NEKTON ~ Central BELIZE ~ 03/12 - 03/19/2005

[mcm007]

the trip is in 2 months, i would think a real scuba diver would have seen this post by now.Hopefully its not a boat full of newbies! I cant seem to find anyone else who is going, more room for me !

 

[peterbj7]

1) There is nothing to see in Belize at 130fsw, much less past 65' All the cool stuff is shallow and most is macro

I respectfully disagree. I live in San Pedro and often hear this said, by people who have never dived deeper. On the barrier reef there is a lot of interest in the 120-200 foot range, and the wall that starts at around 200' is spectacular. I frequently dive to 150-200' and love it. Not that there isn't a lot of interest shallower as well - great dives are to be had in the 80-120' range, where the spur and groove formations are at their best.

On a recent dive in the Blue Hole. when upwards of 15 giant bull sharks came to check out the divers at 145', I remarked afterwards that I was disappointed not to have seen hammerheads. A dive guide turned on me and said there were no hammerheads in the Blue Hole, so I asked him how deep he had dived. When he said 130' (sic) I replied that at 200' I had seen lots of hammerheads, and that friends had been surrounded by them at 250'. He didn't reply.

Better not to comment on what is outside your experience.

 

[Doc]

Better not to comment on what is outside your experience.

So noted, Grasshopper.

I don't know about the guy you spoke to, but my experience has taken me to the Blue Hole, only once, in the 1970's. I consider the depth and distance to be an unsatisfactory risk in analysis.

My remaining Belize experience has always included a magnifying glass on every dive since... looking for the incredible and exciting "small stuff". So with that in mind, I suppose you could argue that my experience was rather microscopic.

Sharks? A dime a dozen. Gimme a Pipefish. :07: Belize is great diving, certainly the Nekton will not disappoint.

 

[Hank49]

I respectfully disagree. I live in San Pedro and often hear this said, by people who have never dived deeper. On the barrier reef there is a lot of interest in the 120-200 foot range, and the wall that starts at around 200' is spectacular. I frequently dive to 150-200' and love it. Not that there isn't a lot of interest shallower as well - great dives are to be had in the 80-120' range, where the spur and groove formations are at their best.

I used to start off the day with a dive off the main cut in front of the Belikin pier and swim out over the wall. It's like flying along a mountain range. Peter, is that Bottom Time dive shop in your avatar? I may go up to San Pedro to visit the TMM people. I'll drop by and say hello. Hank

 

[parrotman]

Looks like it's going to be a full boat. I spoke with the office yesterday and they have a space available for a single male. Have been thinking about it but not sure if I like the idea of sharing one of those little cabins with someone I don't know.

Jim

 

[mcm007]

:dazzler1:

Looks like it's going to be a full boat. I spoke with the office yesterday and they have a space available for a single male. Have been thinking about it but not sure if I like the idea of sharing one of those little cabins with someone I don't know.

Jim

Wow, unfortunately it never seems that i get the boat with noone on it !!

Well, I have three guys going, I think joe is the other single, hes a DM . I can put you in touch with him if you like ...

 

[parrotman]

that would be cool. I need to make a decision on whether I'm going or not since it is next weekend.
I have been on the Nekton before and enjoyed it but there where only 21 of us on board and I had a cabin to myself.

 

[Jchoby]

A group of us will be on board the week after you: March 19-26th.

I have never been on a live aboard but I'm really looking forward to that trip.

Does anyone know what is Nekton policy concerning depth? Are they really strict on the 130ft limit, no deco and do they check?

A couple of us from the Dayton area will be on that trip too...we'll C YA there

vr

JC

 

[Otter]

I respectfully disagree. I live in San Pedro and often hear this said, by people who have never dived deeper. On the barrier reef there is a lot of interest in the 120-200 foot range, and the wall that starts at around 200' is spectacular. I frequently dive to 150-200' and love it. Not that there isn't a lot of interest shallower as well - great dives are to be had in the 80-120' range, where the spur and groove formations are at their best.

On a recent dive in the Blue Hole. when upwards of 15 giant bull sharks came to check out the divers at 145', I remarked afterwards that I was disappointed not to have seen hammerheads. A dive guide turned on me and said there were no hammerheads in the Blue Hole, so I asked him how deep he had dived. When he said 130' (sic) I replied that at 200' I had seen lots of hammerheads, and that friends had been surrounded by them at 250'. He didn't reply.

Better not to comment on what is outside your experience.

I hit 176 last week in the Blue Hole....didn't see anything but little blue frogs.....maybe if I had gotten down to 200' the big boys would have shown up -- rainbow colors.

While my experience in Belize is limited to a one week liveaboard last week, in talking with the crew, its clear to me that pelagics are realtively rare (we did see a Manta and a couple of Eagle Rays) and that most of the stuff is small. My trip report is coming, but I would say that for new divers or divers who really want to stay in the 20-30fsw range, Belize is ok. For experienced divers (excepting those going to 200'), its ho-hum. But thats largely true of the Carribean...(and yes, there are exceptions in both time of year and location).

 

[peterbj7]

There is nothing to see in Belize at 130fsw, much less past 65' All the cool stuff is shallow

I respectfully disagree. I have done many dives way deeper than 130fsw in Belize and have seen things not visible at shallower depths. Schools of hammerheads in the Blue Hole, for example. And on the meso-American barrier reef in Belize, there is a very cool spur-and-groove coral formation that typically starts at around 60'-70' and goes down to around 130'. My favourite dives there are usually between 70' and 130'.

On the walls of Lighthouse and Turneffe, though, I agree that there's usually little point in going deep. I have yet to dive Glover's but I imagine it's the same story there.