BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports - YOU’D BETTER BELIZE IT

TRAVEL CLUB

YOU’D BETTER BELIZE IT

by Jon Gunns

While spending 6 months working in Belize I was fortunate to be able to take advantage of the diving opportunities available there.

Belize lies on the eastern coast of Central America just south of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The 195 mile long coast is protected by an offshore reef with numerous cayes and atolls that offer some of the best diving in the region.

THE CAYES AND ATOLLS
Goffs Caye

Most of the more than 200 cayes lie in shallow water on the barrier reef itself. Ambergris Caye is the largest and best known with a thriving tourist industry and many dive operators. I first visited Ambergris Caye in the early 1980s when one of the bars in San Pedro, the main town, boasted the first air conditioning unit on the island. Now, San Pedro is a highly developed tourist resort with a busy nightlife.

Hunting Caye

It is possible to take a boat or water taxi to Ambergris Caye but we frequently took our lives in our hands and chartered a small plane from Belize City for the 15 minute flight to the island. There are a range of dive sites along the eastern coast serviced by small boats from a huge range of operators. To the south east of San Pedro, there is a break in the barrier reef at Hol Chan (little channel in Mayan). Here there is a channel about 10 metres deep within a marine reserve in which a wide variety of fish and corals are protected.

Other sites we dived with Bottom Time or Dive Dreams Dive Shops included Victoria Tunnel, where a sandy cleft at 10 metres cuts through the reef allowing access to the reef wall at 30 metres, and Tackle Box where we saw several porcupine fish and 2 turtles. Visibility on these dives was generally good at well over 20 metres, but was spoiled after periods of strong winds and heavy rain. Visitors hiring gear from dive shops in Belize should take care to check the equipment before using it. On one occasion I was given an regulator with a torn mouthpiece. When I complained, I was invited to use the octopus regulator.

We frequently also dived from St George’s Caye and this and many of the other large Cayes, including Caye Caulker, Moho Caye and Caye Bokel have their own dive shops and can arrange diving trips.

LIVEABOARD DIVING

A glance through the advertisements in any current diving magazine will show a number of operators offering liveaboard diving in Belize. While living in Belize, I took 3 liveaboard trips of 2 or 3 day duration and this is by far the best way to see the outer islands and atolls.

Three of the 4 atolls in the western Hemisphere are found off Belize: Turneffe Islands, Glover’s Reef and Lighthouse Reef. While parts of these atolls can be dived by small boat from one of the Cayes, a liveaboard trip offers the opportunity to spend more time at each site.

My first trip was on Manta IV, typical of the slightly cheaper end of the Belize liveaboard market. After boarding in Belize City, the first day saw 2 dives in the Turneffe Islands as we headed towards Lighthouse Reef. Diving was to PADI rules in follow the leader fashion along reef walls, although the guide was happy for the more experienced divers to dive in buddy pairs on the second dive.

Overnight was spent at Half Moon Caye. Here we were able to explore the Caye which is uninhabited except for huge colonies of birds. The downmarket element of the trip became apparent as sleeping arrangements consisted of selecting part of the beach as a bed. Catering however was fine and we had all brought our own supplies of alcohol along.

Up early on Day 2 for the highlight of the trip, the Blue Hole. Jacques Cousteau made the Blue Hole famous after he took the Calypso into the hole and explored its depth. The Hole was originally a cave on dry land. The roof collapsed exposing the interior and a shift in the earth’s surface submerged the cave resulting in a deep hole in the ocean floor that shows up as a dark blue circle from the air.

After a twisting journey through the surrounding reef, the boat anchored up inside and close to one wall of the hole. The dive site was on the other side of the hole and a moderate surface swim was involved in reaching the start point of the dive. When we were all assembled the dive guide gave us the signal and we descended as a group. We followed a vertical wall down, the water growing darker as we descended. At about 30 metres the wall started to curve inwards into an overhang and we stopped our descent at 42 metres before swimming amongst ancient stalactites dating from the time when the Blue Hole had been a cave on dry land.

Eight minutes after leaving the surface we started our ascent, finishing with a safety stop on a sandy ledge at 6 metres. We saw little marine life during the dive although other divers at this site have seen hammerhead sharks.

It was at this site that we heard a story about an inexperienced group of divers on a liveaboard trip. On Day 1, the dive guide had noticed that many divers forgot to fit their weight belts and had to return to the boat before diving to collect them. Before diving the Blue Hole he emphasised the importance of fitting belts as the long surface swim and time constraints would preclude the possibility of returning to collect them. He also briefed that once the descent ha started, anybody having difficulty in clearing their ears would have to return to the surface alone while the main group continued their dive. The group arrived at the descent point, OK signals all round and down they went. Three metres, 4, 5 and then lost of frantic ‘go up’ signals. The dive guide had forgotten to fit his weight belt! Looking round the guide remarked that there was not time to return to the boat, no one could dive if he didn’t and someone in the group would have to give him their weightbelt. Lots of long faces before the group eventually managed to weight the guide down with the odd spare weight and rocks!

We had 2 further dives on Day 2 as we returned to Belize City, one on Lighthouse Reef and one in the Turneffe Islands.

Turtle

Marine life encountered on these trips included angle fish, parrot fish, trumpet fish, spiny lobster, nassau grouper, spotted eagle ray, yellow stingray, hogfish, cowfish, filefish and turtle. On some sites, big individual barracuda would hang in the water observing the divers and slowly following them throughout he dive.

My second and third trips were aboard Reef Roamer II and followed similar itineraries. The highlight of one of these trips was an encounter with 3 wild dolphins. A female dolphin had taken up residence in a bay of one of the Cayes in Lighthouse Reef. She had given birth to a baby and a second adult had joined her temporarily. Sailing into the bay the dolphins immediately started performing and we spent the afternoon snorkelling with them. The night dive at this site was an eerie experience as our torch-beams would suddenly illuminate a dolphin racing towards us, braking at the last moment and staring briefly into our faces before racing away again. On conclusion of the dive, the dolphins clustered around the stern of our boat, whistling and flapping the water to entice us to play with them.

On my final trip, we were nearly caught out by the weather which blew up unexpectedly while we were moored up overnight at Lighthouse Reef. A very bumpy white-knuckle ride back to the Turneffe Islands was followed by a flat refusal from the captain to risk going further that night. We arrived back in Belize City a day late and were towed in by another boat after our engines packed up.

SNORKELLING
Belize is a snorkeller’s dream with clear, warm water, good visibility and proliferation of marine life in shallow depths. Most of the day dive boats will welcome snorkellers but for something different and more personal it is possible to prepare a picnic, charter a water taxi and become king of one of the uninhabited Cayes for the day.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Belize has much to interest the tourist, from the archaeologist to the environmentalist. The magnificent Mayan ruins are well worth a visit as are the spectacular flora and fauna

Belize is also a good jumping off point for the local region. Mexico can be entered across a land border. Other islands in the Caribbean can be reached by short air hops and Miami is only 2 hours away.

Belize City

WATCH OUT FOR
Belize is a country of great contrasts. Wealthy tourists rub shoulders with poor Belizeans barely scratching a living. Beware of straying too far from the tourist haunts. There is also a danger from drugs-related crime.

However, taking advice from the local guides should keep you out of trouble.

WOULD I GO AGAIN?
Would I go again? At the drop of a hat - you’d better Belize it.

Jon Gunns

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