What to do indoors during the Thunderstorms next week???

[oddible]

Final prep to fly down to San Pedro this Sunday. Checked the weather... lo and behold, thunderstorms :zap:

I expect that a little rain wouldn't stop a dive but T-storms are a bit riskier to get out on the water in a boat. Maybe these forecasts are just pessimistic - though it looks like it will rain all week so I guess I should plan some 3 dive days rather than the 2 dive days + running around in the sun that I had intended.

Another concern is that we opted to take a water taxi to San Pedro rather than fly to save a bit of cash for an extra dive or two. However, with the current forecast for 15-20mph winds the water is probably going to be quite choppy making for an unpleasant hour to the island. Though with high winds a plane isn't going to be much better.

I suspect that this is all trivial and the locals are laughing at me. /holdme
(Plus I'm from Vancouver so I'm no stranger to rain.)
I want my perfect vacation!

 

[Darcey]

Eat, drink and drink some more!

The one early evening we had some rain we wandered down to Fido's, plopped a squat and ate and drank until we couldn't eat and drink anymore. Then we bar hopped down the beach in search of the best rum punch on Ambergris Caye. :cool2:

Walking the beach in the rain was kinda fun too (especially with an ice cold Belikin in hand!)...especially when a local came up to us and poitned at the sky and said "LOOK! LIQUID SNOW!"

 

[peterbj7]

If you pay with cash you'll find Maya significantly cheaper than Tropic for flying over.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

aybe you should change destinations and go to Placenicia. There you are close to diving but there are also lots of other on land activities besides eating and drinking. You can check out options at SplashBelize.com

 

[oddible]

So I'm a new diver, will dive ops run trips in the rain off San Pedro?

 

[Ed Hatfield]

The rain won't be a problem but thunderstorms could put a damper on your week. The water gets real choppy with significant swells on the reef and the boats won't go out. There is lots to do in San Pedro in the evening but it is a little sleepy during the day. The town also shuts down early with the bands stopping at 1000PM (as I recall). I can't believe you're leaving Vancouver during the Olympics. That's got to be a happening place right now. I'm watching the Opening Ceremonies as I'm writing this. The athletes from Greece just entered.

 

[oddible]

Heh, the Olympic torch ran right in front of my living room today. I teach at SFU and we get 2 weeks off for the Olympics (but no spring break otherwise) so I'm taking my vacation. Also, while there are many free things to do in town right now, they're swarmed with 250,000 tourists - even just traveling around town is torturous, driving OR public transit. Seriously my wife had to wait for 3 full buses to go by before she got a ride to work this morning. Not to mention that the event ticket lottery seemed to favor out of town folks as very few of my fellow Vancouverites got tix (well, actually that's not entirely true, two different friends got tickets to Curling).

Yeah that's my biggest concern right now - how to salvage this vacation. We're committed to our place in San Pedro. With light rain but 20mph winds am I going to get any diving in? Maybe I'll try to plan some trips to the mainland earlier in the week and extend my stay in San Pedro rather than doing the mainland after the diving.

 

[peterbj7]

I live in San Pedro so have a considerable interest in the weather here. I can't find anyone who believes there will be thunderstorms next week. Another cold front is coming in (pretty normal at this time of the year) so there may be some rain, but that's about it. Where did this idea of thunderstorms come from? Apart from anything else, I wouldn't believe any forecast which purported to describe exactly what the weather would be like here for a week. It's way too unpredictable for that. For the record, it's been hot, very sunny and totally calm today.

 

[oddible]

Well, I know I'm spazzing a bit and that forecasts are inherently suspect. Also I'm committed at this point so if it becomes our 70 degree mud castle vacation we'll have a blast

I checked this site - chance of T-storms between 10-50% most days:
AccuWeather.com - Belize, BELIZE - 15 Day Weather Forecast - Local Weather Forecasts
(It's "Accu" it must stand for Accu-rate right!?)

So we'll see how it goes and get in as much diving as we can!

 

[peterbj7]

I don't see any mention of thunderstorms there. In any case, this is a forecast for the whole of Belize, which is mostly a mainland country. Ambergris Caye is an island with its own weather. Belize has its own meteorological service - have you looked at that?