BrianOrange
Contributor
In short, an absolutely fantastic trip. Great diving, great people, great boat, great weather and great relaxation. So better late than never, he goes my stab at a trip report. I read EVERY single thread/post on Belize diving and the Sun Dancer before my trip so this is my way of "giving back" to the next person looking for some more information.
Departure Day/Belize Arrival
I flew Continental out of Newark, connecting in Houston, to Belize City. I actually had a direct (!) flight from Newark to Belize City when I first booked the trip but Continental discontinued that route in January. I left Newark day of (Saturday) at 5:30 AM and honestly, for the entire trip, this is the only time anything went sort of awry. Long story short is that the Continental gate agent told me my carry on bag was too large and I would have to check it. Now this bag has all my equipment. And when I say "all" I mean it. It had everything. I had a tight connection in Houston and we were leaving port later that day in Belize City. If my bag somehow was lost and got to me any other day besides Saturday, I would have no equipment for the week. I thought the agent would take the bag and that would be hit. Instead she tagged it and told me to bring it down the runway and leave it right outside the door. So I did that ... expect I took it on board with me anyway. Take that gate agent! And of course it fit in the overhead compartment (even vertically) not to mention the flight was half empty. Flew into Houston on time and I think we got there even a few minutes early.
I had a tight connection in Houston (less than an hour) but lucked out when my arriving flight and flight to Belize City were assigned to the same gate. Great luck there. No running or anything. Chilled for about 40 minutes and boarded the plane to Belize. Oh and no issues with anyone bothering me about the size of my bag this time. Got to Belize City with no issues and on time. Arrival in Belize City I had a little trouble finding the Peter Hughes rep but eventually located him. I waited for about a half hour while another boat passenger came in. We then got in the van and headed over to the Radisson. As promised by Peter Hughes, we were given a cold drink and towel for the ride over. At the Radisson a few of us hung by the pool while we were ready to board the boat.
Arrival on the boat
We boarded the boat around 4 pm, maybe earlier. First thing we did was find our room and put our stuff away. A little bit later we set up our equipment on the dive deck. There's a quick orientation in the salon where you meet the crew, then it's dinner and bed.
Dive Deck
Fantastic. You pick your spot and set up. Underneath your area is a plastic basket to put anything you'd like (cameras, mask, etc). Dive deck is on the same deck as all the rooms. Talk about an easy walk. There were two hot showers, big rinse buckets, anti fog spray, they even asked if you wanted some minty spray on your reg. You really get to know the people you are set up around. I really liked that.
The Diving
Just outstanding. Now I am a very new diver -- more on this later -- but I can't imagine many better places to dive.
Water -- 84 degrees. Never got chilled all week in a long sleeve 3mm shorty.
Current -- None
Viz -- 100+ feet on practically all dives. It did seem it would lessen in our late afternoon dives. Not sure why. But still great all week.
Depths -- Average depth was probably 60-70 feet as you followed the wall. I would get down to about 75 to 80 feet for a few moments but pop back up. Just as easily you could spend your time around the boat in 15-30 feet of water. You pick. Great for any type of diver or just picking what type of dive you wanted to do that day.
You spend Sunday-Thursday diving Lighthouse Reef/Half Moon Caye/Long Caye and then move to Turneffe for the final 2 dives as it's on the way back to port. Usually it's just you and the Aggressor boat at the sites, once in a while you'd see a day boat.
Dive sites, in order, were Long Caye Ridge (2 dives here), Julie's Jungle (3), Lighthouse Wall (2). East Cut (3), Tarpon Cave (2), Painted Wall (3), Blue Hole (1), Half Moon Caye Wall (3), Chain Wall (2), Quebrada (2) and Amberhead (2).
Each dive was basically the same. Drop in, usually swim over some nice coral gardens, find the wall, follow the wall, swim back over the gardens, hang on the safety bar (LOVED the safety bar as it was quite fun) and then ascend.
Some favorite sites:
Lighthouse Wall -- ascending up a sandy hill to some grass flats, beautiful sun shining through. Perfect.
Tarpon Cave -- many cave/canyon swim throughs that lead to wall. Lots of "cuts" and "ridges". Tons of fish under boat in and around huge coral heads.
Painted Wall -- This was a freakin' aquarium. Chubs, Sgt. Majors everywhere. They get literally right on top of you or close to it.
Half Moon Caye Wall -- lots of caves, swim throughs. Swim throughs start at wall and take you to sandy area up top. Very cool.
Chain Wall -- wins the award for best site for sightings. In a 5 minute period we saw a shark, Eagle Ray and turtle cruising along the wall.
Notables seen throughout the week were barracudas, lots of sting rays, a few Eagle Rays, grouper, garden eels, tarpon, lionfish on about 5 dives. Only saw one shark (reef shark) and it was pretty far away. Was kind of dissapointed by this. One turtle sighting. One moray eel. A few other spotted eels.
25 dives were offered. 5 dives each day expect for the Blue Hole Day (2 afternoon and a night dive after the BH dive) and Friday (2 dawn/morning dives before return to port). Dives were at approximately 8:15 am, 10:30 am, 1:45pm, 4:15 pm and 7:40 pm.
Always felt safe. DM's were on every dive and you could follow or go on your own. They were great all-around. Always seemed that no matter what you decided we'd all be diving in a big group in the end. DMs were on the platform to grab all your equipment every time as you came up.
Other Boat Stuff
Food was great and plentiful. Post dive snacks and always lots of beverages around to stay hydrated. Nice, working, cool AC everywhere. No issues with water in the shower. Felt like you were at a land based resort. Boat was very clean, modern. Again no issues with anything along those lines.
Summary
Just an unbelievable trip. I can't think of a bad thing to say if I tried. Crew was fantastic and friendly, as were other crew mates. I signed up for this trip as a single traveler with very, very few dives under my belt. I never felt restricted, people would help me with stuff, answer my newbie questions. If anyone else is a newbie, it's true. Go on a liveaboard and you'll be better off. Do not hesitate to try it.
Departure Day/Belize Arrival
I flew Continental out of Newark, connecting in Houston, to Belize City. I actually had a direct (!) flight from Newark to Belize City when I first booked the trip but Continental discontinued that route in January. I left Newark day of (Saturday) at 5:30 AM and honestly, for the entire trip, this is the only time anything went sort of awry. Long story short is that the Continental gate agent told me my carry on bag was too large and I would have to check it. Now this bag has all my equipment. And when I say "all" I mean it. It had everything. I had a tight connection in Houston and we were leaving port later that day in Belize City. If my bag somehow was lost and got to me any other day besides Saturday, I would have no equipment for the week. I thought the agent would take the bag and that would be hit. Instead she tagged it and told me to bring it down the runway and leave it right outside the door. So I did that ... expect I took it on board with me anyway. Take that gate agent! And of course it fit in the overhead compartment (even vertically) not to mention the flight was half empty. Flew into Houston on time and I think we got there even a few minutes early.
I had a tight connection in Houston (less than an hour) but lucked out when my arriving flight and flight to Belize City were assigned to the same gate. Great luck there. No running or anything. Chilled for about 40 minutes and boarded the plane to Belize. Oh and no issues with anyone bothering me about the size of my bag this time. Got to Belize City with no issues and on time. Arrival in Belize City I had a little trouble finding the Peter Hughes rep but eventually located him. I waited for about a half hour while another boat passenger came in. We then got in the van and headed over to the Radisson. As promised by Peter Hughes, we were given a cold drink and towel for the ride over. At the Radisson a few of us hung by the pool while we were ready to board the boat.
Arrival on the boat
We boarded the boat around 4 pm, maybe earlier. First thing we did was find our room and put our stuff away. A little bit later we set up our equipment on the dive deck. There's a quick orientation in the salon where you meet the crew, then it's dinner and bed.
Dive Deck
Fantastic. You pick your spot and set up. Underneath your area is a plastic basket to put anything you'd like (cameras, mask, etc). Dive deck is on the same deck as all the rooms. Talk about an easy walk. There were two hot showers, big rinse buckets, anti fog spray, they even asked if you wanted some minty spray on your reg. You really get to know the people you are set up around. I really liked that.
The Diving
Just outstanding. Now I am a very new diver -- more on this later -- but I can't imagine many better places to dive.
Water -- 84 degrees. Never got chilled all week in a long sleeve 3mm shorty.
Current -- None
Viz -- 100+ feet on practically all dives. It did seem it would lessen in our late afternoon dives. Not sure why. But still great all week.
Depths -- Average depth was probably 60-70 feet as you followed the wall. I would get down to about 75 to 80 feet for a few moments but pop back up. Just as easily you could spend your time around the boat in 15-30 feet of water. You pick. Great for any type of diver or just picking what type of dive you wanted to do that day.
You spend Sunday-Thursday diving Lighthouse Reef/Half Moon Caye/Long Caye and then move to Turneffe for the final 2 dives as it's on the way back to port. Usually it's just you and the Aggressor boat at the sites, once in a while you'd see a day boat.
Dive sites, in order, were Long Caye Ridge (2 dives here), Julie's Jungle (3), Lighthouse Wall (2). East Cut (3), Tarpon Cave (2), Painted Wall (3), Blue Hole (1), Half Moon Caye Wall (3), Chain Wall (2), Quebrada (2) and Amberhead (2).
Each dive was basically the same. Drop in, usually swim over some nice coral gardens, find the wall, follow the wall, swim back over the gardens, hang on the safety bar (LOVED the safety bar as it was quite fun) and then ascend.
Some favorite sites:
Lighthouse Wall -- ascending up a sandy hill to some grass flats, beautiful sun shining through. Perfect.
Tarpon Cave -- many cave/canyon swim throughs that lead to wall. Lots of "cuts" and "ridges". Tons of fish under boat in and around huge coral heads.
Painted Wall -- This was a freakin' aquarium. Chubs, Sgt. Majors everywhere. They get literally right on top of you or close to it.
Half Moon Caye Wall -- lots of caves, swim throughs. Swim throughs start at wall and take you to sandy area up top. Very cool.
Chain Wall -- wins the award for best site for sightings. In a 5 minute period we saw a shark, Eagle Ray and turtle cruising along the wall.
Notables seen throughout the week were barracudas, lots of sting rays, a few Eagle Rays, grouper, garden eels, tarpon, lionfish on about 5 dives. Only saw one shark (reef shark) and it was pretty far away. Was kind of dissapointed by this. One turtle sighting. One moray eel. A few other spotted eels.
25 dives were offered. 5 dives each day expect for the Blue Hole Day (2 afternoon and a night dive after the BH dive) and Friday (2 dawn/morning dives before return to port). Dives were at approximately 8:15 am, 10:30 am, 1:45pm, 4:15 pm and 7:40 pm.
Always felt safe. DM's were on every dive and you could follow or go on your own. They were great all-around. Always seemed that no matter what you decided we'd all be diving in a big group in the end. DMs were on the platform to grab all your equipment every time as you came up.
Other Boat Stuff
Food was great and plentiful. Post dive snacks and always lots of beverages around to stay hydrated. Nice, working, cool AC everywhere. No issues with water in the shower. Felt like you were at a land based resort. Boat was very clean, modern. Again no issues with anything along those lines.
Summary
Just an unbelievable trip. I can't think of a bad thing to say if I tried. Crew was fantastic and friendly, as were other crew mates. I signed up for this trip as a single traveler with very, very few dives under my belt. I never felt restricted, people would help me with stuff, answer my newbie questions. If anyone else is a newbie, it's true. Go on a liveaboard and you'll be better off. Do not hesitate to try it.
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