The most easterly of Belize’s three atolls, Lighthouse Reef lies 50 miles southeast of Belize City. The 30-mile-long, 8-mile-wide lagoon is the location of the Blue Hole, a dive spot that was made famous by Jacques Cousteau and that is a favorite destination of dive boats from Belize City, Ambergris Caye, and Caye Caulker.

The lobster feasting will take place in San Pedro starting June 15 – 24. The seventh annual San Pedro Lobster Festival is the first of three major events taking place during the summer. The San Pedro Lobster Festival will be a ten-day, blissful, lobster-themed festival of activities, which is being sponsored/hosted by different restaurants and hotels.

With all the attention on the Heartland of Maya during 2012, it’s great to see such positive news and reviews from such internationally recognised travel experts as Trip Advisor and now the BBC and Lonely Planet. It shows that people recognise Belize not just for its position in the heartland of the Maya, but as a high quality, interesting destination in itself.

Belize lies at the crossroads between the Caribbean and Latin America. You can physically see the changes in people, architecture and landscape as you drive from the port of Belize City into the mountains beyond San Ignacio and the Guatemala border. Belize has long been known as the dive capital of the Americas, far fewer visitors have recognised the quality and uniqueness of its spa and wellness facilities.

After Holy Week in April, Belize has a succession of festivals. There is the Cashew Festival and the recent Cacao Festival in the month of May. Both festivals were about food and cooking. The next big celebration is the Lobsterfest in June.

The days were heavenly and the nights just magical. By the time we had to say goodbye we were like two teenagers in love again, and arrived back home refreshed and feeling able to cruise through the rest of the winter. Our friends all commented on our tans and how happy we looked (our new expertise at making mango daiquiris no doubt adding to their enthusiasm) and I’ll always be grateful for that night we decided to try Belize. To steal a line from the movie Casa Blanca, this is the start of a beautiful relationship, and a major addition to ours.

“For anyone who’s ever had the urge to flee the rat race and parachute onto a tropical island with velvety air and a breezy, barefoot lifestyle, Caye Caulker would likely fit the bill. It’s the kind of laid-back, sun-saturated spot that’s as inoculated to the rat race as a civilized place can be.”

Our meet-and-greeter was an independent, curious, jowly fish with wings like scalloped shells, a Nassau black grouper. Its face came right up to the camera, as if to say, “Welcome to my universe of color.”

We would like to introduce you to the Great Blue Hole of Belize. This is a natural sinkhole that is about 1000 feet across and close to 500 feet deep. it is ringed by stalagmites, and there is even a cave that you can reach near the blue hole. It is one of the largest Blue Holes in the world, and some of the stories (like the one inside) from the blue hole in Belize are amazing.