Although the water is fantastic, there was much more marine life to be found on Belize. We stayed at Kaye Caulker, which isn’t all that spectacular for beaches, but from Kaye Caulker (or Ambergris) you can have a guide take you out to Shark Ray Alley, where we saw:
Note: All pictures taken by me / my wife in Shark Ray Alley.
The snorkelling in Anguilla consisted mostly of the same kinds of fish you would see anywhere. Which was great, but couldn’t hold a candle to Belize.
However, the beaches were ten times better in Anguilla. Just so you know, Ku is on Shoal Bay East, which is a little farther from the “action” if you can call it that. Not that it was too difficult to drive wherever you wanted to go. Also bear in mind that you must get one of the deluxe ocean view rooms there - all the others aren’t anywhere near as nice as those rooms.
Don’t fret, my friend. This ‘still’ water thread is simply running deep. Everyone’s comments, yours included, have sparked some offline discussion and investigation, that’s all. anu-la1979 and I had PM’d specifics on issues comments here raised, I’ve been looking at sites and reservations for many of the islands mentioned, have contacted more friends to see if they knew of private homes on St. John for example, as Pundit Lisa suggests, have been checking on “rainy seasons” for some of the more attractive suggestions, etc.
These were all spot on and of HUGE benefit to our search. Thank you all very much!
FYI - I paid less than $300 for my ticket to Roatan from Chicago on Taca Airlines. Their sale is still running (and includes other cities), but the flight times are a bit weird (we leave ORD at 3:50 am) and some itineraries have like 3 stops on the way. However, I was able to grab an itinerary with only two stops there and one on the way back.