4 days ago
Small Boat, Big Experience: Exploring Belize and Honduras
I recently had one of those milestone birthdays, so I was searching for something to make that December day an extra-special one. So when my brother suggested taking a small-ship luxury cruise to Central America's famed Mesoamerican Barrier Reef on French cruise line Ponant, I jumped at the chance to do that and to go scuba diving on that reef in Honduras on my big day (and in Belize soon after).
The Ponant cruise line launched its first ship, the Le Ponant, in 1991. It's a three-masted sailing ship with only 16 cabins, which still sails today as the first Relais & Chateau luxurious sailing yacht moving around the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean. Today the company has 13 ships, including Le Bellot, the one my brother and I climbed aboard in Belize City. That ship runs under engine power and is part of the Ponant Explorers series of six yachts, each one holding up to 184 guests and designed to take adventurous travelers to unexpected places ranging from the Arctic to Asia, Central America to the Indian Ocean and everywhere in between.
These cruises are unique for many reasons, beginning with the experts you'll find along for the sailing. There's the Smithsonian Journeys, which offer 49 different trips featuring guest speakers on board, like archeologists, marine biologists, historians and even Nobel Laureates like Lech Walesa, and the Explorers Club, scientific-research enriched sailings done in conjunction with that famed club formed in New York City in 1904.
Our eight-day Ponant Explorers Club trip began and ended in Belize City when the Le Bellot, a Green Globe and Cleanship-awarded vessel that is dedicated to sustainable practices, headed out into the Caribbean Sea. My brother and I were soon in Honduras, ready to discover the 'Unexpected Encounters and Nature' in Belize and Honduras, as promised by the cruise's title, boarding the ship after spending a night in Belize City and exploring the lively dock scene (restaurants, live music and duty-free shops) beforehand.
The first thing travelers should know about cruising on a small ship is that, well, it really is small. Ponant's under-200 guest vessels mean you're not going to find giant water parks, paintball courses or ice-skating rinks, nor will you be on a floating city of 7,600 passengers plus thousands of crew members. Instead, this ship is an intimate size, with a panoramic viewing lounge, swimming pool, theater, spa, fitness center, two restaurants and a very cool underwater speakeasy.
It's the kind of cruise that by the end of your trip, you know the captain (Francois-Xavier Avril was at the helm during our Le Bellot adventure) as well as many of the 118-member crew by name. And you're likely to meet other fellow passengers on board or while off on an excursion, soon gaining a new set of friends to discover the wonders of Central America with.
Most excursions are included in your cruise, ranging from jungle hikes, beach days complete with salsa dancing and snorkeling, mangrove Zodiac cruises and much more. Scuba diving is an extra charge; Open Water-certified divers are also the only people allowed to go diving, and even they must jump through some hoops to make that happen – booking in advance is mandatory, as Ponant only allows a limited number of guests to dive.
The Belize-Honduras cruises on Ponant are scheduled in December and January, which usually means warm, sunny weather in both countries, but not the oppressive heat found there in summer months. The jungles on the various stops (Cayos Cochinos, Guanaja, Punta Sal, Cuero y Salado, Placencia and Half Moon Caye) will still be humid and sweat-inducing, so plan accordingly – and don't forget that bug spray!
Being on a luxury small ship also means that the staff is very well-informed about each guest, but it was still surprising to be greeted with 'Happy Birthday' by stewards, waiters and even Captain F-X, as I made my way toward the expansive back deck.
Dive sites off of Guanaja, like Leo's Garden and Afternoon Delight, were filled with huge stingrays, big barracudas, gnarly Moray eels with giant teeth and beautiful coral gardens. Located in the waters near the most remote of Honduras' Bay Islands that are perched on the barrier reef, the setting was also perfect for my brother and other cruisers who snorkeled and visited the mangrove swamp and rainforest in search of the Ara parrot.
Ara parrots are also known as scarlet macaws, those famed and stunning large birds with red, blue and yellow feathers – they're so spectacular that they are also the national bird of Honduras. Later that evening back on board the Le Bellot, scientist, naturalist, manatee and mangrove expert Jamal Galves (the Explorer's Club guest lecturer) gave the first of his talks on what we saw that day, as well as delving deeper into the importance of the local conservation that keeps the planet healthy on a global scale.
Exploring the undersea world and then geeking out with an ecology expert while holding a glass of champagne meant I had already had a practically perfect milestone birthday, which was topped off by a fine-dining, seafood-heavy French cuisine experience at Le Grill, the ship's outdoor back-deck restaurant. Stars twinkled in the sky, chocolate cake appeared and the birthday song was sung, all making a spectacular memory.
Each day on board this Ponant cruise brought new experiences, with a highlight happening as we returned to Belizean waters and docked in Placentia. There a talented group of the drummers and dancers of the Garifuna people came aboard and put on a lively and memorable show. That reminded us of one of the reasons that the language, dance and music of the Garifuna is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, telling stories of this indigenous community dating back to the 1700s.
Ponant small-ship cruises cover the world, so whatever your birthday dream happens to be, there's likely to be a chance to join an adventure and make the celebration an extended and extra-special one. Want to see the Northern Lights or go Down Under and beyond to Antarctica? Perhaps explore South Africa and Madagascar or go from Rio to Buenos Aires? These ships can go where the huge ones cannot – so if you can dream it, you can likely do it.
And a bonus if you're simply ready to escape your everyday life and take a solo trip, Ponant is one of the growing cruise lines that have begun to waive single-supplement penalty fees for traveling alone.
