Sun Dancer II Captains Report August 14 24, 2013
Special 10-Night Charter
Water Temp: 82-84 F
Vis: 80-100 feet
Weather: Sunny with light breeze
Crew: Captain Eddy, First Mate John, Engineer Simon, Chef Jerry, Assistant Chef Carlos, Stewardess Barbara, Divemaster Karim
Dive Sites Visited:
Thursday - Front Porch and Grand Bouge
Friday Bulls Bay and Docks Place
Saturday - Long Caye Ridge and Long Caye Wall
Sunday - Half Moon Caye Wall and Julies Jungle
Monday - Chain Wall and Aquarium
Tuesday - Painted Wall and Site X
Wednesday - Blue Hole and Cathedral
Thursday - Silver Cave and Uno Coco
Friday - Sandy Slope
What a wonderful ten-day adventure filled with enjoyable diving and fun. On Wednesday we had the opportunity to welcome onboard a very enthusiastic group of divers looking forward to an amazing ten days. After everyone got set up in their staterooms and organized on the dive deck the divers got together in the salon area to hear the welcome briefing and introductions. After a delicious dinner was served the divers got some rest so they could wake up the next morning ready to go diving at Turneffe Island.
Front Porch was a marvelous welcome as the divers took giant strides into the warm blue water. On the first dive there were plenty of fish and sea creatures to admire and appreciate. Eels and crabs, lobsters and rainbow fish were among some of the welcoming committee underwater greeting the friendly divers. All of the schools of little fish and commuter fish were out on their way going about their day and looking photogenic for those with cameras in hand. The afternoon dives proved also a delight as the beautiful first day of diving continued and everyone enjoyed themselves on Turneffe Island at dive site
Grand Bouge.
The next morning everyone awoke to spectacular weather as the sun was shinning and the water looked a brilliant blue. At
Bulls Bay on Turneffe the fish and fans were swaying in the light surge as the divers effortlessly drifted past. In the sand the super cute yellow-headed jaw fish were out hovering and darting back and forth. All the diving on Turneffe was wonderful, from the big to the small creatures everything was joyous and intriguing to watch and admire. That evening the
Sun Dancer II made the journey over to
Lighthouse Reef so in the morning the divers could enjoy the beautiful diving at Long Caye. The first day did not disappoint with sightings of spotted eagle rays off the wall and of course the big friendly groupers looking for a little attention. Over the wall the big elephant ear sponges were always there to light up a wide angle shot and the wire coral added texture to the decadent topography. Thru the ridges you could swim back from the wall over to the top of the reef where the light was dancing on the corals and the fish were dancing as well in different colorful groups.
Sharks made an appearance at
Half Moon Caye Wall and again this dive sight proved to have a little of everything. In the sand you can always find sting rays and garden eels while over the wall the plate coral set the perfect stage for eels, crabs, grouper, barracuda and other happy fish all interested in catching a glimpse of the divers as they hovered and pass by. Spotted eagle rays soared past over the wall and super giant French angelfish delighted in pairs. The midnight parrot fish with their huge front teeth seemed to enjoy their fishy adventures and made their way over the sand and across the reef as well.
The rest of the week had incredible weather to match the marvelous diving; everyone had a great time exploring all of the wildlife and topography. Along
Chain Wall spotted eagle rays, stingrays, turtles and even a flounder greeted the divers. The dive site
Aquarium had as many fish varieties as you would expect to find at a location with that name. Everyone loved the shallow top of the reef after going along the wall especially on the night dive there were plenty of fun and exciting things to find including squid, crabs of all shapes and sizes and an octopus!
Another favorite site named
Painted Wall was super-joyous and majestic; everything on the reef comes across happy and welcoming. The Bermuda chubs schooling around the divers and the wonderful variety of eels always makes this site memorable and perfect to start a day of wonderful dives. In the afternoon the divers made their way to
Site X, which is not as mysterious as the name suggests. At the sand and over the wall you can dive around the little piles of coral that come out and make for the perfect homes for creatures of all sizes. A friendly turtle and enough lionfish to stay busy made the dive entertaining and fun in many ways. The next day the
Blue Hole was the first dive of the day and made everyone appreciative of the history and vastness the wide-angle atmosphere evoked. After the memorable dive some went to the Island and others made a second dive at
Chain Wall before having a delicious lunch before starting the afternoon dives at
Cathedral.
The rest of the week was incredible and enjoyable; enough cant be said for the fun underwater and onboard that the divers had while being in Belize.
From all of the crew of the
Sun Dancer II we would like to thank you for joining us on this wonderful 10 day adventure we are sure to always remember.
---------- Post added September 3rd, 2013 at 10:30 AM ----------
Sun Dancer II Captains Report August 24 31, 2013
Water Temp: 82-84 F
Vis: 80-100 feet
Weather: Sunny with light breeze
Crew: Captain Eddy, Second Captain Megan, First Mate John, Chef Jerry, Assistant Chef Jean, Stewardess Elia, Divemaster Karim
Dive Sites Visited:
Sunday - Long Caye Ridge and Julies Jungle
Monday - Uno Coco and Aquarium
Tuesday - Half Moon Caye and Long Caye Wall
Wednesday - Silver Cave and Sand Box
Thursday - Chain Wall & Painted Wall
Friday - Grand Bogue and Black Beauty
Amazing wonderful, super fun week of joy and diving. The adventure started on Saturday as our new and returning friends made their way onboard. The yacht was a buzz with excitement and everyone seemed to make instant friends with each other and the introductions were fun to hear everyones favorite Sea Creature as we got a chance to officially break the ice. After a delicious dinner was served, the
Sun Dancer II set out across the channel and out to Lighthouse Reef to begin the week of diving at Long Caye Island.
The first dive had many marvelous creatures to see and the fish seemed very happy and entertained by the divers hovering and maneuvering past. The Creole wrasse were out in droves making their way past as if on a mission or commute. Groupers of all shapes and distinctions were also out and about, following along and greeting the divers as they enjoyed their first taste, not literally, of the warm blue water of Belize. On the next dive at
Julies Jungle an appreciation for the reef structure was noted as the divers had a good variety of off the wall entertainment and on the reef intrigue.
Uno Coco was the next days first dive site and at one time three different green moray eels were seen free swimming, every exciting for eel fans! Also it was a beautiful sight to see two spotted eagle rays swimming along together near the wall over the blue. All the little crabs were fun to see some moving around and others trying to blend into their surroundings. At
Aquarium in the afternoon one of the funniest little shrimp had a couple divers cracking up after they returned because they said while they were watching it discharged almost like a fish, or squid if you can use your imagination. Other wonderful small creatures were spotted and admired on the top of the beautiful reef that always has divers excited about a night dive at this location. In the darkness the octopus, squids, crabs and fish all seem more photogenic and ready for their close ups!
Half Moon Caye Wall the next day became of the best dives of the week, as expected, when the divers were delighted by the eagle rays that happened to be up in the sand, feeding and flying around. Also stingrays with their little fish friends and the infamous barracuda that always gets a little on the curious side were spotted. The amazing reef that jumps out of the sand and then drops right off into the deep always makes for the most dramatic swim throughs either going out to the darker blue waters off the wall or after making your turn back into the shallows the white sand to greet you on the return. At
Long Caye Wall the afternoon of diving continued to be enjoyable and eels and lionfish entertained the divers while groupers looked on. The wonderful dive site had a little for everyone with small jaw fish up in the sand and even a few slugs that a few divers were very excited about.
Silver Cave the next morning had one of the best top side shows of the whole week when a pod of about 15 dolphins swam past and the divers that were lucky enough to be underwater got a chance to see their splendor. A couple divers that were already back put on their masks, fins and snorkels and headed out to intercept the amazing pod and got a chance to have one of the best dolphin encounters of their life. The most amazing diver experience was for one that was still finishing up her open water dives and got to see dolphins on literally one of her first times in the ocean. For the other divers this was the second or third time they had been able to witness free dolphins swimming and playing as they past by in the wild. At
Sand Box in the afternoon, aside from the super curious green moray eels that are now the main attraction of this dive site, the spotted eagle rays made an appearance and took a close enough pass for some divers to get wonderful pictures and video of the majestic creatures.
Chain Wall is moving up in popularity as one of the best most entertaining dive sites over at Half Moon Caye with the wide variety of wildlife, so much so that someone looking for macro got so distracted by the big stuff they almost forgot to look down. There was a shark show put on by Captain Eddy who was able to help get all the cameras on the dive a bunch of great footage of the sharks as they came close enough to photograph and fill the frame. The turtle, eagle rays circling and barracudas were all very fun to watch and admire. Another fun fish that always makes people happy is the midnight parrots that have the best teeth and face, so cute and cartoonish. At
Painted Wall that evening there was a turtle that hung out and spent time with the divers, also schools of chubs getting in the way of checking out other fun fish. The whole reef at Painted Wall is so enjoyable and happy, the light that dances over the rocks and even on the night dive you could see all the festive colors come out as you pointed your torch in the different directions.
The next morning a dawn dive was conducted at
Grand Bogue on Turneffe Island. The morning dive always offers a little bit of a different atmosphere and everyone that went on it was happy they had splashed in and loved what they got to see. On
Black Beauty the world famous spotted toadfish was discovered and one of the biggest turtles some divers had ever seen actually distracted them enough to lead them up and down the whole reef in pursuit. Everyone had an amazing last dive especially Mike who got friendly with a remora and found out that they arent actually attacking but just want to be friends.
Favorites this Week
Linda - Spotted Eagle Rays
Kalee - a toss up between the sharks and a turtle
Andrew - Happy Divers!
Josh - Sharks, and of course sexy shrimp
Rex - Pygmy filefish and a seahorse
Pat - Pygmy filefish
Michael - The remora, or the codfish
deNise - Swimming with the dolphins
Christina Coddythe Cod Fish
Nathan - Crustaceans and the big white sand flats on Half Moon Caye Wall and Chain Wall, the big sea grass areas as well. When you come off the wall and go thru a swim thru making your way up it looked amazing, also the friendly remora was great.
Mike - The green turtle, that was pretty cool
Rick - Eagle Rays!
Kethan - That really big turtle
Brandon - Eddy feeding a reef shark directly in front of my camera, I got a great shot!
Mike - The Sharks!
Kat - My new engagement ring!
Rama - The Busy Crab
Bill - Neck Crab
Max - Yellow headed Jawfish
Thank you everyone for such an incredible week, on board you all had a time of your life with memorable laughs and extra special adventures and surprises underwater.
From all of the crew on the
Sun Dancer II, Thank you again for joining us and we look forward to diving with you again in the future.