What a great report - thanks for the details. We are heading there in July!!! I am thinking of getting Nitrox certification. Would you do it there at the island for $185 during a one-week stay? Or beforehand?
Also, was there anything you wished you had brought with you?
Thanks, Karin
Karin, I think you are wise to do the Nitrox certification. Regardless of "why" you want to do it, it's a good idea. We use it to extend our time at depth. Others use it to increase their margin of "safety".
As for where you do the course, I believe a basic Nitrox course is still all just theory, so it's easy enough to do at home. That way you'll be ready to go when you get there. I have no idea when they would do the course there, but if it takes time away from diving, then it's a bad idea!
As for stuff, we travel a lot so long ago developed a little checklist so we don't overpack. It spells out everything from the number of T-shirts we want to take to dive gear, to medications/first aid stuff. We might adjust this a bit depending on where we're going, but not by much.
Just remember that this isn't the kind of place where there's a 7-11 on the corner. There tends to be snacks readily available... fresh cookies, plantain chips, granola, lemonade and ice-tea, but if you have a preferred snack you might want to take that. You don't need a fancy wardrobe, but I'd suggest a shell in case it rains and a warm layer like a light fleece or sweat-shirt as the evenings can be cool.
We also tend to take a bit of mosquito coil which we could burn in the room if there were bugs. We haven't needed it at Turneffe, but certainly in other places, it's been a Godsend. Both times, he had a few ants wiggle up the sink drain, but an good rinse got rid of them, and keeping the drain plug closed prevented their return.
If you have any specific questions, fell free to PM me.
We are spending this afternoon looking at summer dive trips... You might be interested in knowing that Turneffe is still at the top of the list!
I'll get there eventually.
