Half Moon Caye is a World Heritage Site and a Natural Monument of Belize. The immediate surrounding waters of Half Moon Caye are a National Park. This was Belize’s very first marine protected area established in Belize in 1982 and is managed by the Belize Audubon Society, but it is the reefs to the south and west of the caye, which make Lighthouse Reef Atoll and Half Moon Caye one of the premiere diving and snorkeling locations in all of Belize.
Half Moon Caye is a small, idyllic tropical island located at the southeast corner of Lighthouse Reef Atoll, the outermost of Belize’s three coral atolls, some 50 miles southeast of Belize City, and one of only four such atolls in the Western Hemisphere. The caye itself is eight feet above sea level.
The Belize Audubon Society maintains a visitor’s Center on the island, a picnic area, which is perfect for picnics, and trails for nature walks through the forest. Your guests will also find an evening stroll on the island enjoyable.
The only cultural resource of the island is the lighthouse. The current one dates from 1930, built on the base of the previous 1848 structure, which itself replaced the first one built in 1820. The lighthouse is however in a bad state of repair. There are also a number of shipwrecks in the caye’s vicinity, the most prominent of which is a large freighter.
The 45-acre island is divided into two very distinct ecosystems. The western half of the caye that is densely vegetated, the soil is made rich and fertile by guano from thousands of sea birds nesting in the area. The eastern half by comparison is vegetated primarily by coconut palms with sparse vegetation below.
The orange flowered ziricote is the dominant plant species on the western end of the caye, with the red barked gumbo-limbo and fig trees intermingled throughout. Coconut palms dominate the eastern end of the caye. The beautiful spider lily can be found throughout the caye.
The most famous inhabitants of this island are its red-footed Boobies, numbering around 4,000 breeding birds. The birds, which nest, are mainly frigate and red-footed booby birds. They nest in the Ziricote thicket at the western end of the caye from mid December with juveniles appearing around March. This booby is one of the main reasons the natural monument was created. The adult booby population of this caye is unusual in having an almost total predominance of the white color phase. The only other similar booby colony is on an island near Tobago. Elsewhere, adult red-footed boobies are dull brown.
The boobies coexist with their pirate neighbours, the magnificent frigate bird, to quote its full name that has a seven-foot wingspan. Some 98 other species of birds have been recorded on the caye; 77 of these are migrants. Seventeen of the migratory species were recorded regularly enough to indicate that they winter on or near the caye. Pelican, ospreys, egret, gulls, storks, terns, mangrove warblers, and white crowned pigeons are among the caye’s regular inhabitants.
Everyday the frigate and booby birds put on a remarkable social display. At first light they can be seen soaring high above the island as one large flock. With hardly any noticeable wing movement, they ride the early morning air currents. Later, during the intense heat of the day, they can be easily photographed at their nests from the viewing platform. There is no obvious segregation in the nesting arrangements. Each bird, irrespective of species, has its own site. These are all very close to each other, often no more than pecking distance apart.
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