BelikinMan
Guest
Greetings.
Great trip. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who is a serious diver. This island is almost made for it. We were there for a full week. It was my wife, my brother and his wife and I in a three bedroom house on Front Street. I am the only diver in the group.
Highlights.
Plane flight through Taca airlines. We were on a tight schedule as we had to make the last water taxi at 5:30 pm or suffer through a night in Belize City. Plane for 20 minutes late taking off because they were letting stragglers on the plane. 5 minutes I understand, but 20 minutes??? We barely got to the taxi in time and if it was not for Jason's excellent driving, we wouldn't have made it.
Lodging
We booked a house through Caye Caulker Rentals (http://www.cayecaulkerrentals.com). Amanda is the owner and she is fantastic. I can't tell you more good things about her and the way she helped us out on the trip. Forget the high priced (giggle) resorts and just get a house through her. It is cheaper and much nicer than the one roomers that dominate most of the island. We stayed in the Casita Carinosa, which is next door to Amanda's house, so we spent quite a bit of time with the expat from Britain. The house was perfect for what we wanted. AC in the bedrooms worked fine and great porch for people watching on the hot afternoons while drinking a cold Belikin. Honestly, I can't say ENOUGH about what a fantastic job she did and I am very confident that she handles all of her customers in this fashion. The house - after all the 5% charge for the credit card, 3% charge for the conversion, and the exchange rate - was $805 US for the week for 4 people. You can't beat it.
Food
Didn't eat a bad meal. Basically everywhere is good. Some places like Don Corleone and Habeneros are great, but most places were very good. Didn't have a bad meal. Expect to pay about the same for dinner as you would in the US - except the lobster. It's about half price. We ate at every single restaurant except Wish Willys.
Diving
This place is made for divers. I went with Belize Diving Services (http://www.belizedivingservice.com) because of their reputation for being a very by-the-book shop and I was not disappointed. I was going to be there for the week and I was going to be in the water anyway, so I went ahead and got my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification. The instruction was very personable (one on one for every dive except one) and the staff were really good. The reputation for being a by-the-book shop did not make them stuffy or not fun. Some shops can be but this one lives up to the "work hard, play hard" motto. Kathy runs a very good shop over there and hopefully, someday, I can come back and get my divemaster with her. And maybe work for her!!!
The dives...
Spanish Bay: My first day. Got seasick. I never get seasick. Never. Well, I couldn't shake it all day except for when I was under. The diving was good but to be honest, I can't really remember much from that day. I never want to be seasick again and I hope that I can erase that day from my memory forever.
Hol Chan/Cypress Tunnels: This was exactly what you should expect from a dive and I am afraid it has ruined me forever. Nothing could live up to this (remember I said that). I start to go down and as soon as I put my head down, I see big groupers everywhere, other reef fish swimming all over the place and 3 or 4 nurse sharks hovering the top of the reef. I was blown away. I was one on one with Ines, my instructor (another expat who came here one day and didn't leave). We went east and started to head through the channels and tunnels. The experience is like flying. Going over a ridge and being surpised when the next drop if 60 feet and maybe 15 feet wide. Awesome experience. Wildlife everywhere including a 12 foot spotted eagle ray flying past us within 20 feet. Nurse sharks everywhere and I saw a 10 foot green eel. Second dive was same as the first. Best day of diving in my life. My wife finally had to tell me to shut up at one point.
Blue Hole: Anyone who tells you this dive isn't worth doing is a liar. It is very true that once you do it, you never really have to do it again but this was exiliration at it's finest. I went with Frenchies for this trip because BDS doesn't go out to the hole. It's a LONG trip. So we leave at 6 am and watch the sunrise as we leave the island behind. After about an hour and a half, the boat captain starts zigging and zagging though the reef and then all of the sudden, we stop. I wondered what was wrong until he looked up and said "we are sitting in the middle of the Blue Hole". I looked around and damn it if he wasn't right. You can see the shape if you look but the view from the water doesn't do the justice that aerial photos do. So we strap up and do the briefing. Most of the divers were fairly experienced and I had done my deep dive the day before to test for narcosis, so we were confident.
The blue hole is a big sandy slope with a big BLACK hole at the bottom of it. The anticipation was intense and then all of the sudden, I see something in the distance. Hell yeah!!! 5 or 6 12+ foot reef sharks. They almost showed up just to let us know they were watching us. We start our decent and we are all dropping like a rock. I am clearing constantly. We hit the first thermocline at the mouth of the cave and the water temp drops dramatically. I had switched from a 2mm full suit to a shorty and regretted it for this dive. EVERYONE is goosebumped. And then the lights go out. Visibility was horrible. I could see the divemaster and 2 other people. This was the point that someone in the back of my head reminded me that this is very unnatural. Then, as the sun coming through the clouds after a rainstorm, we hit the second thermocline, the temp drops more and it's the stalagtites staring us in the face. We look down and there is another shelf with another hole. We stayed WAY above that. So we swam around the cave and just as I was starting to really enjoy it, I hear the tank. Time to go. 8 minutes. Done. We begin our ascent and had the pleasure of seeing what they talk about when they describe the "ghostly figures watching from above". We were ascending into a pool with now 7 or 8 12 to 14 foot reef sharks. Unreal. We did a 5 min safety stop and we were in the boat and gone before we knew it.
Half Moon Caye: The most beautiful place on earth. If God had a daughter, her eyes would be the color of this water. Tranquil. Serene. This is the kind of place that makes people sell off all of their belongings and jump on a plane. We hadn't even gotten into the water yet. So we jump in are down about 30 feet with a sandy bottom below, and swim toward this 15 or 20 foot coral wall. Start to go up and over the wall and it opens up. The open ocean and a wall going down the other side with less than a 3 degree slope. Going all the way down. 3000 feet. I pull my weight belt up and superman over it, diving head first toward the sea floor. Too bad we had to stop at 65. Great sea life, fantastic corals. Once again, we get out and head over to the island for lunch and to see some boobies. The island is heaven. I take a nap on the picnic table in the most beautiful place on Earth.
Long Caye (The Aquarium): Guess why they call it that. Swarms of yellow tail jacks looking for a handout. Groupers, parrotfish, all over the place. Absolutely incredible. The all was not a dramatic as Half Moon, but the wildlife was great. And then all of the sudden, we were on the way back. I began to day dream of some sort of nuclear disaster in Houston so that we could stay here. I had 1.5 hours to come up with a game plan to get my wife to stay with me. Remember what I said earlier about it being the best day ever? Scratch that. This was the best day ever. My wife was really tired of hearing that because after Sunday (seasick), she heard it on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The Rest of the Story
The fishing was also fantastic. My brother went out on a guided tour and caught bonefish, jacks and some other fish. He loved it. We also sat down at the split one night and caught fish all night. The Split is awesome. Daytime just go there to chill and swim around. We saw some topless sunbathers too which is always a good thing. Other than that we did the Hol Chan snorkling trip with Ragamuffin. Those guys are awesome. We met one of the guys that works there (Whatup Brown Man!) our first night on the island and the other guys were hilarious. Our crew consisted of Perfect Man, Brown Man and Kevin. Snorkling was great and the swimming with the sharks thing was pretty cool.
If you are going there to party, go to San Pedro. The streets are dead at midnight.
You can buy beer directly from the distributor that drives down Front street. Much cheaper and they will bring it in your house for you. Belikin is freaking awesome stuff. The Lighthouse was decent but couldn't hold a candle to the Belikin.
Anyway, I will add more when I can think about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me a note. This was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend it. We will be back soon. Heck, we might be back in a couple of months. Yes. It was THAT awesome.
Great trip. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who is a serious diver. This island is almost made for it. We were there for a full week. It was my wife, my brother and his wife and I in a three bedroom house on Front Street. I am the only diver in the group.
Highlights.
Plane flight through Taca airlines. We were on a tight schedule as we had to make the last water taxi at 5:30 pm or suffer through a night in Belize City. Plane for 20 minutes late taking off because they were letting stragglers on the plane. 5 minutes I understand, but 20 minutes??? We barely got to the taxi in time and if it was not for Jason's excellent driving, we wouldn't have made it.
Lodging
We booked a house through Caye Caulker Rentals (http://www.cayecaulkerrentals.com). Amanda is the owner and she is fantastic. I can't tell you more good things about her and the way she helped us out on the trip. Forget the high priced (giggle) resorts and just get a house through her. It is cheaper and much nicer than the one roomers that dominate most of the island. We stayed in the Casita Carinosa, which is next door to Amanda's house, so we spent quite a bit of time with the expat from Britain. The house was perfect for what we wanted. AC in the bedrooms worked fine and great porch for people watching on the hot afternoons while drinking a cold Belikin. Honestly, I can't say ENOUGH about what a fantastic job she did and I am very confident that she handles all of her customers in this fashion. The house - after all the 5% charge for the credit card, 3% charge for the conversion, and the exchange rate - was $805 US for the week for 4 people. You can't beat it.
Food
Didn't eat a bad meal. Basically everywhere is good. Some places like Don Corleone and Habeneros are great, but most places were very good. Didn't have a bad meal. Expect to pay about the same for dinner as you would in the US - except the lobster. It's about half price. We ate at every single restaurant except Wish Willys.
Diving
This place is made for divers. I went with Belize Diving Services (http://www.belizedivingservice.com) because of their reputation for being a very by-the-book shop and I was not disappointed. I was going to be there for the week and I was going to be in the water anyway, so I went ahead and got my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification. The instruction was very personable (one on one for every dive except one) and the staff were really good. The reputation for being a by-the-book shop did not make them stuffy or not fun. Some shops can be but this one lives up to the "work hard, play hard" motto. Kathy runs a very good shop over there and hopefully, someday, I can come back and get my divemaster with her. And maybe work for her!!!
The dives...
Spanish Bay: My first day. Got seasick. I never get seasick. Never. Well, I couldn't shake it all day except for when I was under. The diving was good but to be honest, I can't really remember much from that day. I never want to be seasick again and I hope that I can erase that day from my memory forever.
Hol Chan/Cypress Tunnels: This was exactly what you should expect from a dive and I am afraid it has ruined me forever. Nothing could live up to this (remember I said that). I start to go down and as soon as I put my head down, I see big groupers everywhere, other reef fish swimming all over the place and 3 or 4 nurse sharks hovering the top of the reef. I was blown away. I was one on one with Ines, my instructor (another expat who came here one day and didn't leave). We went east and started to head through the channels and tunnels. The experience is like flying. Going over a ridge and being surpised when the next drop if 60 feet and maybe 15 feet wide. Awesome experience. Wildlife everywhere including a 12 foot spotted eagle ray flying past us within 20 feet. Nurse sharks everywhere and I saw a 10 foot green eel. Second dive was same as the first. Best day of diving in my life. My wife finally had to tell me to shut up at one point.
Blue Hole: Anyone who tells you this dive isn't worth doing is a liar. It is very true that once you do it, you never really have to do it again but this was exiliration at it's finest. I went with Frenchies for this trip because BDS doesn't go out to the hole. It's a LONG trip. So we leave at 6 am and watch the sunrise as we leave the island behind. After about an hour and a half, the boat captain starts zigging and zagging though the reef and then all of the sudden, we stop. I wondered what was wrong until he looked up and said "we are sitting in the middle of the Blue Hole". I looked around and damn it if he wasn't right. You can see the shape if you look but the view from the water doesn't do the justice that aerial photos do. So we strap up and do the briefing. Most of the divers were fairly experienced and I had done my deep dive the day before to test for narcosis, so we were confident.
The blue hole is a big sandy slope with a big BLACK hole at the bottom of it. The anticipation was intense and then all of the sudden, I see something in the distance. Hell yeah!!! 5 or 6 12+ foot reef sharks. They almost showed up just to let us know they were watching us. We start our decent and we are all dropping like a rock. I am clearing constantly. We hit the first thermocline at the mouth of the cave and the water temp drops dramatically. I had switched from a 2mm full suit to a shorty and regretted it for this dive. EVERYONE is goosebumped. And then the lights go out. Visibility was horrible. I could see the divemaster and 2 other people. This was the point that someone in the back of my head reminded me that this is very unnatural. Then, as the sun coming through the clouds after a rainstorm, we hit the second thermocline, the temp drops more and it's the stalagtites staring us in the face. We look down and there is another shelf with another hole. We stayed WAY above that. So we swam around the cave and just as I was starting to really enjoy it, I hear the tank. Time to go. 8 minutes. Done. We begin our ascent and had the pleasure of seeing what they talk about when they describe the "ghostly figures watching from above". We were ascending into a pool with now 7 or 8 12 to 14 foot reef sharks. Unreal. We did a 5 min safety stop and we were in the boat and gone before we knew it.
Half Moon Caye: The most beautiful place on earth. If God had a daughter, her eyes would be the color of this water. Tranquil. Serene. This is the kind of place that makes people sell off all of their belongings and jump on a plane. We hadn't even gotten into the water yet. So we jump in are down about 30 feet with a sandy bottom below, and swim toward this 15 or 20 foot coral wall. Start to go up and over the wall and it opens up. The open ocean and a wall going down the other side with less than a 3 degree slope. Going all the way down. 3000 feet. I pull my weight belt up and superman over it, diving head first toward the sea floor. Too bad we had to stop at 65. Great sea life, fantastic corals. Once again, we get out and head over to the island for lunch and to see some boobies. The island is heaven. I take a nap on the picnic table in the most beautiful place on Earth.
Long Caye (The Aquarium): Guess why they call it that. Swarms of yellow tail jacks looking for a handout. Groupers, parrotfish, all over the place. Absolutely incredible. The all was not a dramatic as Half Moon, but the wildlife was great. And then all of the sudden, we were on the way back. I began to day dream of some sort of nuclear disaster in Houston so that we could stay here. I had 1.5 hours to come up with a game plan to get my wife to stay with me. Remember what I said earlier about it being the best day ever? Scratch that. This was the best day ever. My wife was really tired of hearing that because after Sunday (seasick), she heard it on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The Rest of the Story
The fishing was also fantastic. My brother went out on a guided tour and caught bonefish, jacks and some other fish. He loved it. We also sat down at the split one night and caught fish all night. The Split is awesome. Daytime just go there to chill and swim around. We saw some topless sunbathers too which is always a good thing. Other than that we did the Hol Chan snorkling trip with Ragamuffin. Those guys are awesome. We met one of the guys that works there (Whatup Brown Man!) our first night on the island and the other guys were hilarious. Our crew consisted of Perfect Man, Brown Man and Kevin. Snorkling was great and the swimming with the sharks thing was pretty cool.
If you are going there to party, go to San Pedro. The streets are dead at midnight.
You can buy beer directly from the distributor that drives down Front street. Much cheaper and they will bring it in your house for you. Belikin is freaking awesome stuff. The Lighthouse was decent but couldn't hold a candle to the Belikin.
Anyway, I will add more when I can think about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me a note. This was a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend it. We will be back soon. Heck, we might be back in a couple of months. Yes. It was THAT awesome.
