Trip Report Belize Aggressor III Trip Report – April 21-28

[Bubbles below]

Thank you for the report! I'm on the Belize Aggressor lll on Dec 29-Jan 5. I dove Belize on a cruise stop and I was not impressed so I thought I would do LOB. And afterward, I thought I go to San Pedro and stay at Sunbreeze to do more diving. But, after your report I think I'm doing land tours instead. On Jan 5 I thought I would do the kayaking and Zip Rio before going to San Ingancio for the rest of my land tour, Jan 6-Jan 9: ATM, Tidak, and Rio Pools before heading back to the state.

 

[Trailboss123]

Thank you for the report! I'm on the Belize Aggressor lll on Dec 29-Jan 5. I dove Belize on a cruise stop and I was not impressed so I thought I would do LOB. And afterward, I thought I go to San Pedro and stay at Sunbreeze to do more diving. But, after your report I think I'm doing land tours instead. On Jan 5 I thought I would do the kayaking and Zip Rio before going to San Ingancio for the rest of my land tour, Jan 6-Jan 9: ATM, Tidak, and Rio Pools before heading back to the state.

Sounds like you have a great plan. I like it!

 

[Charred]

This is exactly what I don't understand. The boat should head out to lighthouse the first night. At the very least it should be there by the afternoon of the first day.

The captains tip will depend on taking me to quality reefs.

Replying to myself to update. Just returned from BA IV.

We did cruise Saturday night to the Lighthouse reef such that our Sunday morning dives were off Long Caye. We spent the week bouncing between dives off Half Moon Caye and Long Caye. The Half Moon dives were pristine and my favorites. The Long Caye dives were all wall dives of decent quality. We did no dives on the East of Lighthouse to my disappointment.

We did do the Blue Hole but it was touch and go as there were storms in the area. I loved this dive. It was very memorable.

Thursday afternoon we moved to the East side of Turneffe. No complaints about this site and it was comparable to the Long Caye dives.

Friday morning we were at the West of Turneffe and this site was pretty meh.

My only complaint is the Long Caye sites were very close together and quite similar in spite of a different name.

I have no major additions to other trip reports except you should come prepared to navigate to and from the wall and boat or stay near the boat if visability is poor. If you have dove Bonaire you understand the navigation skills needed except the boat swings around quite a bit.

I also recommend three sets of bathing suits and rash guards so you can change and dry off often. I had two sets and wish I had a third.

 

[Bubbles below]

I’m looking forward to my trip in Dec/Jan. I’ll be bringing 2 wetsuits, 1mm and my 2 piece lavacore just in case I get too cold. 3 sport bras which I wear when I dive and 2 bath suits for the hot tub. I probably be only using it the first day and last day since I’m hoping I will be diving 4-5dives. My nitrogen load will be high even though I will be diving w nitrox all week. Just not helping the nitrogen to escape w the hot tub temperature

 

[Trailboss123]

Replying to myself to update. Just returned from BA IV.

We did cruise Saturday night to the Lighthouse reef such that our Sunday morning dives were off Long Caye. We spent the week bouncing between dives off Half Moon Caye and Long Caye. The Half Moon dives were pristine and my favorites. The Long Caye dives were all wall dives of decent quality. We did no dives on the East of Lighthouse to my disappointment.

We did do the Blue Hole but it was touch and go as there were storms in the area. I loved this dive. It was very memorable.

Thursday afternoon we moved to the East side of Turneffe. No complaints about this site and it was comparable to the Long Caye dives.

Friday morning we were at the West of Turneffe and this site was pretty meh.

My only complaint is the Long Caye sites were very close together and quite similar in spite of a different name.

I have no major additions to other trip reports except you should come prepared to navigate to and from the wall and boat or stay near the boat if visability is poor. If you have dove Bonaire you understand the navigation skills needed except the boat swings around quite a bit.

I also recommend three sets of bathing suits and rash guards so you can change and dry off often. I had two sets and wish I had a third.

Thanks for the follow up and report. Very happy for you and your group that you got to spend so much time out at Half Moon and Long Caye.

 

[rongoodman]

My nitrogen load will be high even though I will be diving w nitrox all week. Just not helping the nitrogen to escape w the hot tub temperature

I'm not a fan of hot tubs, but I think you'd be surprised as to how low your N2 load will be using Nitrox and liveaboard dive schedules. My Shearwater shows some build-up in the slow compartments over the course of the week, but even when doing every dive it never gets to a worrisome level. I enjoyed that boat a couple of years ago. I think you'll have a good time.

(FWIW, hot tubs will increase the rate of off gassing, which in itself might be reason to avoid them. What is Decompression: Hot Tubs After Diving — Medical Dive Article — DAN | Divers Alert Network)

 

[Charred]

With the exception of the Blue Hole, which had a 5.5 hour surface interval after, I rarely went deeper than 70 feet. Down the walls there was minimal life aside from corals and sponges. And the bottom was much deeper than the 110 feet they asked us to stay above. I mostly went out at 50ish and back shallower than that. Many times you could do your safety stop on the way back if you wanted. I always did an extra one under the boat because gas was never an issue. I was usually surfacing with around 12-1300 psi at 60-65 minutes and I was absolutely not running shallow to conserve gas. If anything I was pushing deep because I knew I had so much gas.

Nitrogen loading was just not an issue on nitrox.

Further, there were air divers who did every dive. There is a long surface interval at lunch and dinner. The other dives had 1.5 hour intervals. The schedules on these boats and the sites they visit are designed to keep you out of the chamber.

 

[Ayisha]

...
(FWIW, hot tubs will increase the rate of off gassing, which in itself might be reason to avoid them. What is Decompression: Hot Tubs After Diving — Medical Dive Article — DAN | Divers Alert Network)

bold added

I think you meant to say that hot tubs decrease the rate of off-gassing, right?

 

[rongoodman]

bold added

I think you meant to say that hot tubs decrease the rate of off-gassing, right?

The first paragraph mentions both increased blood flow to the extremities and the decreased solubility of inert gases due to the elevated temperature in the hot tub, with the second being more likely to lead to problematic bubble growth. Both imply an increased rate of off-gassing to me.

 

[gizmo1972]

you should try Turks & Caicos Aggressor II
your love the fishiness and the sharks lots of sharks!!! but you need to be aware Average depths are Deeper!!