Im craracers 2nd dive buddy to whom he refers to in #23
As many of you who travel solo to distant dive destinations know its quite a crap-shoot to find a respectable dive buddy. Let me tell you that you should consider yourselves very fortunate if you ever get the chance to dive with craracer; easy going; safe; great dive skills; a total pleasure to be around above and below the surface of the water.
Delta Airlines delivered me to Belize City traveling from Texas through Atlanta. Departed Texas at 0530 and arrived in Belize City at 11:30. No complaints about the flight. In fact, I was able to score the round trip airfare for $300.
The van from Belize airport dropped us off at the Calypso restaurant to wait for the Ms Ellie boat ride to TF. The Calypso served me a hub-cap sized portion of grilled Grouper which was out of this world good; the plate also had fries and slaw hidden under the Grouper. The Grouper was grilled to just the right texture with local spices; outstanding. The only memorable meal at TF was the barbeque dinner. However, the ladies in the kitchen did a great job with preparing fresh bread and rolls everyday.
The diving was just okay; nothing really great to write home to Mom about. The White Spotted Toadfish at Creekozine South was a nice find. The diving at Half Moon Cay Wall was the highlight of the week for me. Unfortunately we only got to dive one dive on the wall. There was a Caribbean Reef Shark off the wall out in the blue. I must have hung out at 70 fsw for 5 minutes just watching him/her moving through the water column; they are so exquisite in the water. There was also a Pistol Shrimp making fire cracker noises at the base of one of the coral heads.
The night dive was a disappointment at North Bogue. The dive site is on the Eastern edge of the reef in front of Turneffe Flats. The maximum dive depth was 12 feet. Thats right, youre not seeing things; 12 feet. The marine life that was sighted on the night dive included an Elegant Anemone, Octopus, Large Fireworm, and a Juvenile Stingray.
Theres been enough said about the drunken fishermen who were a disgrace to men in particular and to humanity in general.
When I boarded the van to take us from the airport to the dock, craracer and his lovely wife were already onboard. We began our conversation not with the usual hi, how are you, where you from dialog but focused on the required trip to the Blue Hole. I had no diving experience regarding the BH prior to this trip having been to Belize for diving 5 previous times, mostly on liveaboards. The only knowledge I have about the BH is from what I read and see in photos or Discovery Channel programs, or a Jacque Cousteau rerun. The consensus of the three of us was that we preferred to dive multiple times at Half Moon Cay rather than spend time in the BH. Unfortunately, we could not get a consensus from the other divers and had to dive BH. Upon reflection of my time in the BH, I would have preferred to spend 2 or 3 dives on the wall at Half Moon Cay; even if it meant diving several times on the same dive site. I would have been very disappointed if I had saved my money and vacation time just to dive BH as the only reason to go to Belize for diving. Viz at depth (130fsw) was maybe 15 feet. The Caribbean Reef Sharks were the highlight of the dive at BH.
Turneffe Flats is an extremely well kept facility of which I have no complaints. The fluctuation of the water temperature in the shower turned out to be a pretty good game for me to see if I could get in and out of the shower before scalding or freezing myself; quite entertaining I must admit. The Highest Compliments go out to Claudia (I think thats her name) who kept the rooms spotless. I mean you could eat off the floors they were so clean. No bug problems for me in the room. I completely agree with craracer about the tomb-stone softness of the beds. Claudia also provided us excellent dining room service for every meal. She always had a huge smile and was willing to meet any reasonable request regarding room care and dining fare. Compliments go out to the ground crew at Turneffe Flats for keeping the grounds as spotless as possible particularly with a steady Easterly wind that washes up every kind of Caribbean rubbish that finds its way across the Caribbean to the shores of the Atoll. The grounds crew works tirelessly everyday to keep the beach area clean from sea-borne debris and they do it with the biggest smiles. One afternoon craracer was out for his afternoon walk and came back with examples of medical waste that washed up on an area of the beach away from the cabins. No syringes, but a brown glass bottle that showed syringes had been used to extract the contents and there was also a full bottle of Prozac.
I would like to acknowledge the outstanding business decision Craig made to allow only 5 divers to use the Ms. Ellie for the week; a 48 foot diesel powered custom diver boat for 5 divers. Im most impressed with Craig living up to what he advertised to me when I received my reservation paperwork from the front office (that information Im sure has since changed). Its all too infrequent these days for a business owner to stand by their word because living up to their word will have a negative effect on their bottom line, but Craig DID. Well Done Craig and THANK YOU.
The luxury of the Ms. Ellie was quickly demonstrated when we had to take the small boat to Lindseys Back Porch on Wednesday because Ms. Ellie was making the trip to Belize City on her normal Wednesday run. We traveled on the small boat out to a point inside the reef system where we were instructed to gear up because as soon as we got past the reef we would be in heavy seas. We all geared up and embraced the heavy seas with some vigor. I was sitting in the front of the small boat as the waves were crashing over the bow. It got so bad that the only way I could breathe and see was to put on my mask and snorkel. We back rolled into the heavy seas and as I was waiting for the descend signal I wondered if the strawberry on my 6 was ever going to go away after all the bouncing and smashing on the non-cushioned bench. I descended into the blue caught in the dream of the comfort of a 48 foot custom dive boat.
