Harvest Caye - Belize

After only a little ship's motion during the night, mid-morning, Riviera anchored off Harvest Caye.

Harvest Caye is privately owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), which owns Oceania and Regent Cruise Lines. Because Regent cruises have a considerably higher price point than Oceania cruises, passengers from Splendor's cruises were able to step directly onto the pier. Riviera's passengers had to come ashore in launches, about a 10-minute ride.  Regardless of the ship you were on, you had an equally long walk up the pier to get ashore.  (In this picture, Splendor is tied up at the end of the pier.)

The island serves as the jumping-off point for tours heading to the mainland.

For those staying on it, there are a variety of beach and pool venues as well as other activities and amusements.

Opportunities to buy various items abound, including fresh coconut water straight from the shell. You can also get a shell loaded with more lethal potions.

Pam and I opted for the beach. We were grateful that Riviera and Splendor were the only two ships visiting Harvest Caye that day. The lines of deck chairs suggested how crowded the beach could be on a day when a couple on NCL's big ships were in port. (This picture was taken looking right.  Looking left, the mass of chairs stretched out much further.)

From our deck chairs, it was fun to watch Kites, Pelicans, and zipliners go flying by. It was a long run for the zipliners that began in an artificial lighthouse that also hosted bungee jumping. Unlike the upright ziplining we had done, most recently in St. Lucia in 2018, these zipliners were prone.  

It is not an activity in which I would want to participate with my head leading the way while my arms are immobilized by straps. 

The lifeguards at the beach worked with military precision.  There were four towers on our section of the beach.  Each lifeguard would man each tower for 15 minutes before rotating to a break period.  Five minutes into their time on a tower, we would hear a signal on their radio.  They would all stand up.  Five minutes later would come a signal that they could sit down.  When it was time to change towers, the new lifeguard coming on shift would watch the water while the lifeguard in the tower climbed down.  The one that had descended would watch the water while his replacement ascended the tower, then run to the second tower, where the process would be repeated, and so on until the lifeguard at the fourth tower ran off the beach. Watching them for over three hours, they never allowed themselves to be distracted. The team really had its act together.  

When we'd had enough beach time, including a lunch brought to us by a waitress, we gathered up our things, walked to the end of the long pier, and boarded the launch back to Riviera.

A while later, the ship raised its anchor and we sailed off into the sunset.