Always live up to your promise even if it takes you a year and a half.  For Corey’s 16th birthday, we were scheduled to take him on a deep sea fishing excursion while we were on a Carnival Cruise at Thanksgiving.  When we showed up for the fishing excursion, it was cancelled because of weather. We will never forget his dejected face that day as if the world ended. At the time, we promised him we’d take him out fishing in the future to make up for it.   So today’s excursion will fill that promise. Better late than never. 

The boat arrives at the dock at the villas around 7:30 am, stocked with bait.  Mike and Rochelle, two Belizeans raised here on Ambergris Caye (a Caye is an Island) will take us around their sea in search of the ultimate catch.  Mike takes settles on our first stop, drops the anchor and starts instructing us on what to do.  Similar to piranha fishing, when we feel the tug, we are to yank up and hook the fish. He says to keep your line taught enough to feel the tug.

There are four fishing lines and five of us (John and Ashley stayed back) so we have to rotate in.  Four us cast our line and wait. After a minute, Kyle holds up his line and ask Mike if the line is taught enough.  “Umm…you have a fish on your line,” Mike answers.  “Get out of town, really?” Kyle says.  Sure enough, Kyle reels the fish and poses with his prized mutton snapper fish photos before releasing the fish back into the vast blue sea.  “This fishing thing is pretty easy,” Kyle obverses.  Having caught a fish, Kyle rotates out. 

Next, Leanne starts yelping and screaming, “I got one! I got one!” Yup, Leanne reels in a yellow tail snapper and gets her requisite pictures.  A little while later Ashlynn cranks the line in and sees that she has hooked another yellow tail snapper.  Leanne then hooks yet another yellow tail snapper.  Corey is looking a bit concerned as he waits with his line in hand.  After a bit of a lull, Mike pulls anchor and takes us to another place. 

We cast our lines and John reels in a dogtooth snapper.  With every fish reeled in Corey looks more and more concerned.  We’re about halfway through and we are trying our best to support Corey and keep him positive. We try another place and Justin finally reels in his first fish of the day, a black grouper. 

Everyone has caught at least one.  Well, everyone that is BUT Corey, our avid fisherman so we decide to all rest and let Corey be the only one with a line cast. We tell the driver we can’t go back until Corey catches one.  That dejected look returns to Corey’s face reminiscent of when he first learned the fishing trip was cancelled in Mexico.  What’s up with fishing? 

Time passes. All of the rest of us got our fill. But will Corey?  Prayers are said as sunburn starts setting in on our shoulders and necks despite a good lathering of SPF30.  The water is crystal clear, turquoise and beaming in the sun. 

Tick tick tick. Still no catch for Corey.  We only have the boat until noon.  Tom the boat owner is doing everything he can - this is like our 6th different spot we tried already.  The boat police even shoulder him for being  just shy of the allowed limit.  Some “keep it ups” start emerging from the crowd. 

Then all of the sudden Corey catches one. Finally, the long wait is over and Corey exhales visibly relieved as he holds up his prized lizard fish, along skinny turquoise looking fish with the mouth of an alligator. Snap photos and release back into the water. 

Then another. A snapper. And another.  With each fish, Corey’s grin widens. Corey finishes the day in the lead with four fish while Leanne ends the day a light shade of pink. 

In the afternoon, the teens are excited to cook dinner since we have a kitchen in the apartment.  Kyle, Corey, Justin and Ashlynn take a taxi into town and load up on groceries.  Besides our jaunt into town, we rest by the sea and pool during the afternoon and continue our relaxation trend.  Man, this place really is paradise. Kyle doesn’t know how that author Milton lost paradise because we are finding it all over Latin America.

The kids make a wonderful meal of quesadilla, pasta, other sumptuous dishes and Ashlynn’s now famous Oreo Balls.  They are frozen concoction of melted chocolate, Oreo cookies and cream cheese and taste out of this world.  As an added bonus, the kids bring the food down and we eat by the pool.