And Under The Belizean Sea We Go

Today marks my first three dives under the waters of the Belizean reef system… The barrier reef here is the second largest in the world behind the great barrier reef in Australia. And what a day it was. Full of fish, fun and new friends.

The dives themselves while enjoyable were not the most magnificent I’ve seen but they were definitely excellent. We saw:

• Nurse Sharks
• Lion Fish
• Moray Eel
• Angel Fish
• Tobacco Fish
• Spotted Grouper
• Cleaner Shrimp

and more….

So I woke up at 6am and had to start putting together my camera system.. strobes, lenses, housing, batteries, etc. Which frankly took me more than 45 minutes. It’s a lot of crap! But I get it all together and get down to the docks and we meet up with Jeff and his dad Leo, Barb and Blaine, and Deron (D-ron) our captain and our faithful leader James the divemaster.

Its a gorgeous day, partly cloudy, 15 knots of breeze, 3 ft seas and life is good. So we motor out to our first location, suit up, get in the water and start our descent for our first dive. Well the scenery is amazing right off the bat. Fantastic soft corals, tons of tropical fish and off we go. Well, I have to admit, having been two years since my last dive with my camera system, I was very eager to take pictures of just about everything. Thus, air consumption becomes an issue. Trying to positing myself for the right shot, twisting and thrusting my body about… well I become the air sucker in the group. I get some great shots but after 46 minutes on the bottom I’m at my reserve air and up I have to come. The rest of the group stays down for about another 15 mintues.

On the surface, I catch up with Ashley, she decided that diving wasn’t her gig, Deron and then the rest of the crew comes up. Back to the docks… a dip in the 200ft pool.. and then back to the boat. Out to the second dive location. More of the same but still an incredible dive. Again I’m the first one up out of air but frankly I’m not too concerned as I enjoyed every minute and had a great dive.

After this dive its back to the docks again, and I take a quick 30 minute nap before our lunch of Chicken Cordon Bleu. Then back to the boat, for our final dive of the day back to dive site number one to try and find Barb’s weight pocket that she lost somewhere today. We see a lot of the same stuff on this dive as we did in the morning but it is still beautiful. I’m also getting reacquainted with diving with my camera and only come up about 5 minutes ahead of the rest of the dive group at about at 58 minute dive.

After the dive its back to the docks, fill up on a mug of Captain Morgan’s Private Select rum bought at duty free and a download of pictures to the PC while I nap. Finally down to dinner for a buffet of pork chops and gravy, mashed potatoes, and rolls and butter.

After dinner we have cocktails with our bartender Oscar, exchanging pictures of family and friends, wives and ex-wives. But definitely the highlight of this portion of the evening is teaching Oscar the Shitlero. Yes it has now migrated from The Dominican, to Barbados, to St. Croix, to St. Thomas and now to Belize. Soon you will be able to order at bar near you without having to explain the drink.

After cocktails Ashley and I retire to the balcony for more of the “Book of Questions” additional cocktails and great conversation. Now as I sit here struggling to stay awake I’ll upload some photos and then be on my way to bed.

More Tomorrow 🙂

Bill & Ashley