Cruisin' V: Scuba Diving in Belize City, Belize

Overnight our ship cruised a short distance down the Yucatan Peninsula to reach Belize City, Belize. The country of Belize became independent from Britain only a short time ago, 1981. As such, it is quite a young country and appears to still be getting to its feet. Tourism is far and away the greatest source of income and a good portion of that industry takes advantage of the nation's beautiful beaches and spectacular marine treasures. One particularly well-known treasure is the Great Blue Hole, which, based on the picture on the link, is rather aptly named. Over 400 feet deep with much of the water inky black due to lack of sunlight, divers looking for real adventure head to Belize. Amateur divers like us, however, stick to the shallow reefs.

Having taken a scuba class at UNC my senior year, I've been pining for the chance to don a BCD (buoyancy control device), some fins, my mask, and play around underwater. When Sachi listed the possible excursions for the cruise, the one thing I insisted on was scuba diving. She made it happen. We arose earlier than usual after arriving in port, donned our swimsuits, and headed to the dive shop. A group of both experienced divers (as evidenced by their gear) and novices gathered and then got onto a smaller speedish boat right from the cruise ship. At an appreciable clip we pulled away from the Navigator and headed to an island scuba training camp. You really get a sense of how large the ship is when seeing it adrift at sea accompanied by a few other behemoths.

On the island we took a brief dive class where we signed our life away (oh liability forms), swore we were in perfect health, watched a video, and then boarded another boat. We reached a small sandbar where we donned our gear and practiced skills essential to get diving permission: 1) remove and replace the regulator (breathing apparatus), 2) remove own regulator, breath from buddy's reg, then replace buddy's with own reg (how to share air in an emergency, and 3) allow water to fill the mask and then clear it (very useful skill). Maybe there was another but I can't remember it. In any case, all but two of the ~20 divers passed (including all of us). Next stop, the reef!

The reef started at a depth of about 30 feet and extended another 10 feet down to the bottom, so our total depth was around 40 feet. Although the waves were quite choppy and it even rained for a little while, the sun was out and the water looked gorgeous. Far more beautiful, though, was the sight that first greeted my eyes when I jumped in. Aquamarine water with incredible visibility with greens and darker hues near the coral and plant life. I was the first of our group (us three + a UW undergrad we sort of befriended) to hit the water, so I hung out by a buoy until the rest jumped in. Their technique could have been better, especially concerning the mask. The trick is to hold it against your forehead with the heel of your palm when jumping in so that it doesn't get moved or even ripped off your head. Oh well, everyone made it in fine. We followed the guideline down slowly, equalizing pressure often. I felt like that last year and half hadn't even passed, it was so easy. We cruised around the reef and I managed to achieve neutral buoyancy which was my favorite skill to practice at school. The dive lasted about 30 minutes but it felt so much shorter. It was a thrill to move through the water with so little effort and be so close to plant and animal life otherwise inaccessible. Our poor friend had some trouble and had to surface early. Saket was next to leave and ended up a little low on air (breathing too fast!). I was last up and sad to go.

There were snacks and drinks on the boat, and we soon headed back to island. We grabbed a "lunch" of chips and salsa, then waited for the boat to take us back to our ship. It was early afternoon by the time we returned, so we met up with our parents, showered, then relaxed for a while before wandering a bit then eating dinner. After dinner we watched another fun song-and-dance show, then it was off to bed early. I can't wait to go diving again!