Belize Aggressor III Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Charter Date: July 7 - 14, 2012
Weather: Moderate w/ scattered showers
Winds: Moderate 5-15KT
Water Temperature: 83 degrees
Wetsuit: 1.5 - 3mm recommended
Crew: Capt. Jay, 2nd Capt. Steve, Engineer Fermin, Instructor Chris, Chef Anna, Steward Randy
Photos By: Mike Haber

Dive Sites visited this week:
Sunday - Long Caye Ridge and Cathedral
Monday - Hat Caye Wall and Long Caye Wall
Tuesday - Tarpon Caves and Silver Caves
Wednesday - Blue Hole, Dos Cocos, and Aquarium
Thursday - Cathedral, Half Moon Caye Wall, and Long Caye Ridge
Friday - Sandy Slope

On Saturday we welcomed 14 guests from the USA and UK. The safety briefing was given and then turned the floor over to Mike Haber and Mike Mesgleski of the Jim Church School of Underwater Photography! Dinner was served and we made way for Lighthouse Reef Atoll.

The week started off as we hoped, lots of critters for our photographers to capture special moments with their digital cameras. Large schools of horse eyed jacks, a few rouge barracudas, small gangs of tarpon, and solitary turtles, eels, sharks, and rays were seen on the dives around the Long Caye Area. Of course not just the big stuff was encountered, sail-fin blennies came out to play (with a little encouragement), pipefish swept across the grass flats, goatfish tending the sand, and scorpion fish lounging on top of corals in the Half Moon Caye area. Later in the week we dropped in on the Blue Hole for a deep dive into the ages.

During the surface intervals, Mike and Mike with much enthusiasm and panache gave lectures on all aspects of underwater photography. From F-Stops to Shutters Speeds and everything in between, there was always something new to learn and appreciate during their lectures.

As the days sped by, it was already Friday. We finished off the week with two dives on Sandy Slope. A few divers got lucky and swam with a curious manatee! After the dives we motored back to port. The guests sorted through hundreds of photos to find their favorites for Mike and Mike. This process was critical, as it would determine if the guests would ÒGraduateÓ during their fun filled week with Mike and Mike.

Friday evening we began our cocktail party at 6PM, and then the ceremonies commenced. When the last photos were viewed and the laughter was finished, we all went for dinner at the Smokey Mermaid restaurant and sushi bar.

Saturday concluded the week with the crew saying their goodbyes. Thank you Mike and Mike for a fun-filled week of diving and laughs!

As always, keep smiling and keep diving!

Eat, Sleep & Dive

Captain Jay Roberts

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

[FONT=&amp]Charter Date: July 24 to August 4, 2012[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Weather: Moderate w/ scattered showers[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Winds: Moderate 5-15KT[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Water Temperature: 83 degrees[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Wetsuit: 1.5 - 3mm recommended[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Crew: Capt. Jay, Engineer Fermin, Instructor Jody, Divemaster James, Chef Yanis, Stewardess Jean[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Photos By: Jay Roberts[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Dive Sites visited this charter (10 day):[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Thursday - Sandy Slope and Amberhead[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Friday - Long Caye Ridge and Julie’s Jungle[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Saturday - Hat Caye Wall and Long Caye Wall[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Sunday - Blue Hole, Island Tour, and Half Moon Caye Wall[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Monday - Tarpon Caves and Aquarium[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Tuesday - Silver Caves, Dos Cocos, and Front Porch[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Wednesday - The Elbow, Batfish Alley, and Manta Drop Off[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Thursday - Manta Drop Off, North West Point and Sand Box[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Friday - Lony Caye Ridge and The Elbow[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]On Wednesday afternoon the crew and I greeted 17 divers from various parts of the US and the UK. After check-in dinner was served up Yanis style! The safety briefing was given, and then we departed for Turneffe Island atoll.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Thursday morning began with much anticipation. Divers slipped into the warm waters and came across large lobsters, shy sargassum triggerfish, big green moray eels, garden eels, and those curious yellow-headed jawfish. The divers commented on how wonderful the health of the reef system was and couldn’t wait to see more.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Friday we motored to Lighthouse Reef atoll and spent the next few days exploring the deep walls and swim throughs on Half Moon Caye, the shallow reefs at Long Caye, went eagle ray hunting at Hat Caye, and a deep dive into history at the great Blue Hole.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Wednesday we motored down to Glovers Reef atoll. The divers encountered sharks, eagle rays, several batfish and some very well camouflaged scorpion fish.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]During our journeys several dolphins would cruise along side the vessel allowing photos to be taken and they even made a few back flips! Our last morning of dives was pretty awesome. Several eagle rays, turtles, and schools of jacks past by the divers along the Elbow before we headed back for port.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Once in Belize City, several guests went on land tours to Altun Ha and Cave Tubing. After our cocktail party, the guests went to the Riverside Tavern for dinner.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]What a great 10 days, the weather was very accommodating and the diving was fantastic. Congratulations to Virginia for completing her 200th dive and Wylie for completing his 100th![/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]As always, keep smiling and keep diving![/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Eat, Sleep & Dive[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Captain Jay Roberts

[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]

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[FONT=&amp]
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---------- Post Merged on August 7th, 2012 at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was on August 6th, 2012 at 12:21 PM ----------

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Report July 14 – 24, 2012

Avg. Visibility – 60ft
Avg. Water Temp – 82F
Winds: avg 15knots
This charter’s divers were Phil & Sallie, John, Ron, Rick, Damon & Kate, JB & Jill, Mel & Norma, Morgan, Dave & Ellen, and for the second time this year, Mike & Bev (who were here just a couple months ago in May).

CREW:
Captain Jay
Chef - Ana
Stewardess - Jean
Galley & Deck Assistant – Randy
Engineer – Fermin
Instructor/Video - Chris

We started our Charter at Sandy Slope on the West side of Turneffe Atoll, headed over to Lighthouse Reef, and then headed back to Turneffe to finish off the week.

All guests boarded on Saturday July 14^th. After getting dive gear set up and settling into their cabins for the week. Captain Jay gave his ‘Welcome Aboard’ briefing, and then Chef Ana prepared a wonderful dinner as the guests and crew got to know each other and anticipated the diving to come.

We started the charter off with a visit from a small pod of bottle nose dolphins. Actually we saw dolphins underwater as well as swimming alongside the vessel several times this charter.
Though we did have some high winds and a couple thunderstorms this charter, visibility was still an average of 70ft-80ft which made it easy to see the abundant marine life on some of the most beautiful reefs in the Caribbean.

Eagle rays cruised the wall, and turtles posed for pictures while they swam alongside guests…not to mention all the sharks. We saw a small black-tip while diving the Blue Hole Natural Monument, Caribbean reef sharks at Cathedral, Tarpon Caves, Half Moon Caye Wall, and divers got the opportunity to get some great pictures and videos while getting up close and personal with Caribbean reef sharks at Silver Caves.

All the sites we dive provide a great opportunity to see a variety of macro life. Decorator crabs, like neck crabs and cryptic tear drop crabs, pipehorse, several pipefish, wire coral shrimp, skeleton shrimp, lettuce sea slugs, white speckled nubibranch, juvenile trunk fish, juvenile drums, mantis shrimp, and several species of blennies. Mel was able to get a great shot of a sail fin blenny. And the rare find of the week was the batfish that Bev requested…we found a batfish in the sand at Half Moon Caye Wall that could fit on the fingernail of your index finger.

Squid were everywhere on the night dives. Arrow squid, Caribbean reef squid, and tiny grass squid were spotted. There were several schools of tiny arrow squid swimming around. Morgan was our octopus hunter this week and found several octopi for his fellow divers. We also saw an abundance of other stuff on the night dives…white speckled, tufted, and tassled nudibranchs, lettuce sea slugs, lobster, spotted morays, sleeping parrot fish, feeding tarpon, basket stars, channel clinging crabs, and numerous other reef fish.

Below are comments by some of our guests on this charter:

“Mostly I like barracudas. Especially petting them…and squid, they are my favourite. And turtles, definitely turtles…and Sharks! But mostly Barracuda.” – Kate

“Diving aside, the crew & cuisine made the trip. The crew worked like a well-oiled machine. Meals, snacks, desserts all were healthy and tasty. As for the diving…I’ll let Chris’ video speak for itself! Well done. Thanks to all.”- Ron from ABQ

“Our favourite things about diving Belize are the abundance of life, the intense colours, the soap opera drama between the fish species, and most especially, the friends we have made!!!” – Mike and Bev

“Besides the fabulous experience diving and dining on this ship, the crew and divemasters’ expertise made for a rich learning experience! The wonder of the Blue Hole was trumped by the magic of being surrounded by hundreds of 3-4 inch squid circling us during the night dive. This was the best of 4 Aggressor trips!” – Sallie

“This was my first trip on any Aggressor or any live-aboard for that matter, and I don’t know if I will be able to look at a diving trip the same. There wasn’t one dive I didn’t see something spectacular in the oceans of Belize, from the eagle rays feeding, to the octopi on night dives, to hunting lionfish for the good of the reef. The best adult playground anyone could imaging. To top all off the boat crew was phenomenal and it was admirable to watch them work as a team to make sure we had the trip of our lives…and we did. Words can’t describe these 10 days, and believe me I have tried to keep a journal but the words spectacular and phenomenal become overused understatements. Thank you for everything.” – Morgan

“Top dive experiences (among many) was meeting up with eagle rays in very close encounters. Once one crossed my path in the sand at the bottom within 5 ft. It later went on to feed for a number of minutes. The other was almost running head on into an eagle ray surprising the both of us. The Aggressor dives were a GREAT experience.” – John C.

Thank you to all our guests. We look forward to diving with you again.
Your Belize Aggressor Crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Report Aug 25 – Sept 1, 2012

This week we welcomed aboard our guests: Bob, Cheryl, Ed, Dan, Karen, Allison, Bjorn, Enrico, Silvia, Nan, and Bo. Though Enrico and Silvia didn’t dive they had great fun snorkeling at all the sights. Bob was a landlubber for the week and just hung out and enjoyed being aboard the boat.

We had great weather and flat calm seas for most of the week, which led to all around great visibility. We started the week at Turneffe Atoll, where we dove Front Porch in the morning and Black Beauty in the afternoon and night. After the night dive we headed over to Lighthouse Reef where we spent a good portion of the week with dives off the walls of Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, Long Caye and Hat Caye. We even dropped in on the world famous Blue Hole this week.

On Thursday after lunch we motored back to Turneffe Atoll to dive the Elbow. We managed to get in one dive here before the weather picked up and we had to move on the lee side of Turneffe. We suited up and did a drift dive over Sayonara, and then tied up at Sandy Slope where we finished off our day with a night dive. We did two final dives on Friday morning before heading back to the dock.

Sites dove this week:
Sunday: (Caye Bokel, Turneffe Atoll)

• Front Porch
• Grand Bogue

Monday: (Half Moon Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll)

• Chain Wall
• Half Moon Caye Wall

Tuesday: (Half Moon Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll)

• Blue Hole
• Tarpon Caves

Wednesday (Long Caye & Hat Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll)

• Cathedral
• Hat Caye Wall

Thursday

• Quebrada (Long Caye Wall, Lighthouse Reef Atoll)
• Elbow (Caye Bokel, Turneffe Atoll)
• Sayonara (Turneffe Atoll)
• Sandy Slope (Turneffe Atoll)

Friday

• Sandy Slope (Turneffe Atoll)

This week we saw eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, several morays, octopi, lots of squid, barracuda, tarpon, decorator crabs, wire coral shrimp, mantis shrimp, lobster, several species of nudibranchs, huge nurse shark, schooling jacks and Creole wrasse, Spanish mackerel, and a wide variety of numerous reef fish that live on our reefs.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Log – Sept 1 - 8, 2012
Crew:
Captain Steve, Chef Anna, Steward Randy, Instructors Chris & Jody, Engineer Fermin

Visibility: 80ft avg
Weather: Great
Water Temp: 83F avg

Saturday we welcomed 18 passengers aboard: Marj, Darcy, Dale, Carolynn, Rick J, Lindsay, Bryan, Mike, Bob, Bruce, Matt, Julie, Carl, Jay, Christi, Mary Ann, Marc, and Rick A.
Sunday:
Our week started diving at Sandy Slope on the West side of Turneffe Atoll. Our divers were all excited and quick to jump in for their check out dive in waters of 100’+ visibility and water temperature of 84F.

We did 2 dives there and then headed south on Turneffe to Front Porch, where we spent the afternoon and did the night dive.

Today we saw: several morays, both spotted and green; eagle rays cruising the wall and one checking us out in the shallows; there was a nice free swimming sharp-tail eel; lots of groupers, barracudas, jacks, schooling fish; and on the night dive 2 spotted toadfish were spotted, one moving out and about; squid, octopus, and nudibranch.

Monday:
Today should be called Decorator Crab Day! We saw at least 2 dozen different decorator crabs, a very elusive gaudy clown crab, and a huge channel clinging crab. The morning dive was at Julie’s Jungle, then we moved up to Quebrada after lunch. Wire coral shrimp, skeleton shrimp, Pederson shrimp, and pistol shrimps were some of the other crustaceans around. And as always we saw the many varieties of fish that inhabit our reefs. Both sites also have an impressive display of corals and sponges…huge barrel sponges on these sights. Some of our divers were able to get “cleaned” by neon gobies living on the sponges.

Tuesday:
1^st Dive…THE BLUE HOLE!!! Everyone was excited about the diving the Blue Hole, and the weather was perfect for it. Though this dive is not known for its marine life, we saw a Caribbean Reef shark as we headed down. This ancient dive site was once a huge cave with massive stalactites formed over thousands of years. After the Blue Hole, we headed over to Half Moon Caye Wall, where pipefish was the word of the day. Eagle Rays, southern stingrays, razor fish, peacock flounder, jacks, tarpon, and barracuda could be seen swimming about, while other critters such as pike blennies, decorator crabs, head shield slugs, skeleton & arrow shrimps, pipehorse, and several little pipefish hung out in the turtle grass.

Wednesday:
Started today with great diving at Tarpon Caves on the south side of Half Moon Caye on Lighthouse Reef Atoll. Lots of fish and great swim thru’s, including the chimney. Living up to its name, there were lots of tarpon at tarpon caves. There were large black groupers, friendly grey angels, southern stingrays, a very large but well camouflaged white nose pipefish (well, large by pipefish standards). Within minutes of jumping in on the second morning dive, an eagle ray came circling for several minutes and got within range to pose for great pics…of course the camera was left on the boat, but it was great seeing it. To a better, at the end of the dive, right below the boat, a second eagle ray came in close to check us out!

In the afternoon we dove the Aquarium, named because all the fish that live on this site. A small reef shark could be seen swimming below at the depths, while tarpon and Creole wrasse cruised the edge of the wall. A pair of bottlenose dolphins swam by along the wall, while on top of the reef a common octopus hunted out in the open for food. This wall is very colorful and home to lots of critters such as decorator crabs, arrow blennies, arrow crabs, skeleton shrimp, wire coral shrimp, lots of different blennies, and clusters of painted tunicates to name a few.

Thursday:
First site of the day…Cathedral, where we were greeted by 2 Caribbean reef sharks on the top of the reef and then another as we cruised the wall. Silversides and tarpon occupied the swim thru’s and bar jacks as darted about trying to feed on silversides. This was a beautiful dive with great colors, beautiful sponges, lots of reef fish, and fun swim thru’s. A small hawksbill passed us on the safety stop and a couple reef sharks circled back as we ended the second dive before coming up for lunch.

Hat Caye Wall was our next stop for the day. Once again, decorator crabs were all over the place. This site is always a good site to look for macro critters and cleaning stations where they are in abundance. There is also and abundance of reef fish and sponges on this site…huge barrel sponges all over the reef.

Friday:
All but 2 of our divers woke up for an early dive at 6am on Quebrada. As our divers were waking up, so were the fish. Hundreds of Creole wrasse hung over the reef and parrotfish came out of their cocoons; 2 hawksbill turtles cruised up and broke surface for air.

After breakfast we jumped in for our 2^nd morning dive at Long Caye Wall where we finished off our week’s diving. Once again, this proved to be a great critter dive, with neck crabs, skeleton shrimp, arrow blennies, wire coral shrimp, nudibranch, slender filefish, and at the end a 7ft free swimming moray swam along the reef in front of our divers. As we swam up after the safety stop, one final glance back left us in awe of all the color and beautiful life on Belize’s reefs.

On the night dives we saw tarpon feeding under the boat, on most dives we saw squid, octopus, nudibranch, shrimp, basket stars, spiny and slipper lobsters, eels, huge groupers and dog snappers, flamingo tongues, and lots of other marine life.

THANK YOU GUYS FOR A GREAT WEEK!!!!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Report September 22 – 29, 2012

Avg Water Temp: 83F
Avg Visibility: 80ft
Avg Winds 5-10 knots

After we welcomed our guests; Lina, Claudette, Mike, Jon, Claudia and Stefan aboard this week we gave them a chance to settle in. We departed the dock on Saturday evening and headed out to Lighthouse Reef where we would start diving the following morning.

SUNDAY:
First dive site of the week was at Cathedral, where our guests sorted out weights and equipment for their check out dive…and what a GREAT and easy dive it was with great visibility, warm waters, and no currents to fight! Cathedral has a colorful wall and is home to a variety of reef fish and critters, which our divers took in as they got acclimated to being back in the water. Quebrada was our next stop for the afternoon and night dives. The colors and life on this site are truly impressive. Huge sponges, gardens of soft corals, brilliant coral formations and an abundance of various reef fish swarm this site. Divers swam amongst schools of Creole wrasse and horse-eyed jacks, and were able to swim up to tarpon to take pictures; trumpet fish, angelfish, black durgeons, indigo hamlets, rock beauties, and tons of other fish could be seen everywhere. On the wall neck crabs hid in the soft corals and algae, wire coral shrimp hung out on (what else…) the wire coral; skeleton shrimp posed on the hydroids; and tons of other critters did their daily routines on the wall they inhabit.

Monday:
As soon as we dropped onto the sandy bottom of Half Moon Caye Wall we saw a pipe horse wrapped around a strand of sea grass. As we made our way to the wall we swam over a juvenile peacock flounder and swam pass a herd of blue parrotfish grazing on the bottom. On the wall a barracuda cruised along with us and an eagle ray swam by for a couple minutes. After two dives at Half Moon Caye Wall, we motored over to Julie’s Jungle for our afternoon and night dives. We saw a few lionfish hanging out in crevices, as well as a huge green moray. At the end of the dive we came across a 7ft nurse shark we encountered resting under a ledge.


Tuesday:
We decided to do a drift dive along the wall at the Aquarium. We cruised by huge gorgonian formations and huge sponges; we swam through a school of hundreds of Creole wrasse, and as we glanced upward two eagle rays circled along the top of the wall. On the second dive we saw another pair of eagle rays, we couldn’t miss them as they swam right up to us…so did a little hawksbill, it stayed with us for quite a while and posed for pictures. This site is called the Aquarium because of the abundance and variety of marine life…and of course it lived up to its name. After having “cheeseburgers in paradise” for lunch, we headed to Long Caye Wall. Since I did not go on this dive, I asked our divers what they saw…”There are lots of cleaning stations, grouper, banded coral shrimp, lionfish, yellow head jawfish feeding in the current, spotted drum, honeycomb cowfish, lots of squirrel fish, barracuda, French/queen angels, flamingo tongue, and lots and lots of beautiful sponges and soft corals.” – our guests.
Night dive had a lot of activity…slipper lobsters, spiny lobster running across the reef, free swimming spotted eel, two octopus, scorpion fish, slimy doris, sleeping parrotfish, and of course the tarpon feeding under the boat.

Wednesday:
Today was shark and turtle day. We started the day with another leisurely drift dive along Painted Wall and down to Aquarium where we saw a small hawksbill and an adolescent black tip shark about 3 ft long. Later on we saw three Caribbean reef sharks, and two more hawksbill turtles swam alongside the divers…for the remainder of the day we did two dives each at Silver Caves and Long Caye Ridge.

Thursday:
The day started with a GREAT dive at the Blue Hole. Visibility was clear so we got some nice pictures and video of the massive stalactites that were formed tens of thousands of years ago. The rest of the day was spent at Eagle Ray Pass where, of course, we saw eagle rays. This is a beautiful wall with tons of reef fish such as, spotted drum, several species of parrotfish and damselfish, groupers, snappers, spotted and green morays, several types of butterfly fish, lionfish, queen/gray/French angels, and of course hundreds of Creole wrasse running along the edge of the wall.

Friday:
First dive was a drift dive at the famous Elbow over at Turneffe Atoll. We saw schools of Atlantic spade fish, horse-eyed jacks, bar jacks, ballyhoo, Creole wrasse, and silversides; there was a dog snapper that followed us the entire dive; an eagle swam by in the distance; lettuce sea slug crawled across the reef, southern stingray swimming along the bottom. This site has a lot of black corals and gorgonians along the wall, and a lot of reef fish activity. Second dive of the morning was another drift over at Amber Head led by our Captain. Visibility was unlimited…you could see forever, it was beautiful with sunrays breaking through crystal clear waters. Groupers all over the place, gigantic barrel sponges, sargassum triggerfish, hawksbill turtle, lobsters, and lots of fish swimming about the reef. What a great way to end the week.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

This week all our guests arrive on time and with all their luggage and ready to DIVE!!!

Avg Water Temp: 82F
Avg Vis: 80Ft (with a few days of 150-200ft vis)
Avg Wind: 5 knots
Sea Conditions: mostly flat with a couple days of light chop

Sunday:
Dive sites: AM - Aquarium (2 dives); PM - Long Caye Ridge (3 dives) – TURNEFFE ATOLL
First dive site of the week was Front Porch on southern Turneffe Atoll, where we did our check-out dive and the second morning dive…the afternoon dives were at Grand Bogue. As soon as we dropped down to the top of the reef we saw a tiny neck crab hanging on a sea plume. As we cruised the wall, a spotted eagle ray swam by and then headed to the depths. While taking pictures of a green moray at a cleaning station we looked over and saw another out free-swimming along the reef, then another down below…3 green morays out in the open. As we headed back to the boat another spotted eagle ray cruised past in the shallows. We also saw a free swimming spotted moray, several healthy looking mutton snappers, black groupers, schooling jacks, barracuda, Queen triggerfish, lots of angelfish, sleeping nurse shark, flamingo tongues, and lots of other reef fish.
On the night dive, there was a white spotted toadfish out in the open. He seemed to be hunting, a very rare sight to see them out of their holes inside the reef. There was also a stingray, friendly permit, several eels, lots of crabs and shrimp.

Monday:
Dive sites: AM - Aquarium (2 dives); PM - Long Caye Ridge (3 dives) – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Today we woke to flat calm seas and a beautiful sunrise, and as we pulled to our first dive site we saw 2 hawksbill turtles on the surface...and then there is was underwater on the dive. The Aquarium hosts thousands of reef fish, colorful reef, and a great wall drop off.
As soon as we jumped in at Long Caye Ridge, we were right in the middle of a school of horse-eye jacks. There was also a huge black grouper and several chubs and snappers swimming amongst the jacks. On the wall we found skeleton shrimp, wire coral shrimp, neck crabs, a green moray, huge school of Creole wrasse, and lots of soft corals and sponges. As we headed into the shallows we watched the fish stopping off at cleaning stations, as well as jawfish, flounder, sand tilefish, trumpet fish, and of course tons of reef fish. It was a lot of fun to swim amongst the jacks again at the end of the dive.

Tuesday:
We started the day by going over to Half Moon Caye to see the nesting grounds for the Red-Footed Booby birds and the Magnificent Frigate Birds. We spent about an hour on the island walking around and enjoying the scenery. Next we dove the Great Blue Hole where we had 200ft visibility…what an awesome dive! We spent the rest of the day at Half Moon Caye exploring swim thru’s and looking for critters on the reef, and in the sand and sea grass. We had a close encounter with an eagle ray, saw a Caribbean reef shark, found an octopus hiding away in a hole littered by old conch shells, found several pipefish, and we even saw a very rare electric ray.

Wednesday:
Chain Wall was the first site of the day. We had a friendly barracuda following us and posing for pictures for most of the dive. There were also several groupers, reef shark, eagle ray, and lots of reef fish on this dive. Over the sandy area sailfin blennies displayed their large dorsal fin, and flounder scurried along the bottom. Very easy, relaxing dives.
That afternoon we dove at the very colorful Quebrada. As we cruised the wall we spotted over a dozen decorator crabs, and a hydroid full of skeleton shrimp. A huge school of Creole wrasse made several passes along the wall, and a school of permit came out from the deep. The colors and life on this site is amazing, huge sponges and lush soft corals all over the place, as we swam amongst the thousands of fish swimming around the top of the reef. On the night dive we saw several nudibranch, lots of squid…including an inch long grass squid and a juvenile Caribbean reef squid that was no more than 1/4” in length.

Thursday
SIVERSIDES!!! SILVERSIDES!!! SILVERSIDES!!! The swim thru’s at the Cathedral were filled with silversides, which brought in several tarpon and jacks to feed. It was amazing swimming through this huge ball of fish and watched the synchronized movements as they made way for fish and divers. The silversides alone would have made this dive one of the best dives of the week, but let’s add the tunnels in the reef that are fun to swim through; the 3 Caribbean Reef sharks that cruised along the top of the reef; and the fantastic wall and abundant marine life.
Next we did Long Caye Wall for the afternoon and night dives. First thing we saw as we jumped in was a Caribbean Reef shark swimming below the boat. We dropped down and cruised along the beautiful wall, tons of gorgonians and sea plumes, and lots of massive barrel sponges. Long Caye Wall is home to tons of reef fish, adding to the kaleidoscope of color on the reef.

Friday:
We did 2 drift dives today, one at the Elbow and the other at Amberhead. Schools of Atlantic spadefish and jacks, eagle rays, green and spotted morays, lionfish, southern stingrays, spotted toadfish were some of the highlights. Also, it seemed like the smooth trunkfish were everywhere. After the dives we headed back to Belize City and finished of the week with our weekly Wine & Cheese cocktail party. We’d like to thank our guests for joining us this week: Tarek, Jacob, Rob, Kathy, Marilyn, and Dave and hope to welcome you all aboard again.

Belize Aggressor III crew

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Captain’s Log
October 13-20, 2012

All our guests from Mermet Springs arrived excited and ready to DIVE!!! This week we welcomed David, Cole, Tyronza, Scot, Suzanne, Jim, Bill, Gail, Deborah, Ken, Sue, Jeff, Tony, Heather, Harry, Cathy, Nikki and Mike. Crewed this week by Jay, Mike, Chris, Jody, Yanis and Jean.

Sea Conditions: mostly flat with a couple days of light chop
Average Water Temp: 82F
Average Visibility: 80-100Ft (with a few days of 150+ visibilities)
Average Wind: 5 knots
Photos By: Capt. Jay Roberts (photos taken with a Sony NEX-5N in an Aquatica u/w housing)

Sunday:
Dive sites: AM: Long Cay Ridge (2 dives); PM: Chain Wall (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise with light clouds and breeze. Our first dive of the week was Long Cay Ridge off Lighthouse Reef where we did our checkout dive and second morning dive. Lots of the usual suspects; Butterfly fish, Angelfish, Damselfish, Triggerfish, assorted Wrasses and Parrotfish. As we dove down to deeper depths we sighted scattered Graysby and Rock Hinds scattered along the reef’s bottom with a few Groupers patrolling the ridge. At night the reef came alive with activity as the Squirrelfish hid in their holes.

Monday:
Dive sites: AM: Half Moon Cay Wall (2 dives); PM: South East Cut (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF
The group started the day exploring swim thru’s and looking for critters on the reef, and in the sand and sea grass. We also had a close encounter with an Octopus hiding away in a hole littered by old conch shells, found several Pipefish and a passing Stingray. Just a great dive to appreciate nature’s peacefulness and beauty.

Tuesday:
Dive sites: AM: Two of a Kind (2 dives); PM: Tarpon Caves (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF
We started off the morning with spotting some Pipefish off the sandy area while others caught a glimpse of a mystery Shark. Then moving over to the reef where we saw a large Green Moray Eel, a few Lobsters and a Giant Crab. Guests then cruised the ridge through a ton of fish activity over the reef; Angelfish, Parrot fish, including a Spotted Drum fish. Afternoon dive started off with sighting a couple dozen Tarpon under and near the boat, a hiding Spotted Moray and numerous Lionfish. Night dive included tons of Nudibranchs, Squid and 3 Octopuses. Last but not least, we finished off the day celebrating Yanis’s birthday with Bill’s specially prepared Birthday Cake on the swim platform J

Wednesday:
Half Moon Key Land Excursion; Dive site: AM: The Blue Hole: PM: Aquarium: (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL

We woke up to a beautifully clear morning and started our day with a land excursion by water-taxi to Half Moon Key. The island is the oldest site for wildlife protection in Belize and also the only breeding colony in the country for the thousands of Red-Footed Booby Birds that nest beside their pirating neighbors the Magnificent Frigate Birds. We spent about an hour on the island walking around the palm tree lined beaches, combed paths, came across a few hermit crabs, an iguana and enjoyed the scenery from the observation tower/platform nestled in the canopy.

We then traveled to The Great Blue Hole; spotted a few Blacktip Reef Sharks, a very large Grouper, numerous Bermuda Chub, and several Lobsters. This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths.

Afterwards we jumped into a beautiful shallow tropical reef with brightly colored coral and fans. After being swarmed by Bermuda Chub and Sergeant Majors the group proceeded along the wall to find a free swimming giant Green Moray Eel, several Lionfish, Parrott fish and Groupers. As everyone was enjoying the sun on the upper deck and discussing their great sightings of a Giant Manta Ray, a Blacktip and Nurse Sharks, we were visited by a pod of Dolphin. The night dive was very calm, clear and active with fish chasing each other. Encountered of course the Tarpon, a huge Green Turtle, a large Octopus, numerous Squid and countless Squirrelfish.

Thursday:
Dive sites: AM: Cathedral (3 dives); PM: Quebrada (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
In addition to free swimming giant Green Moray Eels, the swim thru’s were filled with Silversides, which brought in several Sharks, Tarpon and Jacks to feed. It was amazing swimming through this huge ball of fish and watched the synchronized movements as they made way for fish and divers. That afternoon we dove at the very colorful Quebrada and Jody’s elusive Hammerhead Shark was finally spotted. As we cruised the wall we also spotted over a dozen Decorator Crab, and a hydroid full of Skeleton Shrimp. A huge school of Creole Wrasse made several passes along the wall, and a school of Permit came out from the deep. The colors and life on this site is amazing, huge sponges and lush soft corals all over the place, as we swam amongst the thousands of fish swimming around the top of the reef. After diving with Octopus, Squid and a feeding Flounder we celebrated Tyronza’s 100^th dive on the swim platform with a special cake.

Friday:
Dive Site: AM: Front Porch: sunrise and dives – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Swimming with Moray Eels, Lionfish, Sea Slugs and Eagle Rays celebrated Sue’s 100^th dive!! After the dives we headed back to Belize City and finished off the week with our weekly Wine & Cheese cocktail party.

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OUR AWESOME GUETS FROM MERMET SPRINGS!!!!!

Captain Mike

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Log
October 20-27, 2012

All our guests arrived excited and ready to DIVE!!! This week we welcomed Natalie, Adrian, Kerry, Marvin, Lee, Brownie, Peter, Kris, Terry, Alan, Tom, Haydie, Mike, Connie, Mark and Linda.
Crewed this week by Jay, Mike, Fermin, Jody, Yanis and Jean.

Sea Conditions: mostly flat with a couple days of light chop
Average Water Temp: 82F
Average Visibility: 80-100Ft (with a few days of 150+ visibilities)
Average Wind: 5-7 knots
Photos By: Capt. Jay Roberts (photos taken with a Sony NEX-5N in an Aquatica u/w housing)

Sunday:
Dive sites: AM: Long Caye Wall (2 dives); PM: Long Caye Ridge (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Our first dive of the week was Long Cay Wall off Lighthouse Reef where we did our check-out dive and second morning dive. Lots of the usual suspects; Butterfly fish, Angelfish, Damselfish, Triggerfish, assorted Wrasses and Parrotfish. As we dove down to deeper depths we sighted Graysby and Rock Hinds scattered along the reefs bottom with a few Groupers patrolling the ridge. At night the reef came alive with activity as the Squirrelfish hid in their holes. Other top highlights were Trumpetfish, Green Moray Eel, Lionfish and schooling Jacks.

Monday:
Dive sites: AM: Cathedral (2 dives); PM: Aquarium (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Awesome visibility!! Tons of juvenile fish swarming the reefs. The swim-thrus were packed with silversides, feeding jacks, a dozen tarpon, a small shark and a passing hawksbill turtle. It was amazing swimming through balls of fish and watching their synchronized movements as they made their way around the larger fish and divers. Additional sightings of more sharks, a couple Spotted Eagle Rays and Turtles were sighted throughout the afternoon. In the evening, Octopus, Octopus, Octopus! Three Octopus and numerous Squid were sighted on the night dive.

Tuesday:
Dive site: AM: The Blue Hole: PM: Two of a Kind: (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Half Moon Caye Land Excursion
Started the day off with a dive at The Great Blue Hole. This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths. The adventure included spotting a Shark in the distance as the group explored the stalagmites. Afterwards, we took a land excursion by water-taxi to Half Moon Caye. The island is the oldest site for wildlife protection in Belize and also the only breeding colony in the country for the thousands of Red-Footed Booby Birds that nest beside their pirating neighbors the Magnificent Frigate Birds. We spent about an hour on the island walking around the palm tree lined beaches, combed paths, came across a few Hermit Crabs, an Iguana and enjoyed the scenery from the observation tower/platform nestled in the canopy. Later in the afternoon we hit the water again and found a free-swimming moray eel, a huge 10” short nose pipefish and lionfish. The twilight dive scored a shark, turtle, lion fish, parrot fish and made it Mark’s 200^th dive!!

Wednesday:
Dive sites: AM: Half Moon Caye Wall (2 dives); PM: / Grande Bogue (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF
Just awesome sand canyons to navigate through and take incredible pictures where we also came across a couple Spotted Eagle Rays, Barracuda, Parrot fish and Groupers. Later in the afternoon, our second dive spot featured huge Drum and Tube Corals. Sighted a pregnant Nurse Shark, another Spotted Eagle Ray, a free-swimming Green Moray Eel and a Stingray in the sandy shallows. After the sunset the Toadfish were croaking and it was also Linda’s 200^th dive!!

Thursday:
Dive sites: AM: Front Porch (2 dives); PM: The Elbow (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Incredible visibility to check out all the activity on the ledges. Groupers, Trunkfish, free -swimming Moray Eels, Lionfish and beautiful schooling Blue Tang. The bright diverse reef system is covered with huge Barrel and Tube corals. We witnessed a rare encounter of a Spotted Moray Ell eating a Lionfish and then two Lobsters protecting their territory by swatting Groupers away with their antennas. Then were later entertained watching Spotted Drum fish doing their tradition figure eights around the divers as another large Green Moray Eel passed by. Later in the afternoon, sighted two Hawksbill Turtles, Lionfish and then celebrated Kerry’s 100^th dive!! The Toadfish were croaking again tonight. Several sightings of Black & White Toadfish, Lobster, Crab and Octopus.

Friday:
Dive sites: AM: Sandy Slope (2 dives)
We started the Slopes at the break of dawn and witnessed a beautiful Caribbean sunrise. Enjoyed diving with a huge Queen Triggerfish, Puffer, numerous Mutton Snapper and a Pipefish before heading back to the Fort George Dock for our evening cocktail hour and evening festivities.

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OUR AWESOME GUESTS AND WILL MISS YOU ALL!!!!!


Captain Mike

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor II Captain's Log October 27 -November 3, 2012

All our guests arrived excited and ready to DIVE!!! This week we welcomed
Martin, Petra, Russell, Kristen, Nyk, Michiko, Paul, Heidi, Travis, John, and Denise. Crewed this week by Jay, Mike, Fermin, Jody, Randy and Anna.

Sea Conditions: mostly flat with a couple days of light chop
Average Water Temp: 82F
Average Visibility: 80-100Ft (with a few days of 150+ visibilities)
Average Wind: 5-7 knots.

Sunday: Turneffe Island & Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Dive sites: AM: Front Porch (2 dives), PM: Grand Bogue (3 dives)

Our week started off with a beautiful Caribbean morning, bright blue skies and a slight breeze. First dive was Front Porch off Turneffe Island where we did our check-out dive and second morning dive. The reef was very active and was surrounded by butterfly fish, angelfish, damselfish, triggerfish, assorted wrasses and parrotfish. As we dove down to deeper depths we sighted a few green moray eels, a spotted eel and numerous lionfish hiding in the ledges. We also came across coral crab, black crab and a lobster staking their claims on the reef. All types and sizes of groupers patrolled the reef as a hawksbill turtle and a spotted eagle ray made an appearance. In the sand and shallows we found a whipworm, filefish, jaw fish, lettuce leaf nudibranch and a banded coral shrimp. On our last day dive of the day, we were greeted by a large barracuda hanging out beneath the boat. On our night dive we scored big and found the elusive black & white toadfish, which is only found in the waters of Belize.

Monday: Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Dive sites: AM: Two of a Kind (2 dives); PM: Inspiration (3 dives)

Awesome visibility into the abyss!! At these sites the wall has a spectrum of fans, coral and sponges including huge barrel sponge, giant tube sponge and Elkhorn coral. As we explored the area we observed several cleaning stations, schools of assorted wrasse, and blue chromis. Because we haven't dove Inspiration in a while we came across numerous beautiful lionfish of all sizes. Other highlights included; a timid trunkfish, an incredibility small baby pipefish, a channel cling crab, keeltail needlefish, a photogenic hawksbill turtle, a huge hiding lobster, a few hungry queen triggerfish, honeycomb cowfish, a good sized porcupinefish, a couple large black and red groupers, a curious barracuda, black durgeons, a sleeping nurse shark in one of the sand canyons and Russell salvaging an old teakettle off the bottom. We were also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a pod of dolphins coming back from the deep and swimming into a neighboring shallow sand patch in search of food.

Tuesday: Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Half Moon Cay Land excursion
Dive site: AM: The Blue Hole: PM: Half Moon Wall (3 dives)

We started the day off with HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVIS!!! Followed by a dive at The Great Blue Hole. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world, made this site famous. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths. Today, our exploration was led past the deep and ancient stalagmites to relive its initial discovery and even reported seeing a nautilus.

Afterwards, we took a land excursion by water-taxi to Half Moon Key. The island is the oldest site for wildlife protection in Belize and also the only breeding colony in the country for the thousands of Red-Footed Booby Birds that nest beside their pirating neighbors the Magnificent Frigate Birds. We spent about an hour on the island walking around the palm tree lined beaches, combed paths, came across a few Hermit Crabs, an Iguana and enjoyed the scenery from the observation tower/platform nestled in the canopy. In the afternoon, we hit beautiful Half Moon Wall and had at least 150-foot visibility with bright sunshine to light up all the vibrant colors on the reef. This area is also great to swim through the sand canyons from the wall to the sandy shallows where we sighted a few sting rays, a large green turtle, a sailfin blenny and dozens of garden eels "prairie dogging" from the white sand bottom floor. Later on, several tarpon, barracuda and lionfish were hunting on the night dive. Also saw a couple octopuses, a grass squid, squirrelfish hiding in the reef and a variety of brittle stars. In the sand, we discovered a true tulip, a flame box crab and a glowing marginalia.

Wednesday: Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Dive site: AM: Chain Wall: PM: Aquarium (3 dives)

The boat woke up to a flat calm sea and a beautiful Caribbean sunrise.
First dive had incredible visibility (approximately 200 feet) could see from the wall through the sand patches past the boat and to the grassy areas. The group encountered a curious and photogenic barracuda along with various groupers. The wall is covered with huge barrel sponges, giant tube sponges, and large fans with the occasional vase sponge. Jody also found a rare jellyfish like flatworm making its way on the wall. On the reef were scores of juvenile fish, some trunkfish, triggerfish and especially schooling blue chromis. In the shallows, we watched jawfish popping in and out of their mini holes and a couple patrolling stingrays stirring up the sand.

DOLPHINS!!! Grab your mask, fins and don't forget your snorkel (Paul) to swim with the dolphins. Just before lunch, had an opportunity to swim with a pod of passing dolphins of all sizes, including a little baby. It didn't stop there; dolphins rode the bow and followed the boat towards our next dive site. After lunch, swam with a porcupine fish, a few Caribbean reef sharks, and pompano jacks, found various nudibranchs, a decorator crab and a burrfish in the shallows. Highlights of the night dive were finding two octopuses, a huge crab and hanging under the boat on the safety- triangle while being surrounded by seven huge tarpon feeding in the boats underwater lights.

Thursday: Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Dive sites: AM: Silver Caves (2 dives); PM: Long Caye Ridge (3 dives)

MORNING ADRENALINE!!! The group jump-started the morning with a little adrenaline by going on a deep dive and ending up sharing the reef with patrolling Caribbean reef sharks. Before the dive, a friendly finch perched on Nyk's dive rig signifying the begging of his 300th dive. In the deep, we hung out with a feeding hawksbill turtle and then later sighted a few free-swimming moray eels. Also found, two moray eels wrapped around each other in their shared hole. In the shallows, observed a spotted moray eel and found seven lobsters packed into a huge barrel sponge. The second dive location has beautifully wide sand canyons with tons of tropical coral, fans and sponges to navigate around. Schools of jack, an individual drum, a large trunkfish, numerous lionfish and assorted juvenile reef fish populate this location. After the sun went down, the group located lots of lobster, an octopus, and a peacock flounder and was followed by a hawksbill turtle.

Friday: Turneffe Island
Dive site: AM: Sandy Slope (2 dives)

For the dawn dive, we encountered a very active octopus darting around the reef as well as a yellow stingray and a southern stingray feeding in the shallow sandy areas. For the last dive of the trip, we played with friendly lobsters, a curious green moray eel, had a glimpse of a white spotted and also a golden moray eel. In the afternoon and once back in Belize City, guests had the opportunity of participating in land tours to the Mayan Ruins, The Belize Zoo, cave tubing or zip lining before the evening on board cocktail party.

Thanks again to all our awesome guests and congratulations to Nyk for his 300^th dive!

Captain Mike

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Belize Aggressor III Captain’s Log
November 3 - 10, 2012

All our guests arrived excited and ready to DIVE!!! This week we welcomed Igor, Vera, Kurt, Shannon, Greg, Valarie, Brent, Livia, Lucy, Julie and Don.

Belize Aggressor III crewed this week by Jay, Mike, Fermin, Chris, Randy and Anna.

Sea Conditions: mostly flat with a couple days of light chop
Average Water Temp: 82F
Average Visibility: 80-100Ft (with a few days of 150+ visibilities)
Average Wind: 3-7 knots
Photos By: Capt. Jay Roberts (photos taken with a Sony NEX-5N in an Aquatica u/w housing)

Sunday:
Dive sites: AM: Front Porch (2 dives); PM: The Elbow (3 dives) – – TURNEFFE ISLAND
Our week started off with a beautiful Caribbean morning, bright blue skies, a slight breeze and awesome underwater visibility. First dive was Front Porch off Turneffe Island where we did our check-out dive and second morning dive. The reef was very active and was surrounded by tons of juvenile fish including; butterfly fish, angelfish, damselfish, triggerfish, assorted wrasses and parrotfish. As we went down to deeper depths we sighted a few spotted eagle rays, friendly green moray eels, a swimming spotted eel, all sizes of groupers and numerous lionfish hiding in the ledges. We also came across a huge coral crab and several lobsters staking their claims on the reef. In the sand and shallows we found a southern stingray, a spotted drum, golden moray eel, jaw fish, starfish, nudibranch and three huge spotted toadfish. On our night dive we discovered a couple octopus, several squid, toadfish, spadefish and mini juvenile trunkfish. Additional highlights included; elephant, lion, eagles, pit-bull, chipmunk, Sasquatch and Waldo all courtesy of Chris.

Monday:
Dive sites: AM: Notch (2 dives); PM: Long Caye Ridge (3 dives) – – TURNEFFE ISLAND and LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
LIONFISH HEAVEN!!! The group dropped down into a couple dozen lionfish of all sizes. As we explored the area we noted sighting a couple free-swimming green moray eels, spotted moray eel, spotted drum and an elusive toadfish. The second dive location has beautifully wide sand canyons with tons of tropical coral, fans and sponges to navigate around. Dozens of schooling jacks, barracuda, large trunkfish, numerous lionfish, parrotfish, various cleaning stations and assorted juvenile reef fish populate this location. After the sun went down, the group located lots of lobster, an arrow crab, red banded coral shrimp, an octopus, a peacock flounder and was later followed by a friendly hawksbill turtle. As the dive ended, we were then welcomed back by a few tarpon, a barracuda and several squid swimming beneath the boat. Chris also noted a fruitloop crab and a pesky mooring puller.

Tuesday:
Dive site: AM: Two of a Kind: PM: South East Cut (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
The first dive site is an incredible wall cut by gorgeous sand canyons to explore. Huge barrel and tube sponges cover the underwater landscape and highlighted by all types of reef activity including; mini trunkfish, pipefish, triggerfish, parrotfish, spotted eel, grouper, puffer fish, spotted drum, golden tail moray and a black tip shark deep in the darkened depths. Later in the day, we also came across a friendly grouper, a photogenic lobster and a spotted eagle ray patrolling off the wall. The night started off with tarpon under the boat and then off scanning the bottom floor. Highpoints included; Spanish lobster, octopus, squid, a long horn nudibranch, a large adult drum fish and a rare toadfish totally out in the open away from its hole.

Wednesday:
Dive site: AM: Half Moon Wall: PM: Inspiration (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Awesome Wall!! This area is also great to swim through the sand canyons from the wall to the sandy shallows and between all the reef fish where we sighted a passing stingray, a large green turtle, several blue parrotfish and a huge school of pompano jacks weaving around the reef. At these sites the wall has a spectrum of fans, coral and sponges including huge barrel sponge, giant tube sponge and Elkhorn coral. As we explored the area we observed several cleaning stations, schools of assorted wrasse, and blue chromis. A spotted eagle ray was sighted flying along the wall while groupers chased each other around the ledges of hiding lionfish. In the shallows we found pipefish, a sailfin blenny and dozens of garden eels “prairie dogging” from the white sand bottom floor. The evening dive produced vibrant octopus, a photogenic porcupine fish, active squid and a free-swimming moray eel.

Thursday:
Dive site: AM: The Blue Hole: PM: Lighthouse Wall (3 dives) – – LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL
Half Moon Cay Land excursion
We started the day off with a dive at The Great Blue Hole. This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths. Today, our exploration was led past the deep and ancient stalagmites to relive its initial discovery and even saw a shark in the depths and a large barracuda in the shadows. Afterwards, we took a land excursion by water-taxi to Half Moon Key. The island is the oldest site for wildlife protection in Belize and also the only breeding colony in the country for the thousands of Red-Footed Booby Birds that nest beside their pirating neighbors the Magnificent Frigate Birds. We spent about an hour on the island walking around the palm tree lined beaches, combed paths, came across a few Hermit Crabs, an Iguana and enjoyed the scenery from the observation tower/platform nestled in the canopy. In the afternoon, we were back in the water and found a scorpion fish, fighting lobster, lionfish, porcupine fish, stingray, an approachable hawksbill turtle and a green moray eel fighting with a large grouper. After the sun went down, the group located a sleeping hawksbill turtle, a pair of spotted eels, a huge lobster and a southern stingray.

Friday:
Dive site: AM: Front Porch and The Elbow (2 dives) – – TURNEFFE ISLAND
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise for the dawn dive and encountered a very active octopus darting around the reef as well as a trunkfish and a huge toadfish in the open. For the last dive of the trip, we played with friendly lobsters, had a glimpse of numerous energetic eels; huge spotted moray eels swimming between holes, a free swimming green moray eel and a golden tail moray eel. In the afternoon and once back in Belize City, guests had the opportunity of participating in land tours to the Mayan Ruins, The Belize Zoo, cave tubing or zip lining before the evening on board cocktail party.

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OUR AWESOME GUETS AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KURT!!

Captain Mike