Diving in Belize
Trip Start
Jan 05, 2005
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Trip End
Feb 24, 2005
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Glover's Reef, Belize
Thursday, January 13, 2005
I was then met at the Riverside Cafe dock in Dangriga by my hosts for the week - Jim and Kendra Schofield from the Off The Wall Dive Center and Resort on Glover's Reef (www.offthewallbelize.com). To get there involved taking a 35-mile journey across the open seas aboard a 28-foot open-topped boat. 2 hours after departing Dangriga, I spotted Glover's Reef Atoll in the distance.
As we approached, I could make out the handful of buildings on the island, the beautiful white sandy beaches and the swaying palm trees. This truly was my image of a desert island. On arrival, I was introduced to the resort staff - Annette (the cook), Elmar (the divemaster), Bev (my diving instructor for the PADI Advanced course I was going to do), Junior (the boat captain) and Cleo and Stinky (the cats). I was then shown to my 'house' which comprised a simple bedroom and a veranda with a hammock for chilling out. It had uninterupted views of the ocean and was perfect in every way. I was also shown the other facilities including the open-air rainwater shower, the dining cabanna, and the communal area where everyone chills with a cold beer when the sun goes down. When the sun goes down, all lighting is provided by candles and oil lamps which adds to the desert island castaway atmosphere.
Off the Wall Dive Center is perfectly located for some amazing dives and Long Caye Wall is one of the top dive sites in the world. Over the next six days, I did 11 dives, including 6 PADI Advanced dives. I was struck by the beauty of the coral structures and the fish which swam among them. The coral included sea fans and sea plumes which flutter gently in the water during the gentle surges and other more-structured corals such as the dome-shaped brain corals which have very intricate patterns of ridges and valleys. The colours ranged from firey red, to pale purple, to lime green and everything else in-between. The fish I saw included the many varieties of multi-coloured parrot fish, scorpion fish which look like the stoney-coral on which they rest, massive Groupers, fantastically coloured angel fish and the long, sleek barracuda. I also saw a few hawksbill turtles, many lobsters and schoals of wrasse.
Among the dives I did, I did 1 night dive which was really amazing. I also did 2 dives to over 100 feet depth and a number of dives for my PADI Advanced course (Multi-Level, Underwater Navigation, Deep, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy and Fish Identification). Over the course of the week, my diving progressed so much - my buoyancy control came on in leaps and bounds and my air consumption rates fell dramatically which meant I could enjoy longer dives.
In between all this diving, I also did some kayaking, snorkelling and dozing on my hammock. And of course, I also enjoyed Annette's wonderful cooking, with the highlight being the lobster and shrimp barbecue on the final night.
Today I am back in Belize City for my flight to Flores in Guatemala, where the next part of my adventure begins.
