So there was some drama with the Blue Hole. I was supposed to dive it 2 days ago with Big Fish (BF) on Caye Caulker. I was originally supposed to dive with Amigos del Mar but BF was much cheaper. However, when I woke up to meet the boat at 5:30AM! they told me that 4 people backed out the night before and they need 10 people to move the boat and we only had 8. Of course I had to give them a dose of the NY spirit and told them that they need to pay for an extra night of lodging for inconveniencing me. Why did they give the money back to these people if they're cancelling so last minute?... blah blah blah. In the end, I got mixed answers about whether they had the money or not. Because if they did have it, they should have kept it and moved the damn boat! So anyway, I ended up having to go to San Pedro, Ambergis Caye because we already paid for a night of lodging there. So I went there after taking a 45 boat ride there for $10BZ. Note: It's much cheaper to go from one island to another by taking Triple J instead of the water taxi ($20 BZ). I was shocked at how long AC was. It's a zillion times bigger than Caulker. They ride golf carts at 100 mph and don't slow down. They also have paved streets and sidewalks for major streets.
I'm digressing. So when I got off the ferry, Amigos was right there on the next pier so I walked in, signed up and they told me they would pick me up at the pier by the Belize Yacht Club at 5:30AM. For the rest of the day, I just hung out with Shaniquoa. Swimming, talking to locals, and just chillin'.
The next day, I waited on the pier for a few min and I was picked up. We were taken back to the Amigos pier and had some fresh fruit for breakfast and loaded the boats. The ride is not for the faint of heart. It was about 2 hours (maybe more). During the first 45 min, there was some rain so it hurt to slam into tiny water droplets at 70(?) mph. The next 45 min, we traveled over open water crosses which were really choppy waters. The boat would get launched into the air at times and slam back down. I was surprised the boat didn't break in half. Even though I took Dramamine, I was feeling nauseated from the smell of the petrol.
So after that, we finally made it. There were about 15 people on the boat and about half were snorkelers. I was surprised there were so many, but I was secretly glad. That means there will be less divers in the group. They helped us get into our gear and we hit the water. I was a little nervous knowing I would be going down to 130 feet and my left ear was a bit clogged because I was still getting over a cold. I was fine though. I just kept equalizing my ears and everything went smoothly. I was surprised at how easily I slipped down to such depths. I hardly felt a change. I only noticed that it was a tiny bit more difficult to breathe. Not much marine life. Some stalagtites but nothing compared to the cenotes in Cancun. Towards the end of the dive, the reef sharks were getting curious so they started coming out. I took some photos of them but I won't be able to post them until I get back home. It got a little scary when one was close enough that I could distinguish the face. It's face wasn't as friendly as the nurse shark I petted in Grand Cayman. Needless to say, I won't be keeping any sharks as pets. So that was the Blue Hole. People say it's nothing special but I had a great time. I was glad I went. I probably won't be doing it again since it's so expensive. I can tick it off my list of things to see/do and it's also in the book of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.
The next two dives were at Half Moon Caye, and the Aquarium. Both were wall dives. Nothing too exciting. Aside from the small marine life, I saw a huge turtle and my fav, a baby sting ray. At Half Moon, we got off, had lunch and checked out the bird sanctuary. You climb up to the top of the observation deck and see the birds sitting in the tree tops or flying around. There were also some hermit crabs crawling around the forest floor.
Next I'm off back to Belize City and we're going to drive over to Chetumal, MX. Not sure what we are going to do there but it's a popular Belizean thing to do. There is a casino, shopping and chain restaurants. By the way, this is the place where I stayed in a posada where the room was a converted garage.
I'm digressing. So when I got off the ferry, Amigos was right there on the next pier so I walked in, signed up and they told me they would pick me up at the pier by the Belize Yacht Club at 5:30AM. For the rest of the day, I just hung out with Shaniquoa. Swimming, talking to locals, and just chillin'.
The next day, I waited on the pier for a few min and I was picked up. We were taken back to the Amigos pier and had some fresh fruit for breakfast and loaded the boats. The ride is not for the faint of heart. It was about 2 hours (maybe more). During the first 45 min, there was some rain so it hurt to slam into tiny water droplets at 70(?) mph. The next 45 min, we traveled over open water crosses which were really choppy waters. The boat would get launched into the air at times and slam back down. I was surprised the boat didn't break in half. Even though I took Dramamine, I was feeling nauseated from the smell of the petrol.
So after that, we finally made it. There were about 15 people on the boat and about half were snorkelers. I was surprised there were so many, but I was secretly glad. That means there will be less divers in the group. They helped us get into our gear and we hit the water. I was a little nervous knowing I would be going down to 130 feet and my left ear was a bit clogged because I was still getting over a cold. I was fine though. I just kept equalizing my ears and everything went smoothly. I was surprised at how easily I slipped down to such depths. I hardly felt a change. I only noticed that it was a tiny bit more difficult to breathe. Not much marine life. Some stalagtites but nothing compared to the cenotes in Cancun. Towards the end of the dive, the reef sharks were getting curious so they started coming out. I took some photos of them but I won't be able to post them until I get back home. It got a little scary when one was close enough that I could distinguish the face. It's face wasn't as friendly as the nurse shark I petted in Grand Cayman. Needless to say, I won't be keeping any sharks as pets. So that was the Blue Hole. People say it's nothing special but I had a great time. I was glad I went. I probably won't be doing it again since it's so expensive. I can tick it off my list of things to see/do and it's also in the book of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.
The next two dives were at Half Moon Caye, and the Aquarium. Both were wall dives. Nothing too exciting. Aside from the small marine life, I saw a huge turtle and my fav, a baby sting ray. At Half Moon, we got off, had lunch and checked out the bird sanctuary. You climb up to the top of the observation deck and see the birds sitting in the tree tops or flying around. There were also some hermit crabs crawling around the forest floor.
Next I'm off back to Belize City and we're going to drive over to Chetumal, MX. Not sure what we are going to do there but it's a popular Belizean thing to do. There is a casino, shopping and chain restaurants. By the way, this is the place where I stayed in a posada where the room was a converted garage.
oooh nice!!! 100mph golf carts...
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