Everyone except my husband and one other guest were divers. While I headed out for three dives each day, David settled into his ideal vacation, alternating between a beach chair in front of our beachfront villa, a hammock on our screened porch and, yes, that good book. He also joined a couple of the resort's guided snorkeling excursions. Between dives, we returned to the resort for our surface intervals which included delicious homemade pastries waiting for us each morning.
The accommodations and service were exceptional. Our villa was refreshed every day, and each evening we returned from dinner to turned-down beds with chocolates waiting on our pillows. It's a level of hospitality that's becoming increasingly rare.
The highlight of the week was a full-day excursion to the Great Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye. The Blue Hole, made famous by Jacques Cousteau, is one of the world's most iconic dive sites. This massive marine sinkhole is known for its limestone formations, including enormous stalactites and stalagmites found deep below the surface. My dive reached 137 feet. While I explored the underwater caverns, David circled above with the snorkelers and, truth be told, probably saw more sea life than I did.
After two additional dives on Lighthouse Reef, we enjoyed a chef-prepared barbecue lunch on Half Moon Caye, home to one of the Caribbean's most important nesting colonies of red-footed boobies. I had packed my camera specifically for this stop and happily wandered the island photographing the boobies alongside magnificent frigatebirds soaring overhead, and the massive iguanas popping out of the foliage.
Blackbird Caye delivered exactly what each of us wanted from a vacation, even though our priorities couldn't have been more different. I came home with unforgettable dives, hundreds of wildlife photographs and memories of exploring one of the Caribbean's most remarkable marine environments. David came home rested, relaxed and already talking about where we should go next. I'd call that a successful vacation for both of us.