Surrounded by beautiful aquamarine, the atolls and outer cayes of Belize shimmer like nowhere else.

Snorkelers and divers breathe in a rainbow of colors, while swimming with the most amazing creatures. Boaters hallucinate on vistas of blue, while the abundant waters lure eager fishermen. Bird watchers flock to see rare species, while researchers work to save the earth.

These 450 precious gems range from mere specks of coral to the lavish palm-studded settings of resorts ready to pamper. Superlatives cannot describe these islands, pronounced "keys," from the Spanish word cayos. Scattered up to 50 miles from the mainland, they stretch 185 miles north to south. Beyond the main reef, three of the Western Hemisphere's four atolls - rare necklaces of coral surrounding shallow lagoons - peek just above the surface. The entire Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System has been inscribed as  a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A few cayes have air­strips. Otherwise, boats arranged by the resorts routinely transport guests. 

CAYE CHAPEL
The 265-acre private island called Caye Chapel is home to the country's only 18-hole golf course, a par-72 layout with plenty of challenges, steady tradewinds, well-placed sand traps, and unique views. The upmarket villas of Caye Chapel Island Resort offer the only accommodations on the tiny island. Water taxis and commuter flights between Belize City and Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker occasionally stop at Caye Chapel en route.

GLOVERS REEF ATOLL
Seventeenth-century English pirate John Glover used these islands - 15 miles long by four miles wide - to raid Spanish ships for their treasure. Today Glovers Reef Atoll is the treasure: a marine reserve where boaters, divers, anglers, campers, and researchers steal away. Its pristine lagoon harbors 750 coral patches. Outside the ring of islands, 50 miles of sheer drop-offs from 40 to 2,600 feet, plus numerous shipwrecks, await to entertain divers.

On nine-acre Northeast Caye, Glovers Atoll Resort has thatched cabins - some right over the water - plus dorms, camping, diving, kayaking, snorkeling, and fly fishing. Middle Caye sits at the heart of the 127-square-mile reserve, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, with a research center to facilitate science, conserve nature, and educate the public. Seventy miles southeast of Belize City, Glovers Reef Atoll can take five hours to reach by boat, but thunder-boats from Dan­griga make the trip in just over an hour.

LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Striking corals, pearly beaches, and blessed peacefulness await so­journers to Lighthouse Reef Atoll, 50 miles east of Belize City, 20 miles long, four miles wide, with an airstrip. Two light­houses warn ships of the shallows: one on Sand­bore Caye to the north; the other, dating to 1828, on Half Moon Caye to the south.

Thousands of coral heads thrive in brilliant turquoise waters no more than 30 feet deep. The Blue Hole, however, plunges to 410 feet. Mysterious and foreboding, the famous sinkhole has become a prize for serious divers from around the world.

In 1982 Belize established 45-acre Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, the first protected area in the country. Belize Audubon Society manages the park and maintains a visitor's center, picnic area, and nature trails. Reptiles, turtles, and red-footed booby birds with white plumage flourish. Offshore at Half Moon Caye Wall, huge nuggets of coral lie on a sandy bottom. Eels sway in the currents until a diver approaches, then retreat shyly into their holes. Tunnels and caverns pierce the wall. Groupers and eagle rays keep watchful eyes on visitors.

Lighthouse Reef Resort, an upscale dive haunt on Northern Caye, includes 11 villas, luxury suites, mini-suites, and cabanas, plus an airstrip.

RANGUANA CAYE
Ranguana Caye, another speck of an island, 18 miles southeast of Placencia, awaits just a half mile inside the barrier reef. The fishing here, especially bonefishing on the flats, plus the kayaking, diving, and snorkeling are boss.

The Placencia-based Inn at Robert's Grove offers accommodations in thatched cabanas practically over the water at Ranguana Caye and on privately-owned Robert's Caye. Both make ideal getaways, with no phones, TVs, or hassles.

SPANISH LOOKOUT CAYE
On Spanish Lookout Caye, researchers come to the Earthwatch Institute to study the habits of gentle manatees. Vacationers come to the 187-acre mangrove island, seven miles southeast of Belize City, to frolic with dolphins.

A mile west of the barrier reef, the private island is home to Hugh Parkey's Belize Adventure Lodge and the Hugh Par­key Belize Dolphin Experience. One of Belize's newest attractions, visitors interact with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in a four-acre lagoon. Professional trainers educate visitors on the anatomy and behavior of dolphins. Then the humans can stand waist deep in the water to touch, kiss, and hug the gentle marine mammals. Dolphins perform while visitors snap photos.

SOUTH WATER CAYE
Thirty minutes from Dangriga awaits idyllic South Water Caye, an amazing 15-acre coral island right atop the barrier reef. Divers can practically swim to the drop-offs from shore. Black Beauty and Silverside are two outstanding walls. South Water Caye Marine Reserve, the largest at 185 square miles, takes in all the waters and islands surrounding the named caye. Research institutions maintain facilities nearby, most prominently the Smithsonian Institute Research Center, on Carrie Bow Caye.

Accommodations include Blue Marlin Lodge, a full-service dive and fishing resort, plus Pelican Beach Resort, with rooms and cottages for honeymooners, families, and couples, and dorms for students at Pelican's University. Inter­national Zoological Expeditions provides research facilities, private cabanas, and an internet café.

ST. GEORGE'S CAYE
This picturesque caye, just 20 minutes from Belize City by boat, makes a popular weekend and holiday retreat for Belizeans. On this mile-long island, the Spanish and British ended several hundred years of feuding in 1798, when the British won the battle of St. George's Caye. Now that victory is commemorated as a national holiday.

Visitors revel in the diving, snorkeling, and swimming here. Less than a mile from the barrier reef, the Lodge on St. George's Caye, with six thatched-roof cottages built right over the water, serves divers, anglers, and kayakers.

TOBACCO CAYE
Some of the best diving awaits just five minutes from five-acre Tobacco Caye, on the main reef about 10 miles east of Dangriga. Renowned for its excellent shore diving, snorkeling, and world-class fly fishing, the caye sits amid South Water Caye Marine Reserve. Permit and bonefish are plentiful. Tarpon pass through Tobac­co Caye Channel from April to November.

Several accommodations occupy tiny Tobacco Caye, including Reef's End Lodge and Tobacco Caye Diving. Transfer boats travel daily from Dangriga. Between Tobacco and Hopkins Village sits the 16-acre Coco Plum Caye, site of Coco Plum Island Resort.

TURNEFFE ISLANDS ATOLL
Turneffe Islands Atoll - 30 miles long, 10 miles wide, and 25 miles east of Belize City - encircles myriad shallows and lagoons. It has two lighthouses: an 1885 beacon on Mauger Caye to the north, and a second tower on Caye Bokel to the south. The archipelago supports some fine dive resorts, research facilities,  and an airstrip.

This ring of mangrove islands, bordered by spectacular coral formations and blessed with great bonefishing, promises world-class angling both on the flats and just offshore in waters plunging thousands of feet. Although known for wall diving, with 70 named dive sites surrounding the atoll, Turneffe also has plenty of shallows for snorkeling. At the Elbow, a popular site at the southern tip, see schools of grunts, grouper, snapper, and jack.

Blackbird Caye Resort, Turneffe Flats on Northern Bogue Caye, and Turneffe Island Lodge on Caye Bokel - all dedicated dive and fishing resorts - ooze tropical island ambience. Blackbird- Oce­anic Society Field Station has seaside cabanas for students and researchers. Blackbird Caye has an airstrip.

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