Torontonian
Contributor
We were on Carnival Miracle cruise Aug. 27/06 sailing. Was supposed to be at Belize on Thr. Aug. 31, but due to hurricane Ernesto, they changed to go to Belize on our first port stop on Tue. Aug. 29. We were at port 8am-5pm ship time, or 6am-3pm local time.
I had to email from the ship, to re-confirm with Ecological Tours. Marvin emailed back to confirm my diving, and my wife and friend's Shark Ray Alley Snorkeling trips.
Belize is one port where there is a long 15min tender ride from the ship to port. There are two other diving choices, one thru the ship, with Hugh Parkey. The other one would be with Sea Sports, but they require minimum 4 divers to go out. Those who went with Sea Sports had good reviews. There were mixed reviews with Hugh Parkey, but still mostly good. I was going to dive and my wife and friends snorkeling, at all 4 ports. I decided to book with Ecological Tours because we would take a low-altitude plane from Belize to the town of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, then a boat trip to diving and snorkeling. It was one way to see the reef system from the air, then to dive/snorkel.
The ship arrived Belize on time, and we got to the gangway a little early, and was able to get on the first tender. My MIL, BIL and SIL, went for the cave tubing trip (they had a good time). It was raining. When we got to the cruise terminal, we saw a young guy holding a sign for Ecological Tours. We followed him to a booth. There we paid and then Marvin drove the 4 of us about 10-15min. to the Belize Municipal airport. We were on the 8am flight. The flight was about 20min. The weather was good and clear in Ambergris Caye, but hot and humid.
After we landed, we got our stuff and applied sun screen. We were told someone from the Aqua dive shop may be there waiting for us, but if not we were given a simple map to walk there. After a few minutes we started to walk. After 1/2 way, I saw someone with Aqua's name on his shirt. His name was Amiel, and he took us to the shop.
The equipment rental was included in the price. My wife and the couple/friends needed to pay $10/p for the Ho-Chan Marine Park entrance. I had my lycra/wetsuit/mask/fin/snorkel/light/camera, but needed BC/reg. Amiel got me a wet and quite worn BC. I found the pockets all had rips at the bottom, and would not hold the slate/knife/whistle. I asked him for another BC. He looked but said no more medium. I was disappointed, but had to take it.
My wife and friends went on a separate boat for their snorkeling trip. They thoroughly enjoyed. They went to two locations. Good reef and lots of fish. In the second stop, the DM went down to pick up a nurse shark up for them to pet. He then went down to get 3 separate stingrays up for them to pet. There were two other boats, and the people from other boats also try to come over to pet the stingrays. My wife said their guide was a young fellow, named something like Luis. He worked really hard, apparently much harder than guides from other boats, to bring the shark and rays up for them to pet. It was a really good experience for them.
As for me getting ready for my diving, later on I met the DM Tony, and told him the BC I was given looked old and worn, and pockets had holes. He then found a newer BC (there were some back from a morning dive) for me to use. I had earlier requested a 100cf tank (I'm an air hog). I had asked Amiel and he said they have it. Before going on the boat I asked Tony, and he said he'll check if they have them, then found they did have and brought onto the boat.
The boat was large and comfortable. There were 6 divers, plus the DM Tony, and a photographer. Four of the divers were from New York, there for a week and this is the last day. Maria is the other diver, also from the U.S., and my dive buddy. She had a camera with strobe and looked good. I was just going to try out my camera MX10 with a new macro lense and new strobe.
The weather was hot. Tony indicated the temp to be about 90F and water about 85. I wore lycra top and pants, did not opt for the full 3mm wetsuit. That was comfortable enough. I used 10 lbs weight.
The first site was Christ Abyss. Tony said we'll look for a statue of Jesus Christ with his arms stretched open. It was maybe 10min boat ride to get to the site. Entry was easy. Everyone seemed like experienced divers, several had camera, one with video. We all more or less followed Tony, but not necessarily in pairs.
The reef was very healthy. Lots and lots of sea fans, lots of horns, sea rod, small/short tubes, and small fish. We saw some yellow snappers, a 3' turtle, angels, groupers, rock beauty, etc. But the reef growth was not very colorful, mostly beige color.
There were a few places like canyons, and we swam down. We did not find the Christ statue. The deepest was 65', and this dive lasted 45min. It included what seemed like a long deco stop, and I ended up with 300 psi. Not bad. I found the reg not so easy to hold during the dive. After getting back to the boat, I found the reg mouthpiece was a bit chewed up. I pointed that out to Tony and said it should be replaced. They took us back to the shop for the surface interval. The 4 from New York went to soak in the water during the rest.
For the second dive, Tony said it's called Tres Coco, or Coconut tree. The scenery was similar to the first one, with some canyons that we went down. Some were more abrupt and deeper. In one of them I went down to 75', but quickly came up.
There was again lots of sea fans, sea rods, sponge, brain coral, and similar amount of fish. But the color is still mostly beige. For this dive, one young guy joined us. The photographer/DM was with him most of the time. He was too close to the corals, and the DM had to ask him to go up several times. He was also using his arms to swim. Maria tried to tell him to stop using his arms, and just hold them in front of his chest. He indicated he understood with the ok sign, but then immediately went back to waving his arms to "swim". I hope he didn't damage too much of the coral growth with his body and instruments so close to them.
I still wore lycra for this dive. It lasted 43min., and I had 800psi left. This felt like another good dive.
Back at the shop, the photographer and another guy tried to show me the photos, but didn't know how. It was too bad, because my pictures did not turn out well.
I also found an internet cafe, and went on for 15min, for $4. It was cheaper than on the ship. Our return flight was 1pm (local time). It actually flew into Belize international airport first, then to the Belize municipal airport. Marvin was there waiting to pick us up, to drive back to the port. I told him about the equipment issues, and also emailed him later. Marvin said he will forward to the owner of the shop.
Three days later in Cayman, I found a partner to do shore dive together at Eden Rock. Rick was a former instructor trainer and a DIR staff. We had a very good dive, that he said was the best dive in the trip. He said in Belize he went with the ship's tour, with Hugh Parkey. It was a very long ride, and he was disappointed in the diving. I'm not sure what he saw. The 4 people from NY that was in my Belize dive said we were diving in the inner reefs. They said they went to the Blue Hole one day, and they also dove the outer reefs during the week. I said the inner reefs we saw were not bad but the color seemed plain. They said the outer reefs were much better and the inner reefs couldn't compare. I guess to really enjoy the outer reefs, I'd have to come back another time and stay longer.
I had to email from the ship, to re-confirm with Ecological Tours. Marvin emailed back to confirm my diving, and my wife and friend's Shark Ray Alley Snorkeling trips.
Belize is one port where there is a long 15min tender ride from the ship to port. There are two other diving choices, one thru the ship, with Hugh Parkey. The other one would be with Sea Sports, but they require minimum 4 divers to go out. Those who went with Sea Sports had good reviews. There were mixed reviews with Hugh Parkey, but still mostly good. I was going to dive and my wife and friends snorkeling, at all 4 ports. I decided to book with Ecological Tours because we would take a low-altitude plane from Belize to the town of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, then a boat trip to diving and snorkeling. It was one way to see the reef system from the air, then to dive/snorkel.
The ship arrived Belize on time, and we got to the gangway a little early, and was able to get on the first tender. My MIL, BIL and SIL, went for the cave tubing trip (they had a good time). It was raining. When we got to the cruise terminal, we saw a young guy holding a sign for Ecological Tours. We followed him to a booth. There we paid and then Marvin drove the 4 of us about 10-15min. to the Belize Municipal airport. We were on the 8am flight. The flight was about 20min. The weather was good and clear in Ambergris Caye, but hot and humid.
After we landed, we got our stuff and applied sun screen. We were told someone from the Aqua dive shop may be there waiting for us, but if not we were given a simple map to walk there. After a few minutes we started to walk. After 1/2 way, I saw someone with Aqua's name on his shirt. His name was Amiel, and he took us to the shop.
The equipment rental was included in the price. My wife and the couple/friends needed to pay $10/p for the Ho-Chan Marine Park entrance. I had my lycra/wetsuit/mask/fin/snorkel/light/camera, but needed BC/reg. Amiel got me a wet and quite worn BC. I found the pockets all had rips at the bottom, and would not hold the slate/knife/whistle. I asked him for another BC. He looked but said no more medium. I was disappointed, but had to take it.
My wife and friends went on a separate boat for their snorkeling trip. They thoroughly enjoyed. They went to two locations. Good reef and lots of fish. In the second stop, the DM went down to pick up a nurse shark up for them to pet. He then went down to get 3 separate stingrays up for them to pet. There were two other boats, and the people from other boats also try to come over to pet the stingrays. My wife said their guide was a young fellow, named something like Luis. He worked really hard, apparently much harder than guides from other boats, to bring the shark and rays up for them to pet. It was a really good experience for them.
As for me getting ready for my diving, later on I met the DM Tony, and told him the BC I was given looked old and worn, and pockets had holes. He then found a newer BC (there were some back from a morning dive) for me to use. I had earlier requested a 100cf tank (I'm an air hog). I had asked Amiel and he said they have it. Before going on the boat I asked Tony, and he said he'll check if they have them, then found they did have and brought onto the boat.
The boat was large and comfortable. There were 6 divers, plus the DM Tony, and a photographer. Four of the divers were from New York, there for a week and this is the last day. Maria is the other diver, also from the U.S., and my dive buddy. She had a camera with strobe and looked good. I was just going to try out my camera MX10 with a new macro lense and new strobe.
The weather was hot. Tony indicated the temp to be about 90F and water about 85. I wore lycra top and pants, did not opt for the full 3mm wetsuit. That was comfortable enough. I used 10 lbs weight.
The first site was Christ Abyss. Tony said we'll look for a statue of Jesus Christ with his arms stretched open. It was maybe 10min boat ride to get to the site. Entry was easy. Everyone seemed like experienced divers, several had camera, one with video. We all more or less followed Tony, but not necessarily in pairs.
The reef was very healthy. Lots and lots of sea fans, lots of horns, sea rod, small/short tubes, and small fish. We saw some yellow snappers, a 3' turtle, angels, groupers, rock beauty, etc. But the reef growth was not very colorful, mostly beige color.
There were a few places like canyons, and we swam down. We did not find the Christ statue. The deepest was 65', and this dive lasted 45min. It included what seemed like a long deco stop, and I ended up with 300 psi. Not bad. I found the reg not so easy to hold during the dive. After getting back to the boat, I found the reg mouthpiece was a bit chewed up. I pointed that out to Tony and said it should be replaced. They took us back to the shop for the surface interval. The 4 from New York went to soak in the water during the rest.
For the second dive, Tony said it's called Tres Coco, or Coconut tree. The scenery was similar to the first one, with some canyons that we went down. Some were more abrupt and deeper. In one of them I went down to 75', but quickly came up.
There was again lots of sea fans, sea rods, sponge, brain coral, and similar amount of fish. But the color is still mostly beige. For this dive, one young guy joined us. The photographer/DM was with him most of the time. He was too close to the corals, and the DM had to ask him to go up several times. He was also using his arms to swim. Maria tried to tell him to stop using his arms, and just hold them in front of his chest. He indicated he understood with the ok sign, but then immediately went back to waving his arms to "swim". I hope he didn't damage too much of the coral growth with his body and instruments so close to them.
I still wore lycra for this dive. It lasted 43min., and I had 800psi left. This felt like another good dive.
Back at the shop, the photographer and another guy tried to show me the photos, but didn't know how. It was too bad, because my pictures did not turn out well.
I also found an internet cafe, and went on for 15min, for $4. It was cheaper than on the ship. Our return flight was 1pm (local time). It actually flew into Belize international airport first, then to the Belize municipal airport. Marvin was there waiting to pick us up, to drive back to the port. I told him about the equipment issues, and also emailed him later. Marvin said he will forward to the owner of the shop.
Three days later in Cayman, I found a partner to do shore dive together at Eden Rock. Rick was a former instructor trainer and a DIR staff. We had a very good dive, that he said was the best dive in the trip. He said in Belize he went with the ship's tour, with Hugh Parkey. It was a very long ride, and he was disappointed in the diving. I'm not sure what he saw. The 4 people from NY that was in my Belize dive said we were diving in the inner reefs. They said they went to the Blue Hole one day, and they also dove the outer reefs during the week. I said the inner reefs we saw were not bad but the color seemed plain. They said the outer reefs were much better and the inner reefs couldn't compare. I guess to really enjoy the outer reefs, I'd have to come back another time and stay longer.
