Diving the Blue Hole
March 18, 2008
Wow! The Blue Hole was awesome! I went with Aqua Dive Shop, who came from Ambergris Caye and picked up more divers at Caye Caulker. We dove to 130 ft for about 8 minutes, then came up to 60 ft for another 20 minutes or so. At 130 ft, there was not a lot of wildlife. The main attraction is the stalactite formations. At one time, this was a cave, until the roof fell in. Some of the stalactites were as much as 7 or 8 feet in circumference! I could clearly see the walls of the cave (although my flashlight came in handy). When looking down, though, there was a line where the walls were, but just a blank blue circle in the center. The Blue Hole is over 400 feet deep! We saw grouper (huge!) and a couple of gray caribbean reef sharks. These were all near the anchor point, on a sand shelf aout 25 feet down. From the boat, it is possible to take in the circular edges of the cave, which is only about 100 feet across. We also dove along the barrier reef (the second longest in the world), at two different places: the Aquarium and Eagle Ray. Spectacular diving. Fish school all around the divers, there are tons of coral formations and colorful tunicates. There was a turtle sitting on the coral wall, and a lobster in a nook. I even saw fish swim in and out of anemones! Some people on the dive saw a hammerhead shark, too.
The trip out to the Blue Hole was quite a ride, though. The swells were huge, and it took an extra hour (3 total) to reach the site. A lot of the people on the boat got sick at one point or another (and it was a pretty big ship). I was lucky - I didn't get nauseous, and I spent most of the trip talking to one of the dive masters, David, a native of Ambergris Caye.
Superb trip. Absolutely spectacular.
The trip out to the Blue Hole was quite a ride, though. The swells were huge, and it took an extra hour (3 total) to reach the site. A lot of the people on the boat got sick at one point or another (and it was a pretty big ship). I was lucky - I didn't get nauseous, and I spent most of the trip talking to one of the dive masters, David, a native of Ambergris Caye.
Superb trip. Absolutely spectacular.
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Nice little restaurant with good seafood choices
I was pretty tired after the Blue Hole dive trip (12 hours either on the boat or in the water!), but the food here seemed pretty good. The fare seems to favor the Caribbean style with a few other types of dishes thrown in (like french onion soup for an appetizer). I had a fish fillet with tomatoes and peppers in a white sauce. It was very good! Shrimp and chicken dishes also got the thumbs up. The appetizers and desserts looked delicious, but we were just too full! The menu also features a pretty decent wine selection.
The venue itself is small, with most of the seating on a very nice outdoor patio. If the wind picks up, the patio is covered, so your dinner isn't blowing around but it's still airy and pleasant. The building and furnishings are dark, finished wood. A great little place, island comfort with a touch of class.
The venue itself is small, with most of the seating on a very nice outdoor patio. If the wind picks up, the patio is covered, so your dinner isn't blowing around but it's still airy and pleasant. The building and furnishings are dark, finished wood. A great little place, island comfort with a touch of class.
Book Scuba, Snorkeling and Tours
I booked my Blue Hole dive trip through Tsunami Tours. It's a small shop on the north end of Front Street, near the Split. They are essentially booking agents, scheduling customers through other dive shops and companies. The advantage of this is increased flexibility - each dive shop decides on a day to day basis whether they will make trips to the Blue Hole, Shark Ray Alley, Hol Chan, etc. By booking through Tsunami, they may have access to a wider range of dive shops so you can book trips for the days you want. They also book through shops on Ambergris Caye, which will swing by Caye Caulker to pick up customers. What's more, the prices are relatively uniform across a range of shops, so you don't have to worry about bargain hunting.
