BS

[Wkndbum]

While we're all here in the cold & wind guess who is in Belize this week?

One hint.....

[Scubagal]

While we're all here in the cold & wind guess who is in Belize this week?

One hint.....

I know, I know!!! Hope whoever it is they are having a wonderful time! Jealous!!!

[NETim]

My sources tell me that there's a serious shortage of in Belize.

She who must not be named may be even more difficult to live with when she finally returns from all that warm water.

[Bottomdweller]

I'm BAAAACK!!! Way to use my initials in a post, Terry! I had one piece of that I shared with another person on the trip, but it wasn't like homemade I may have to hook myself up with one of those. Hmm....

Belize was awesome! If you like smooth boat rides, no waves, and no surge, you may want to dive elsewhere, but if you're okay with climbing mountains of water (on the windy days) to get out through the surf break where the open ocean hits the barrier reef, you'll love the diving!

We saw sea turtles, dolphins, nurse sharks (I got to touch a nurse shark at the okay of the divemaster), huge green moray eels, southern rays and spotted eagle rays, and too many more critters and stuff to name. We did a night dive on Wednesday, too, which wasn't on the schedule but that we added for $50.

We stayed at Ramon's Village Resort on Ambergris Caye, which is about a 15 minute flight in a 14-passenger prop plane from the mainland airport in Belize City. Ramon's is outstanding - very clean, very friendly and efficient staff. I highly recommend them. Our divemasters were stellar - excellent boat drivers, very good pre-dive briefings, and awesome about all our gear - we'd set up our tanks and gear, then they'd put them in the boat for us and take them out of the boat at the end of the day. There were lockers at the dive shop on the pier, so we just put our gear in those each day after rinsing everything in the fresh water provided, and it was just a short walk to the boat to hook up a tank. Several of us dove Nitrox all week, and they were great about having the analyzer there at the boats so we could each analyze our tanks before they put them in the boats for us, too.

On the two days the wind was blowing pretty hard, the surge was very noticeable, even at 50-70 feet. For those not trying to take pictures, it may not have been as much of an issue, but when you're trying to handle a double-strobe camera and get lined up for a macro shot of, say, a flamingo tongue, the surge got rather challenging to deal with. Motion Eze, which is an all-natural product you dab behind your ear to avoid motion sickness, was in heavy use, but it worked great and no one using it had a problem with getting sick. Belize is known for these conditions, so if you go there, you can expect it.

All the diving is boat diving because it's very shallow near shore. The kids from the town of San Pedro play in the water along the beach on the weekends when they're not in school, it's so nice and shallow. The dive sites mostly consisted of ridges and canyons, with some swim-throughs and cracks. We saw two lionfish on the trip on two diferent days, too.

On our last day, a non-diving day in prep. for the flight home, we took a boat to the mainland, about an hour ride across the ocean, and went zip lining and cave tubing. I used to run a zip line so that wasn't anything new to me, but those who'd never done it loved it. The cave tubing was a tour of a cave in innertubes - we sat in our tubes in the river wearing helmets with headlamps on them and our guide led us through the cave. That was pretty sweet - I had my camera in its housing along, so I was able to take some pictures - I'll get 'em posted up sooner or later.

Ramon's Village is super laid back, and once I got there, I kicked off all shoes and flip flops and went barefoot everywhere, including to meals, the gift shop, and whatever. You do wear shoes to walk the town for souvenirs and to go eat, but at the resort itself, you feel overdressed in shoes. Got a few sand flea bites, but it was worth it.

Food at the resort is good, and breakfast was included in our package price. There was French toast and a variety of egg dishes as options, along with a bunch of different kinds of juice. I didn’t eat lunch at the resort, but one of our divers got a really tasty-looking cheeseburger one day that I was drooling over. I was on my way elsewhere and just stole one of his French fries on my way by. It’s lobster season right now, so lobster was on every supper menu in various combinations. Meals are pricy; I think the cheapest supper I bought was around $12, but most meals were in the $15-$25 range for supper. Prices were listed in Belize (BZ) dollars, which are twice the amount of American, so whatever the price was, you cut it in half to figure it in American dollars. You could pay in either currency or in a combination of both, they didn’t care. That was true everywhere we went, both at the resort and in town. Even the vendors selling their wares along the beach and in roadside stands would take either currency.

Both English and Spanish are spoken, so you can speak English everywhere you go. The people there learn Spanish at home and English in school.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip and I’d go again, given the opportunity. I wouldn’t mind a little smoother water conditions for photography, but I have NO complaints whatsoever about this trip. It was wonderful!

[Bottomdweller]

And Tim, what do you mean, "even MORE difficult to live with?" Hmmmmm????

[NETim]

And Tim, what do you mean, "even MORE difficult to live with?" Hmmmmm????

Er... umm... ahh....

(runs for cover)