snorkeling

by

Half-moon Caye and the Blue Hole.

Easton and I were still sitting at the bar having beers when one of the dive boats arrived to disgorge a dozen or so exhausted looking divers. Amongst them was a tall black man that the cook identified as the manager and head dive master. With a female companion, he found a table near the bar.  I marched over to introduce myself then explained what we were doing there while expressing my appreciation for the help his staff had provided while making my pump repairs.

Long Caye

 He seemed pleasant enough but was more focused on the young lady in his company than what I had to say.  In a few days’ time, I would learn that her name was Susan and was a diver from Montreal and here for a week. I tried to pick the managers brains about some of the better dive spots on the atoll, but he was not too talkative, to me anyways. Shaking his hand I then returned to my own table.

Earlier Easton had expressed an interest in learning how to scuba dive so he could dive with me when we reached the blue hole. I had heard the resort offered an intense, 4 day certification program which would work for Easton. I suggested that he talk with the manager about taking a dive course, which he did.

While Easton talked to the manager, I took my beer for a walk down the beach and the resort’s remarkable waterfront. As I passed a series of two story cabins or bunkhouses, I noticed that the upper stories all sported an outside deck with empty mesh hammocks swinging in the breeze. No one seemed to be around so I took the stairs of one of the cabanas with the intent of taking some photos of the lagoon and Maiatla beyond. As I took pictures, I heard someone emerge from the door behind me. Thinking I was about to be admonished for trespassing, I prepared to plead my case as a lost and ignorant tourist.

The bar at the resort

His name was Roberto, a native Belizean who turned out to not only be a pleasant fellow, but a wealth of information on diving the Blue Hole, and did not hesitate to share his knowledge.   He asked me about how I knew of the Blue Hole as I was from Canada. I told him that as a kid, I saw the TV documentary of Jacque Cousteau taking his exploration ship, the Calypso into the hole and dive it with his mini sub. Roberto’s face lit up. He went on to tell me that he was there! At first, I thought it was just a boastful claim, but he went on to explain that his father guided Cousteau’s ship through the labyrinth of coral into the hole where the ship moored for a few days.

“I was only 8 years old but my father took me along!” Roberto proudly declared. We talked of his experience and by the time he finished his story, I could not doubt his sincerity. I pointed out to Maiatla swinging peacefully at anchor off in the lagoon.

The deck where I met Roberto, Child guide for Cousteau

“Do you think I can get my boat through the reefs and into the hole?”  Roberto did not hesitate. “Yes sure, no problem just do it when the sun is high and behind you”.

We talked a few minutes more about the way in, then I departed. I regret that I did not have the forethought to take the man’s picture. I found Easton, sitting in an Adirondack style chair, looking a bit downcast as he stared out to sea.

“So kid what did the dive master have to say? Is there a course you can take?”

Without much enthusiasm he answered. “Yes, a four day course but I wouldn’t take a course from that asshole!” I was surprised by my Nephew’s response. I probed him for an explanation.

 “Well first off, he seemed upset that I was trying to talk to him when he was with that girl, and he was talking big, bragging about all the diving that he’s done, think he’s trying to get laid!” Easton added. ”

I had to chuckle to myself because I had the same thought when I was talking to the pair.

 “I told him I would want a course right away as my uncle and I were taking your boat out to the Blue Hole to dive.” When he heard that he laughed and said that you were crazy if you thought you could get the boat into the hole! He then said “I have made a lot of money off of people like your uncle who crash on the reefs and need saving!”

Anchored well offshore of Halfmoon Caye. bare 2 meters of water. Inches under the keel.

After hearing all this, Easton’s use of “asshole” seemed to appropriate.

“Well I guess he just lost a paying customer, screw him, let’s go back to the boat kid.”

 As we marched down the dock, Easton hesitantly asked,

“Can you really get the boat into the Blue Hole Uncle Andy?” Yes sure kid no problem.” I said confidently. “When we come back in a few days we will stop here for a beer and to tell that dick how much we enjoyed diving the hole.”

Funny thing was that if Easton had asked this question the day before, my answer would have contained words like “maybe and try” but after talking to Roberto up on the deck, I was filled with optimism and I was excited about the prospects of the following days. 

In the morning, we sailed across the lagoon to Half-Moon Caye where there was a range’s station, it was there we would have to buy a park permit before heading out to the hole. Half Moon Caye is located at the southeast corner of Lighthouse  Atoll and was the first nature reserve to have been established in Belize under the National Park Systems Act in 1981 and first Marine protected area in Central America. This is also Belize’s oldest site of wildlife protection since it was first designated as a bird sanctuary in 1924 to protect the habitat of the Red Footed Booby birds. The island has an expansive sand beach and dense mangroves crisscrossed with trails taking you deep into Bobby nesting country.  

The Dock at Halfmoon Caye

The approach to the Caye is very shallow, forcing us to anchor over half a mile from shore with only inches under the keel. The island itself is spectacular, enticing you to stay for a few days to explore, but that was not our intent, not this time anyway. We would only spend a few hours ashore, wandering, but only after we purchased a two day permit to anchor out at the Blue Hole for $60 Belize dollars per day. ($30 USD).

There were only a hand full of other tourist on the island so we pretty much had the place to ourselves as we hiked to the far western most point for a swim.

Beach at Halfmoon Caye with our dink on the beach.

I planned a snaking route through the coral using Navionics. Water depths varied from 2 to 5 meters with countless bommies lurking just below the surface. Striking the reef would be disastrous, as fines for doing so are horrendous. I met a cruiser at Nana Juana marina last year who ran aground and had to be pulled off by the Belizean Coastguard. His boat was impounded and he was forbidden to leave the country until he paid$50,000 USD fine. After months of negotiations he finally agreed to pay $19,000 USD. Despite being in the custody of the Coastguard at their privet docks, most things of value had been stripped from the boat. The cruiser vowed to never go to Belize again.

The general consensus of most cruisers is that if you run aground, never call for help, get yourself off and if your boat is going to be a total loss, grab what you can and fly out of the country as fast as you can. This was also my plan.

Maiatla’ s route through the Bommie mine field to the Blue Hole.
Final approach into the Blue Hole.

By 10am the following day we haul anchor and entered the expansive reef system. The sun was to my right and over my shoulder, the intense sun caused the sand patches to glow in stark contrast to the browns and greens of the coral heads.  I was nervous but by all accounts it went well and by noon we had found our way into the Great Blue Hole, securing to one of two mooring balls located within the hole. The park ranger told me about the balls which he recommended we tie. The moorings belonged to a liveaboard dive boat, the Aggressor which visits the hole something like twice a week. It was a great mooring with a line as thick as my right arm. Once secured, I was confident that we were not going anywhere.

At the Mooring inside the blue Hole- tick one off the bucket List.

Our bow hovered 3 meters above a beautiful sand bottom with our stern peaking over the brim of the hole with the bottom some 150 meters below. We had hardly settled in when a sea turtle came for a visit, Easton and I quickly donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in to greet the friendly beast.

Location of our mooring ball.

We spent the following 2 days with the place all to ourselves, snorkeling around the perimeter of the Blue Hole. The marine life and coral was magnificent and I was surprise to see much of the coral brim came within inches from breaching the surface, a condition preventing us from swimming overtop of large sections of the reef.  I never did break out the scuba tanks as I was content on free diving. Besides, deep diving into the hole solo would have been a bit fool hardy. We could see several sharks cruising the depth but they never did come too close.

A friendly turtle came to visit.

We had a grand time and could have stayed longer but on the morning of our 3rd day, I spotted a large vessel heading our way. It was the Aggressor what meant we had to move. We quickly dropped the mooring lines and exited the hole to attempt to anchor outside the rim in 5 meters of water. The wind had been building all morning creating whitecaps across the lagoon. I attempted to anchor but without luck. The bottom consisted of a thin layer of sand overtop a dead coral base. Poor holding and after three attempts, I decided not to risk dragging anchor and finishing up on the reef that lay a few hundred meters behind us. It was time to go.

Corals of the rim of the blue hole

I followed my old GPS course coming in. Now feeling confident in my course, I had Easton unfurl the headsail and sheet it in putting us on a fast broad reach. It was a spectacular way to depart the Great Blue Hole. I vowed to return next year and use the scuba gear to probe the depths.

We anchored back of the Dive resort for beers and to use the internet to tell our families of our triumphant return to civilization. Easton received some measure of satisfaction telling the dive master of his snorkeling adventures in the Blue Hole. While Easton went for more beers, I noticed Susan, the lady from Montreal sitting alone at a nearby table. I went over to say hello. I guessed that she was in her late 30s and I was surprised to hear that she was traveling alone. She had been diving daily out of the resort but she had not done the Blue hole. A shame considering that she was so close. Like us, she would be leaving the Atoll in the morning. We moved Maiatla out of the lagoon to find a quiet anchorage on the west side of long Caye where we found several lobsters that accepted Easton’s invite for diner.

Diner time!
by

Cucumber Marina and through the Great Barrier Reef.

June 1st. 2023

Cucumber Marina was a surprise as it was a well-kept marina with full facilities including haul out and it was a short cab ride to Old Belize with good shopping. The added bonus was the destination theme park on site. Right next to Maiatla was a intentionally rustic looking building housing a gift shop as well as a miniature train that could take you on a historic ride through displays depicting the history of Belize. Beyond the well-stocked gift shop, covered by a barn-style roof was an open air food court and bar with tables that could accommodate a couple of hundred People.

 From anywhere within the court you had a grand view of a man-made tropical lagoon complete with a with sand beach, real palm trees, giant floaty toys and a massive waterslide. All managed by what we would come to learn was a friendly staff and the best part was that the theme park admission was included in our docking fee of $1 USD per foot per night.

A Great deal and one Easton and I took full advantage. When we first arrived there were perhaps a dozen or so families, not a massive crowd by any stretch of the imagination and I wondered how they could survive with so few patrons, but I learned the answer early on the second day when three busses full of school children arrived to take in the park, then in the afternoon a second wave of revelers arrived which apparently came from one of the three cruise ships that arrived this day.

By 5 pm the crowds dispersed so Easton and I once again claimed the whole place as our own, we bathed in the solitude, with the only other guests being the scores of iguanas patrolling the docks. We made a trip into town to purchase a new alternator for Maiatla as the old one was acting up. Our cabbie took us on a little tour of Old Belize city in an effort to locate an ATM. The buildings were obviously of the British colonially era all in various states of disrepair. I was surprised to see many of what the cabbie told me were homeless people, a condition brought on by a rampant drug problems. As we drove along he pointed to an emaciated old man leaning against a lamp post. “That fellow there”, our cabbie stated, he was my high school principal but he got into crack- cocaine. To look at him it was hard to imagine that the dirty withered up old man was once a respected professional within the community.

The cabbie needlessly went on to say that we didn’t want to be in this part of town at night.

I saw a travel warning which read: “Violent crime is also a major concern elsewhere in the country, including in Belmopan. Belize has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world.

Drug and human trafficking, organized crime and street gang activity is prevalent. Violent incidents are frequent, including: murders, armed robberies home invasions, muggings sexual assaults.

This notice applies to many of the Central American counties and after being chased by Pirates off the coast of Honduras, I am very well aware of these facts. For those who missed the Pirate post, see December 2019. Being ever vigilant is the key. But here in Belize, the safest place to be is on a cruise ship, a resort or offshore in the islands, which is where we were about to head.

After two days at the dock it was time to head out, but not before taking on some more fuel. We had been doing more motoring then I had originally thought so I decided to suck it up and fill the tanks.

Cucumber Marina Looking seaward with the fuel dock to the left.

We again muddied the waters as Maiatla plowed her way through the mire before reaching open water. The Blue Hole was only 40 miles away as Boobie bends a wing, but we would have to weave our way through over 8 miles of the barrier reef and then around a large atoll that was still in the way, so we will take two days to make the trip. It was a beautiful but windless morning as we motored out past three cruise ships headed in to disgorge its passengers for another day of site seeing.

 The channel through the barrier reef is well marked and wide so we had little difficulty. It was a bit deceptive as to look around all you see is ocean with little indication that if you happen to water off course you would slam into an unseen reef. We weren’t the only ones in the channel heading out to see as we were joined by a pod of dolphins who came by to say hello.

By noon we had successfully navigated the reefs to sail off into the open ocean. The wind filled in from the east so it was a great sail out to Turneef Atoll which in its own right was reported to be one of the best dive sites in Belize, we are about to see for ourselves as we plan to find a place to anchor for the night and do some snorkeling.

Turneef Atoll is a national park which is 27 miles long by 10 miles wide and virtually anywhere around the island would be a great place to dive. I chose an anchorage on the southernmost tip, where there is an abandoned lighthouse and a small ranger station ashore.

We found good holding in 10 feet of water and we soon had our gear on and hit the water. There was a coral reef that extends off the point which proved to be incredible. The water temperature was 28C so a wetsuit was not necessary, but I would always ware one to protect my skin from cuts from the sharp coral. We even had a curious nurse shark that hung about. We worked our way around the point where we discovered, thermals spilling into the sea. The water became hazy as hot fresh water mixed with the cooler salt water of the sea. I do not know how hot the water became but it was so hot that it was very uncomfortable so we moved further offshore to cooler temperatures. We would make two sets of dives off the reefs as well as take a high-speed dinghy ride past the ranger station up into the mangroves and lagoon. We met a couple of ranges in a boat coming out of the lagoon, the cheery chaps invited us to the station to use their internet to check emails and the weather reports.

It was a beautiful collection of tiny islands connected by mangrove trees with cannels leading off in all directions. There were several abandoned fishing camps which were fun to explore. I wish we could have stayed a month on Turneef, but the prospect of my bond being seized if we overstayed our welcome was now looming large. The following morning we up anchored and set our sights on Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole which was now just 15 miles away.