2000 Chapbook

Inside the world's second-largest barrier reef, English-speaking Belize sports three major atollsbut not much in the way of beaches.... Most of the good diving is reachable from live-aboards or from resorts on the offshore cayes.... The deeply-cut, spur-and-groove coral reefs of Ambergris Caye, the largest and most developed of the Belize's cayes, are interesting, but not as adrenaline-producing as the rugged underwater scenery of the outer cayes, where the walls are among the more spectacular in the Caribbean. There's a chance to see large schools of fish, a big one here and there, and plenty of large nurse sharks.... When comparing package prices, find out if they include the cost of transfers to and from the caye and what taxes are included.... There's good diving off Placencia, a funky fishing village in southern Belize, and, since it's on the mainland, you can visit Mayan ruins, the Jaguar Preserve, or take river tours. The trade-off? It's an hour's boat ride to the pristine barrier reef.... Flying to Belize is easy (only two hours from Houston) and it's simple to fly to Honduras for a second week.... Avoid Belize City at night, it has a reputation for serious crime.... Belize lies at the edge of the hurricane belt....

For full reviews of the following Belize destinations, see:

Blackbird Caye Resort - Turneffe Islands, Undercurrent- January 1998

Jaguar Reef Lodge Mainland, Undercurrent- July 1997

Rum Point Inn Placencia, In Depth- April 1995

Belize Aggressor III/Aggressor,December 1999, Dr. Sam Pearlstein, Fayetteville, NY. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 78-81 degrees. Restrictions: 130 ft. No time constraints. Third live-aboard. They would lead dive if asked. Allowed divers their own profile after checkout. Cold front moved in so dived the eastern sides of Turneffe Island and Lighthouse Reef. Frank felt we missed some of the best sites on Turneffe but the sun came out later in the week and Lighthouse Reef was more rewarding. Nice, Caribbean reefs recovering from bleaching. Best critters at night. Whitespotted toadfish, purple tunicates, lots of barracuda, octopus, crabs, lobster, morays, scorpionfish, yellowhead jawfish, large loggerhead turtles, spotted eagle rays and 6' manta ray. For meals and snacks Chef Julia kept us happy and full. Barbara kept our rooms neat and clean. Plenty of room in cabin 7. Shower, head and sink in each cabin. Plenty of fresh water. Beer, wine and liquor included in package. Boat in excellent shape. Hot tub out of order. Had to be off boat early n Saturday morning, so we lounged around nice hotel pool where boat was docked. ( AggressorFleet: Ph: 800-348-2628 or 504-385-2628; Fax: 504-384-0817; e-mail: info@aggressor.com;website www.aggressor.com)

Belize Aggressor III,February 1999, Jim Perez, Selah, WA. Vis: 70-80 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Sunny. Water: calm. Restrictions: 130 ft, 500 psi, no diving after drinking, computer profile. Hour and 1/2 wait to be picked up at airport. Excellent service and accommodations. Inflatable hot tub broken and sorely missed. Flora and fauna good, but disappointing after Palau. Daytime armed robbery witnessed on road to airport.

Belize Aggressor III,July 1999, Ken Moore, Alvin, TX. Vis: 60-150 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Restrictions: 100 ft. only recommended. First class operation. Great reefs, great fish, good visibility. Crew excellent, helpful. Food excellent. Accommodations small but nice. Private shower and toilet. VCR/TV in every stateroom.

Belize Aggressor III,September 1999, Beth Carey (bcarey@interport.net), NYC. Vis: 50-150 ft. Water: 85 degrees. Sunny, no currents. Restrictions: no reverse profile diving. No diving w/a bloody nose. More fish than I'd expected, lots more than in Cozumel. Got close to turtles twice, large groupers several times, a grouper that liked to be petted, 6' green moray lying on top of rocks at sun up, several sting rays, 3 dolphins swam next to boat. Night dives fun. Tarpon were huge and swam close. Saw 2 sea wasps but no one got stung. Super A-rating to dive deck and protocol clean, safe, and organized. Need a special place for people to put their glasses near the ladder. I had to leave mine (which I can't see without) on the deck next to spare weights. Crew kept track of dive profiles and didn't mind if I dove solo (I had a cold part of the week and could not go deep) as long as I stayed close to the boat. Cabin rooms and beds were cozy, comfortable (awesome a/c) and clean. Tv/VCR in each room and lots of movies. Crew photographer took pics of everyone under water and gave us the slides. As nice as crew members were some were burnt out. Two staff members, both Belizeans made the trip great. Food OK to not-that-great, and lot of fattening junk food. Lack of good vegetarian food though two of us requested it. Toilet/shower rooms in the cabins need renovation smelly. Deck head was plain grotty. Coral spawning season resulted in poor viz in places, but overall the viz was fine. Radisson, Belize city clean, nice, safe. Jaguar Paw Jungle Lodge took day trip hike in the jungle and tube in underground rivers. Jungle was beautiful and no mosquitoes. Cave tubing adventurous but felt safe. Lodge is run by Americans who know what they are doing. Rooms are luxurious and comfortable and a/c'ed. Restaurant's food was enjoyable beyond description after eating boat food. (http://www.jaguarpaw.com)

S/V Mondrian,December 1998, Steve Neal, Fairfield, TX. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees. Restrictions: Deepest dive earliest. Hour time limit, 12 dives were 60' or deeper. 18 dives possible. Cheaper than Wave DancerorAggressor.. Blue Hole 145' dive. Some went to 160'. Saw four sharks in Blue Hole. Good viz all week. One day rain and it was not bad. Only two night dives during week and two twilight dives. Head divemaster didn't know sites well. Hero was Tony, local Belizean who dived to help two divemasters. Saw eagle rays several dives, amorous turtle tried to bite a diver (unprovoked). Saw remora on Queen Trigger, Dog Snapper, Barracuda. Some sand but coral in good shape. Cook out and visit red footed Boobies on Half Moon Cay. (Fax 011-501-2-33444; e-mail: greathouse@btl.net)

Wave Dancer,July 1998, John & Patty Turbeville, Bradenton, FL. Vis: 100-110 ft. Water: 85-87 degrees. Restrictions: 100'. computers helped lessen restrictions. Nice, but not as nice as other Peter Hughes' boats. Diving was terrific! Sharks! Fish!

Wave Dancer,August 1998, Sarah Saville (sas99@gte.net), Lexington, KY. Vis: 80-90 ft. Water: 75-78 degrees. Sunny, water calm. no solo diving. Large camera table, charging station. Advertised camera units for rental, though I was unable to obtain one. Large rinse tank for cameras. I enjoyed the diving, lots to see, coral healthy and colorful. Everywhere you looked there was fish. A sizable eagle ray swam by. A pod of 6-8 dolphins swam along the wall 20 feet beneath us during one dive. We could hear them echolocating. En suite showers, towels fluffy, salon snug. Food was great, especially dinner. Sharon is an awesome chef!

Wave Dancer,October 1998, Dick & Juli Gamble, San Diego, CA. Fourth time on this Dancer,eighth time with Peter Hughes. We enjoyed diving at Turneffe Reef, but the weather was rough that night as we motored out to Lighthouse Reef. The next morning Captain Chris Young had to search for a quiet dive site, then announced his faxed weather report showed the center of hurricane "Mitch" was 150 miles south and heading toward us. We had to disrupt our vacation to get out of its path ASAP! They instructed him to get all passengers off in Belize City and take the boat to nearest hurricane hole, 60 miles south. No hotels open, no flights available, and the Gov. of Belize ordered all coastal cities and islanders to evacuate, so we stayed with the boat. They let off some crew to stay with their families, but Chris, his wife Kim, Steve Young (Belizean, great divemaster) and Cindy, divemaster, stayed. 5-hour trip 60 miles south to a hurricane hole upstream in narrow Big Creek to tie down in a mangrove swamp. Captain had experience with hurricanes in the South Pacific, which gave us some confidence. We had food, water, beer and our comfortable cabin (with the picture window taped to minimize flying debris). We were in company with the Aggressorand other boats. Saw the 282 ft ill fated "Fantome" leaving Belize City ahead of us. But we just muddy water from the river. We didn't even have any swell. Hurricane stalled 150 miles south of us, so we stayed on the boat eating, reading, sleeping, drinking, watching VCR movies and waiting. Chris gave us information as often as he could and crew made us feel prepared. After 4 days, with Mitch downgraded to a tropical storm, the Captain made a run back to Belize City, 7 hours of ploughing through the rough seas. Got a ride to the airport the next morning through the river flood and storm wave surge, to wait and pour sweat in the tropic heat for 6 hours for a plane to arrive. We received a letter from Peter Hughes (after some correspondence between us divers), who offered to make up for our wasted dive week at some future return date. First class company in both pleasant and dangerous conditions.

Wave Dancer,December 1998, Donna Tate, Las Cruces, NM. Vis: 40-100 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Depth limits because diving Nitrox. Excellent trip booked thru Tropical Adventures in Seattle. 18 divers. Good group. Service is the key. Did a night dive at midnight on New Years eve. Brought 1999 in underwater. A glass of bubbly awaited us when we were back aboard. We asked early in the trip if it would be possible to bring the new year in under water. They immediately accepted the idea.

Wave Dancer,December 1998, Jim Virgil, Coeur D'Alene, ID. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Restrictions: 130 ft. Cloudy and windy (30-40 knots). Captain tried to get us to different spots but weather wouldn't cooperate. Dove the same wall for a week. Boat and crew were great, but weather ruined trip.

Wave Dancer,March 1999, Shirley LaMear, Pacific, MO. Vis: 70-8O ft. Restrictions: 1 drink - you're done. Wonderful week of diving with great friends and accommodating crew. Staterooms were nicely decorated. Warm towels after a night dive. After one week of diving we disembarked and left our dive gear at the Radisson and went on a shore excursion for 4 days, Staying at Blancaneaux (Francis Food Coppola's resort in the mountains), and traveling into Guatemala to see Mayan ruins (take a guide) and another night at Mountain Equestrian for the riders. We loved Belize. At some lodges we had no electricity and took Kerosene lamps to our rooms at night. We swam in clear rivers and under waterfalls. Saw monkeys, tapir and jaguar tracks, rainforests and evergreen forests that reminded me of Georgia, red clay and all. Interesting day at Ian Anderson's Caves Branch expedition, floating in inner tubes with miner's hats on into a huge cave and exploring Mayan religious sites inside.

Wave Dancer,March 1999, Lauren Henderson (scuba-lauren@worldnet.att.net), San Antonio, TX. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Great food and bar, staff friendly, accommodating. Loved the sundeck; private heads and showers in rooms. Slide presentations interesting. Took Nitrox course. Kim Young did a great job. Afternoon at Half Moon Cay nice. Leisurely diving, warm calm water, lots of critters!

Wave Dancer,May 1999, Patrick Donaldson, Darien, IL. Vis: 80 ft. Water: 84 degrees. Outstanding crew, great walls and reefs. Nothing big! No eagle or manta rays, no sharks. Boat is showing wear. Wallpaper coming off, floor and ceiling tile loose. Bilge pump failed; 2 compressors had to be repaired next to divers suiting up. Oil everywhere! The boat and mechanical systems need help. Crew was the best! Food could have been better.

Wave Dancer,August 1999, Michael Monarchi, Houston, TX. Vis: 40-50 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Rules: no deco diving, back on board with 500 psi, but no one checked. All sorts of gunk in the water reduced visibility. No currents. Few Pelagics only saw 3 eagle rays. I've been to Belize before, so I know it can be better. Soft corals, especially sponges, outstanding. Crew works hard. Boat is comfortable, but old, and equipment suffered breakdowns. Dive operation good, but briefings were not as good as other live-aboards I've been on (eight); not much detail on what to see and where to find it. Good week. Crew and fellow passengers made it most enjoyable.

Wave Dancer,August 1999, Chris Rex, Carmichael, CA. Vis: 50-70 ft. Restrictions: 130 ft. Went to sites all week within a limited area (Half Moon Cay, Long Cay, only 2 dives at Turneffe). I see the advantage of a live-aboard being that you can go to the best sites and have variety. That didn't seem to be the case. The last night found out there had been a death onboard the previous week and that probably made the crew unwilling to go any where out of their absolute safety zone. Who knows?

Wave Dancer,September 1999, Wayne Leonard, San Francisco, CA. Vis: 30-50 ft. Water: 87 degrees. Great live-aboard experience. Crew was excellent. Would have liked more variety in dive sites, but diving was excellent.

Wind Dancer,August 1999, David and Pat Orr, Warrington, PA. Vis: 40-70 ft. Water: 81-84 degrees. Would have liked to know which rooms were larger when we booked so we could have chosen one. Had a great encounter with two mantas doing loop-d-loops in front of me. Then an over aggressive diver swam at them to get a photo and they left. Some people just cannot wait and let the fish come to you. Squadron of seven eagle rays with a school of four black tip reef sharks 20 feet below after the eagle rays glided by. Boat and crew were great, helpful. Camera table was crowded with cameras and rinse tank was small. Mike was very helpful with problems. Food well done; wine with dinner . . . Only bad note was the only beer they had was Budweiser, if you can call that beer. We do like a beer at the end of our dive day but Bud is not it. (Eds. note: amen). Last thing was the baggage charge that Turks air rips you off for. They know everyone who comes is a diver and 45 lbs. does not work. First time we ever got charged for extra lbs. (Peter Hughes Diving, Inc.; Phone 800-669-9391 or 800-932-6237; Fax 305-669-9475; e-mail dancer@peterhughes.com; website www.peterhughes.com)