Sea Life Belize

[LWB]

Agreed, the eagle rays and turtles were very cool. One of the coolest experiences I have had as a diver was in Belize with a turtle. I was between two of the coral heads in about 40 fsw (completely neutral and no current) and a turtle swam right up to me and was just staring at me. He couldn't have been more than a foot away from my mask. I actually started backing up and then he swam off. Huh, now that I think of it, maybe he was like, "Hey buddy, get out of the way" and we were having a stand-off

We had a cool dive up at Hol-Chan. You pretty much could see everything there, including two eagle rays just cruising the channel. We let the current (strong) take us out the channel and then had to swim like crazy to get back. It was well worth the effort.

I can't recommend Tuff Enuff Tours enough. If you are still looking for a dive boat, these are your guys. There is nothing fancy about their boats, no sodas (just water pouches), or snacks, but how accommodating the DMs are more then makes up for that. If you are really lucky, you will get Billy as your DM. He is hands down, the best DM I have ever dove with. Also, about 200 yards off their dock is a very cool chimney that you can swim through. Just tell them you want to go.

 

[Gaz]

Just a quick note on Dive Boats providing Sodas

I as Tuff ENuff never provided sodas on the boat as they are Diuretics meaning they de hydrate you and as Divers we need to encourage divers to drink plenty of water and if sodas were provided then a diver will normally choose a soda over water.

I am writing an informative article on this subject shorlty and will post it here once completed .

 

[peterbj7]

I did some research on sodas/soft drinks as I'd never before heard that they were diuretic, at any rate in the quantities normally consumed (if you drink a vast amount of them the sugar in them can have a diuretic effect). One reason divers prefer sodas over fresh water is that they contain salts to replace those that have been lost from the body during the dive. Our water in Belize, having been produced by reverse osmosis, contains no such salts.

 

[Gaz]

Well you are correct Peter however once I publish my article on this subject you will better understand my point.

I worked and assisted for 2 years in the San Pedro Re compression chamber and have treated many cases of decompression sickness caused by de hydration which in my 2 year experince was the MAIN cause of the majority of cases of DCS on the island.

When I was a dive operator we got round the reverse osmosis water situation by actually mixing in electrolyte powder

Dive Safe

Gaz Cooper

 

[Ayisha]

When I was in Belize, they gave us little soft plastic cubed packages of water that you tore a corner off to drink from on the boat. Doesn't that sort of "bottled" water contain the salts that are missing from the regular fresh water in Belize?

We spent one week on AC and 4 days at Ian Anderson's Caves Branch Jungle Lodge, which was awesome and filled with adventures.

I found Belize to have the healthiest, most colourful pristine reef I have ever seen and abundant sea life of all kinds, especially around the atolls, like Turneffe and Lighthouse. The reef around Ambergris Caye was decent, but not great. If diving off Ambergris, might as well avoid the sites around San Pedro but go closer to Hol Chan and within Hol Chan, it's WAY better. We did the day trips from Ambergris to Turneffe and Lighthouse cayes, and they were WELL worth it.

I saw lots of spotted eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, green moray and spotted moray eels, nurse sharks, grouper, stingrays, baracuda and tonnes of larger and smaller fish. In the Blue Hole, I also saw lemon sharks and one bull shark in addition to nurse sharks and huge grouper. The amount and size of the sea life as well as the huge corals is amazing!

The current at many dive sites made it a little tough to take pictures, and many of my pics were like drive-by's, but here are my better pics if you're interested:
Belize 2006 - Windows Live

 

[peterbj7]

The pouches of water are of pure water purified by reverse osmosis, as are the screw-cap bottles. They contain no salts at all.

The reef in Belize is deteriorating, like coral reefs the world over. I would say the best Barrier Reef coral is actually some way north of San Pedro, up around where Gaz had his resort. There's less sea life there though.

 

[Gaz]

Peter is absolutely right dive sites north of town such as Happy Hours Reef have beautiful colorful corals but as peter says marine life is less mainly because there is no conditioning up there.

Dive Safe

Gaz

 

[Ayisha]

No conditioning? What does that mean?

Shouldn't the critters be where the healthy coral is? In Belize a little over 3 years ago, I found both healthy coral and abundant sea life, particularly around the atolls. I was surprised in Roatan that although the coral is pretty healthy, the big sea life is few and far between. I'm surprised that there is that much of a difference in the health of the reef in Belize in just a few years - and I have seen my fair share of dead and dying coral. Peter, are you saying that even around the atolls, the reef is deteriorating that much?

 

[Gaz]

Conditioning means feeding the fish, many sites south of San pedro such as cyprus gardens have abundant large marine life such as Sharks and Groupers and they are guaranteed as they are conditioned with feeding.

Dive Safe

Gaz

 

[peterbj7]

The reefs in Belize are in better condition than many in other countries. Nonetheless, sea and climate conditions are causing slow but progressive degradation. I didn't mean to imply that Belize's reefs are worse than others - they're not, but still the future isn't rosy.