theshred201
Registered
Warning, Long Post
Hello everyone,
Yesterday I returned from a 6 day trip to Caye Caulker, Belize. Rather than just doing a detailed trip report of all of the dives we did, I thought it would be better to talk about some of the things I learned instead. I've broken it down into sections to make it more organized.
Brief Report
Just for those interested, this is a brief report. Skip it if you aren't that interested. We did 5 days of diving, for a total of 11 dives, and I believe somewhere around 8 and a half hours of dive time (I'd have to check my logs to be specific). The max depth on the trip was 94', though we typically did the first dive of the day to a max of about 80' and the second to 60'. On the 3 dive day, we did 80' followed by 70' followed by 60'.
Day 1: 2 dives, at Hol Chan--Good place to get into the feel of tropical diving. The vis was easily 80'-100'. I was struck by the fact that from the surface we could see grouper and nurse sharks swimming around on the bottom. I will say that the practice of feeding fish here has made them a lot more prone to approach divers, but left a slightly unnatural feeling compared to our other dives.
Day 2: 2 dives, at Caye Caulker Marine Reserve--As this site doesn't allow any feeding, there weren't as many large fish and sharks cruising within feet of us. While we might not have seen as many notable large creatures, I enjoyed the more natural setting here more than Hol Chan. Snorkeling between dives in 6 feet of water was great too, seeing at least 8 good sized southern stingrays and one barracuda.
Day 3: 2 dives, at Turneffe North--This again raised the bar as far as diving went, with much more spectacular and colorful coral, sponges, and such than the other sites. Here, snorkelling in between had small coral formations, with smaller fish, nudibranchs, sea urchins, and a lobster.
Day 4: 2 dives, Caye Chapel--This day was fairly similar overall to day 2, so I won't say too much.
Day 5: 3 dives, The Elbow--What a splendid day to end the trip on! These dives were just awesome, jam packed with life along the wall. We saw huge schools of jack and other fish, lots of turtles, another barracuda, assorted tropical fish and more. The first dive had a very strong current. I will say that swimming into it was a pain, but it was great going with it.
In my log book I recorded various notable sightings on different dives, but off the top of my head I don't remember them. Overall, notable (think the bigger stuff) marine life we saw included Dolphins from the surface, nurse sharks (one at the Elbow was at least 9'-10' long), many hawksbill and green sea turtles, lobsters, a stone crab, a blacktip reef shark, several spotted eagle rays, southern stingrays, barracuda, and assorted other marine creatures.
Well that's the report, now on the the good stuff (knowledge).
Warm Water vs. Cold Water Diving
So I'm used to cold, murky water, compared to the 84-86 F water we dove in with 70-100'+ visibility. However, that's not to say there weren't new things to be learned diving in warm water.
The good vis can make large distances look deceptively close. There were some descents where the water was a LOT deeper than I expected. I'm used to being able to descend straight to the bottom, rather than having to stop 20'-40' above it, which was at times the case on our trip. We also often swam much higher above the floor than in San Diego, where it's typically only a few feet above it, due to visibility. Another note, because of the different diving styles, we don't often have a prescribed maximum depth for our dives in SD, it's generally limited by the terrain. In Belize, I'd occasionally be at the depth limit (say 80'), and a couple seconds later, without moving much, look at my computer and see 81'. I realized on the 3rd day, this was largely due to wave action, which thus with hard depth limits, must be factored into the equation.
Another difference--with warm water, gas lasts WAY longer. The longest dive on the trip with an al80 was 61 minutes, mostly spent between 40 and 60'. That's longer than any dive I've done at la jolla cove.
I will say that buoyancy control is much easier with less neoprene. It was particularly simple on the dive with no wetsuit, in 86 degree water, but I later kept it on to be less overweighted.
Also, on the first dive on the elbow, our safety stop drifted us into blue water, which was a first for me. I'd done safety stops with no visual reference, but it was always brown/green water
. It was fun watching jellyfish float around on the stop.
Underwater Photography
First time taking pictures underwater. A couple things I'll note: My buoyancy control is typically pretty sound, but at first, I did get thrown off a bit taking pictures. I brushed up against a small fire coral with my finger, and a larger one against my leg. The finger was annoying, not excruciatingly painful. As for the leg, thank god for neoprene. Also quickly saw why flashes and lights are good. Most of the pictures are rather blue. Solve the problem partly on some close up subjects by shining my flashlight at it while taking the picture. Finally, I'll say that trying to take pictures in 6 feet of water, freediving down in a wetsuit, so you're positively buoyant, and trying to get the picture as you float up to the surface is a fun challenge.
Lessons: Flashes/Lights, while not essential, make for much better pictures. Also, always watch your buoyancy control, especially while taking pictures. On another note, I disagree with the concept that photographers can't be good buddies. Myself and my buddy, regardless of who was snapping pictures on the dive, were both still attentive to each other. It does add another element of communication if one wants to stop for pictures, and particularly if they want the other diver to move somewhere to be in the shot.
Gear Issues
So here are some gear things that came up for me. Upon packing the night before the trip, I realized I don't have the bolts to connect the Single Tank Adapter to my Backplate without the integrated weight. Thus, I was forced to keep it all together, and dive a bit overweighted in Belize (12-13 pounds between the plate and the weight, which is all I use for diving in my 7mm Semi Dry). Thus, while one dive I went sans wetsuit, I typically wore it, largely with providing some buoyancy in mind.
Lesson: Don't wait until the last minute to pack/go over gear.
Also, I had one gear issue in Belize--on day 3 or 4, I noticed that my right fin felt loose. Upon inspecting it, I had developed a 2" or so split, completely through the left side of the bottom of the foot pocket. That said, I continued to dive with it through the remainder of the trip. That was all fine until the first dive on the Elbow. A broken/loose fin, simply did not provide the kind of thrust needed to effectively fight the current. I ended up working extremely hard, and swimming with my hands as well, to stay with the dive master. Going with the current was fine. By the end of this dive, the split had grown to about 4-5". It lasted the remainder of the trip, But I'm done using it. The smart thing to do would have been a few loops of ducktape at the beginning. For those that are curious, it was a Rocket Fin.
Lesson: If you have a gear problem, think about what problems it could cause later, and be willing to get creative for a solution.
Island life Vs. Island life
The title of this section may lead to some confusion, but I'm referring to Coronado "Island" in California (where I live) vs. Caye Caulker. I just thought I'd briefly mention how nice, relaxed, and laid back it was. From arriving at the condo until we left, I never wore shoes, sandals or other footwear, with the exception of dive booties, even while at dinner. The shirt was on sometimes and off others.I will say that for someone not hugely interested in drinking, the nightlife is better back in San Diego, but relaxing in a hammock was still a nice treat. All in all, the laid back atmosphere was perfect for a vacation.
There Are Divers that Pee In Their Wetsuits and Divers that Lie About it
In San Diego, I Dive a semi-drysuit. What liquid enters the suit doesn't leave the suits until dumping it out of the ankle seals after walking back to the parking lot. Thus, I'm very inclined to hold it in at all costs, even if it means a less comfortable dive. On the first day, I took this attitude with me in Belize and it wasn't fun. Second day, on the second dive, I dove without a wetsuit on in just my bathing suit, so that I'd have no qualms about the issue, and I have to say, MAN did it feel good. After that I dove with my wetsuit, but didn't worry about the issue anymore. Back in San Diego now, my Drysuit is getting picked up this weekend, and then I'll have a pee-valve and not need to worry about it at all. So with that said, the lesson is this: If you're in a drysuit without a pee-valve or a semi-dry, hold it in and ALWAYS go between dives. Otherwise, just go. For me at least, it was all so diluted that no one noticed at all
Well I think that about covers it for now, if I think of anything else I'll be sure to add it. Note:I put this in this forum rather than the Belize forum, as although I put a small report of the trip, the focus was on diving lessons rather than diving in Belize.
Thanks,
Griffin Nosenzo
Hello everyone,
Yesterday I returned from a 6 day trip to Caye Caulker, Belize. Rather than just doing a detailed trip report of all of the dives we did, I thought it would be better to talk about some of the things I learned instead. I've broken it down into sections to make it more organized.
Brief Report
Just for those interested, this is a brief report. Skip it if you aren't that interested. We did 5 days of diving, for a total of 11 dives, and I believe somewhere around 8 and a half hours of dive time (I'd have to check my logs to be specific). The max depth on the trip was 94', though we typically did the first dive of the day to a max of about 80' and the second to 60'. On the 3 dive day, we did 80' followed by 70' followed by 60'.
Day 1: 2 dives, at Hol Chan--Good place to get into the feel of tropical diving. The vis was easily 80'-100'. I was struck by the fact that from the surface we could see grouper and nurse sharks swimming around on the bottom. I will say that the practice of feeding fish here has made them a lot more prone to approach divers, but left a slightly unnatural feeling compared to our other dives.
Day 2: 2 dives, at Caye Caulker Marine Reserve--As this site doesn't allow any feeding, there weren't as many large fish and sharks cruising within feet of us. While we might not have seen as many notable large creatures, I enjoyed the more natural setting here more than Hol Chan. Snorkeling between dives in 6 feet of water was great too, seeing at least 8 good sized southern stingrays and one barracuda.
Day 3: 2 dives, at Turneffe North--This again raised the bar as far as diving went, with much more spectacular and colorful coral, sponges, and such than the other sites. Here, snorkelling in between had small coral formations, with smaller fish, nudibranchs, sea urchins, and a lobster.
Day 4: 2 dives, Caye Chapel--This day was fairly similar overall to day 2, so I won't say too much.
Day 5: 3 dives, The Elbow--What a splendid day to end the trip on! These dives were just awesome, jam packed with life along the wall. We saw huge schools of jack and other fish, lots of turtles, another barracuda, assorted tropical fish and more. The first dive had a very strong current. I will say that swimming into it was a pain, but it was great going with it.
In my log book I recorded various notable sightings on different dives, but off the top of my head I don't remember them. Overall, notable (think the bigger stuff) marine life we saw included Dolphins from the surface, nurse sharks (one at the Elbow was at least 9'-10' long), many hawksbill and green sea turtles, lobsters, a stone crab, a blacktip reef shark, several spotted eagle rays, southern stingrays, barracuda, and assorted other marine creatures.
Well that's the report, now on the the good stuff (knowledge).
Warm Water vs. Cold Water Diving
So I'm used to cold, murky water, compared to the 84-86 F water we dove in with 70-100'+ visibility. However, that's not to say there weren't new things to be learned diving in warm water.
The good vis can make large distances look deceptively close. There were some descents where the water was a LOT deeper than I expected. I'm used to being able to descend straight to the bottom, rather than having to stop 20'-40' above it, which was at times the case on our trip. We also often swam much higher above the floor than in San Diego, where it's typically only a few feet above it, due to visibility. Another note, because of the different diving styles, we don't often have a prescribed maximum depth for our dives in SD, it's generally limited by the terrain. In Belize, I'd occasionally be at the depth limit (say 80'), and a couple seconds later, without moving much, look at my computer and see 81'. I realized on the 3rd day, this was largely due to wave action, which thus with hard depth limits, must be factored into the equation.
Another difference--with warm water, gas lasts WAY longer. The longest dive on the trip with an al80 was 61 minutes, mostly spent between 40 and 60'. That's longer than any dive I've done at la jolla cove.
I will say that buoyancy control is much easier with less neoprene. It was particularly simple on the dive with no wetsuit, in 86 degree water, but I later kept it on to be less overweighted.
Also, on the first dive on the elbow, our safety stop drifted us into blue water, which was a first for me. I'd done safety stops with no visual reference, but it was always brown/green water
. It was fun watching jellyfish float around on the stop.Underwater Photography
First time taking pictures underwater. A couple things I'll note: My buoyancy control is typically pretty sound, but at first, I did get thrown off a bit taking pictures. I brushed up against a small fire coral with my finger, and a larger one against my leg. The finger was annoying, not excruciatingly painful. As for the leg, thank god for neoprene. Also quickly saw why flashes and lights are good. Most of the pictures are rather blue. Solve the problem partly on some close up subjects by shining my flashlight at it while taking the picture. Finally, I'll say that trying to take pictures in 6 feet of water, freediving down in a wetsuit, so you're positively buoyant, and trying to get the picture as you float up to the surface is a fun challenge.
Lessons: Flashes/Lights, while not essential, make for much better pictures. Also, always watch your buoyancy control, especially while taking pictures. On another note, I disagree with the concept that photographers can't be good buddies. Myself and my buddy, regardless of who was snapping pictures on the dive, were both still attentive to each other. It does add another element of communication if one wants to stop for pictures, and particularly if they want the other diver to move somewhere to be in the shot.
Gear Issues
So here are some gear things that came up for me. Upon packing the night before the trip, I realized I don't have the bolts to connect the Single Tank Adapter to my Backplate without the integrated weight. Thus, I was forced to keep it all together, and dive a bit overweighted in Belize (12-13 pounds between the plate and the weight, which is all I use for diving in my 7mm Semi Dry). Thus, while one dive I went sans wetsuit, I typically wore it, largely with providing some buoyancy in mind.
Lesson: Don't wait until the last minute to pack/go over gear.
Also, I had one gear issue in Belize--on day 3 or 4, I noticed that my right fin felt loose. Upon inspecting it, I had developed a 2" or so split, completely through the left side of the bottom of the foot pocket. That said, I continued to dive with it through the remainder of the trip. That was all fine until the first dive on the Elbow. A broken/loose fin, simply did not provide the kind of thrust needed to effectively fight the current. I ended up working extremely hard, and swimming with my hands as well, to stay with the dive master. Going with the current was fine. By the end of this dive, the split had grown to about 4-5". It lasted the remainder of the trip, But I'm done using it. The smart thing to do would have been a few loops of ducktape at the beginning. For those that are curious, it was a Rocket Fin.
Lesson: If you have a gear problem, think about what problems it could cause later, and be willing to get creative for a solution.
Island life Vs. Island life
The title of this section may lead to some confusion, but I'm referring to Coronado "Island" in California (where I live) vs. Caye Caulker. I just thought I'd briefly mention how nice, relaxed, and laid back it was. From arriving at the condo until we left, I never wore shoes, sandals or other footwear, with the exception of dive booties, even while at dinner. The shirt was on sometimes and off others.I will say that for someone not hugely interested in drinking, the nightlife is better back in San Diego, but relaxing in a hammock was still a nice treat. All in all, the laid back atmosphere was perfect for a vacation.
There Are Divers that Pee In Their Wetsuits and Divers that Lie About it
In San Diego, I Dive a semi-drysuit. What liquid enters the suit doesn't leave the suits until dumping it out of the ankle seals after walking back to the parking lot. Thus, I'm very inclined to hold it in at all costs, even if it means a less comfortable dive. On the first day, I took this attitude with me in Belize and it wasn't fun. Second day, on the second dive, I dove without a wetsuit on in just my bathing suit, so that I'd have no qualms about the issue, and I have to say, MAN did it feel good. After that I dove with my wetsuit, but didn't worry about the issue anymore. Back in San Diego now, my Drysuit is getting picked up this weekend, and then I'll have a pee-valve and not need to worry about it at all. So with that said, the lesson is this: If you're in a drysuit without a pee-valve or a semi-dry, hold it in and ALWAYS go between dives. Otherwise, just go. For me at least, it was all so diluted that no one noticed at all
Well I think that about covers it for now, if I think of anything else I'll be sure to add it. Note:I put this in this forum rather than the Belize forum, as although I put a small report of the trip, the focus was on diving lessons rather than diving in Belize.
Thanks,
Griffin Nosenzo
