Trip Report of our Belize vacation

Aragorn · 02-27-2002, 11:54 AM

Wow! I don't know where to begin. How does one describe SCUBA diving on the largest Barrier Reef in the Northern Hemisphere? Not to mention the personalized and friendly service one recieves at Gaz Cooper's Playa Blanca Resort? Now that I've recovered from the flight back(got in at 4AM yesterday and had to go to work), I'll try. Here goes.

We arrived on Ambergris Caye at 6PM on the 14th. Believe it not the owner himself, Gaz Cooper, was at the airport to greet us! We got a short tour of the town of San Pedro, did a little grocery shopping, and were promptly "whisked off" by boat to Playa Blanca on the beach 5 miles north of town. For the next 10 days we did nothing but SCUBA dive on the Barrier Reef. 2 tank dives per day that were incredible! 3 of us, my wife Jemma, my son Christian, and I got our Advanced certification while we were there(dove to 117ft!!). The diving was superb! We logged 16 each in total to various locations. Hol Chan, Love Tunnels, M&M caverns, Mexico Rocks, Renegade, Cypress Gardens to name a few. We saw dolphins, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Eagle Rays, beautiful Angels, Triggers, Pseudochromis, Groupers, Barracudas, soft corals galore, Gorgonians etc. The reef itself was riddled with big, deep canyons that started at 50-60ft and bottomed out at 80-120ft! Awesome walls, caverns, caves, tunnels!!

Meanwhile the staff at Gaz' resort pampered us completely. Karen and Raul catered to us tremendously. So much so that we felt kinda guilty. Karen cooked our meals whenever we wanted and Raul took us into town(via boat) and escorted us whenever we desired. The dive staff took care of all our equipment and made certain that each dive was different.

One day when the water was too choppy to dive, Gaz made sure that we were entertained with a boat excursion up a river into the jungle on the mainland to a resort for lunch. We toured the Altun Ha Mayan ruins and were treated to a nice lunch at the Maruba Resort and Jungle Spa.

The evenings were spent "kicking it" on the beach while the boys befriended Marcus and Ricardo(2 members of the staff) who took them fishing almost every evening up and down the beach.

The resort is small and personable. They have 4 "suites" currently and Gaz is pretty much the only "game in town" up the coast away from town as far as dive operators go. All the other resorts on the Caye refer to him for diving. As a result, we got to know our neighbors well, dived with them everyday and had lotsa fun. Karen's cooking is "da bomb" and she'll even cook you stuff not on the menu if she has the food items.

The weather was exceptional...dry, warm, pleasant breeze and the waters of the Caribbean were a nice 80-82 degrees with clarity in excess of 100ft daily.

I don't know what else to say except that this trip exceeded our expectations and was better diving(in our opinion) than the Cook Islands.

We just dropped off the film yesterday and will have it back tomorrow for posting. Stay tuned folks. Good to see you all.

thezookeeper · 02-27-2002, 11:58 AM

Welcome back Aragorn! Glad to hear the trip went so beautifully. Can't wait to see the pics!

Joanne

Aragorn · 02-27-2002, 12:12 PM

Thanks Joanne. Yes, it was an exceptional vacation. Everything went so smoothly and everyone had a great time. I really feel compelled to say that the people we met there added tremendously to our good time. In fact, while we were there I asked Christian, my son, whether he liked the Cooks or Belize better. His retort was "I like it here because we have friends here". You see, the staff were more than just employees of Gaz', they were "family". Karen, the cook, cryed when we were leaving and said "I'm going to miss you so much", which of course got us all "choked up" too. It was a wonderful trip.

**scubadude** · 02-27-2002, 12:46 PM

Welcome back first off! and I would definately like as much info as possible on this trip...as I have not been to belize yet and very well may some day! I cant wait to see your pics! How old is your son? 100'+ viz is so comfortable isnt it. How did you like the zeagle BC's? where they comfortable? I had to actually wear a wetsuit in hawaii and the water temp was 75-78 so I am very envious bud! Totally different ecosystem there im sure....what type of camera didja use? when can we expect pics? I have tons more questions but im gonna try and limit myself here

Aragorn · 02-27-2002, 12:55 PM

Rocky,

Christian is 16. Getting his Advanced cert has convinced him to move further w/ his cert's. He's a natural I swear. He consistently comes up w/ more than 1000 PSI, equalizes well, and just does exceptional all around. He's gonna take his certs and his welding skills into the Navy and then perhaps either pursue a career in commercial diving or become a dive instrutor. Anyway, the Zeagle BC's, Apex TX-50's, Suunto Cobra's were great! The camera is a ReefMaster w/ external strobe. I'll have pic's tomorrow. I'll shoot you an email in a day or two w/ more info, OK?

asmith · 03-01-2002, 10:11 AM

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great time!

Andrew

02-27-2002, 11:54 AM	#1
Aragorn Governor Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Pine Grove, CA USA Posts: 2,064	Trip Report of our Belize vacation Wow! I don't know where to begin. How does one describe SCUBA diving on the largest Barrier Reef in the Northern Hemisphere? Not to mention the personalized and friendly service one recieves at Gaz Cooper's Playa Blanca Resort? Now that I've recovered from the flight back(got in at 4AM yesterday and had to go to work), I'll try. Here goes. We arrived on Ambergris Caye at 6PM on the 14th. Believe it not the owner himself, Gaz Cooper, was at the airport to greet us! We got a short tour of the town of San Pedro, did a little grocery shopping, and were promptly "whisked off" by boat to Playa Blanca on the beach 5 miles north of town. For the next 10 days we did nothing but SCUBA dive on the Barrier Reef. 2 tank dives per day that were incredible! 3 of us, my wife Jemma, my son Christian, and I got our Advanced certification while we were there(dove to 117ft!!). The diving was superb! We logged 16 each in total to various locations. Hol Chan, Love Tunnels, M&M caverns, Mexico Rocks, Renegade, Cypress Gardens to name a few. We saw dolphins, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Eagle Rays, beautiful Angels, Triggers, Pseudochromis, Groupers, Barracudas, soft corals galore, Gorgonians etc. The reef itself was riddled with big, deep canyons that started at 50-60ft and bottomed out at 80-120ft! Awesome walls, caverns, caves, tunnels!! Meanwhile the staff at Gaz' resort pampered us completely. Karen and Raul catered to us tremendously. So much so that we felt kinda guilty. Karen cooked our meals whenever we wanted and Raul took us into town(via boat) and escorted us whenever we desired. The dive staff took care of all our equipment and made certain that each dive was different. One day when the water was too choppy to dive, Gaz made sure that we were entertained with a boat excursion up a river into the jungle on the mainland to a resort for lunch. We toured the Altun Ha Mayan ruins and were treated to a nice lunch at the Maruba Resort and Jungle Spa. The evenings were spent "kicking it" on the beach while the boys befriended Marcus and Ricardo(2 members of the staff) who took them fishing almost every evening up and down the beach. The resort is small and personable. They have 4 "suites" currently and Gaz is pretty much the only "game in town" up the coast away from town as far as dive operators go. All the other resorts on the Caye refer to him for diving. As a result, we got to know our neighbors well, dived with them everyday and had lotsa fun. Karen's cooking is "da bomb" and she'll even cook you stuff not on the menu if she has the food items. The weather was exceptional...dry, warm, pleasant breeze and the waters of the Caribbean were a nice 80-82 degrees with clarity in excess of 100ft daily. I don't know what else to say except that this trip exceeded our expectations and was better diving(in our opinion) than the Cook Islands. We just dropped off the film yesterday and will have it back tomorrow for posting. Stay tuned folks. Good to see you all. __________________ "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."

02-27-2002, 11:58 AM	#2
thezookeeper Mayor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Pittsburgh,PA, USA Posts: 992	Welcome back Aragorn! Glad to hear the trip went so beautifully. Can't wait to see the pics! Joanne __________________ "Life savings? Sure, it's that brightly lit object sitting in the livingroom."

02-27-2002, 12:12 PM	#3
Aragorn Governor Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Pine Grove, CA USA Posts: 2,064	Thanks Joanne. Yes, it was an exceptional vacation. Everything went so smoothly and everyone had a great time. I really feel compelled to say that the people we met there added tremendously to our good time. In fact, while we were there I asked Christian, my son, whether he liked the Cooks or Belize better. His retort was "I like it here because we have friends here". You see, the staff were more than just employees of Gaz', they were "family". Karen, the cook, cryed when we were leaving and said "I'm going to miss you so much", which of course got us all "choked up" too. It was a wonderful trip. __________________ "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."

02-27-2002, 12:46 PM	#4
scubadude Moderator Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 5,315	WOW! Welcome back first off! and I would definately like as much info as possible on this trip...as I have not been to belize yet and very well may some day! I cant wait to see your pics! How old is your son? 100'+ viz is so comfortable isnt it. How did you like the zeagle BC's? where they comfortable? I had to actually wear a wetsuit in hawaii and the water temp was 75-78 so I am very envious bud! Totally different ecosystem there im sure....what type of camera didja use? when can we expect pics? I have tons more questions but im gonna try and limit myself here

02-27-2002, 12:55 PM	#5
Aragorn Governor Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Pine Grove, CA USA Posts: 2,064	Rocky, Christian is 16. Getting his Advanced cert has convinced him to move further w/ his cert's. He's a natural I swear. He consistently comes up w/ more than 1000 PSI, equalizes well, and just does exceptional all around. He's gonna take his certs and his welding skills into the Navy and then perhaps either pursue a career in commercial diving or become a dive instrutor. Anyway, the Zeagle BC's, Apex TX-50's, Suunto Cobra's were great! The camera is a ReefMaster w/ external strobe. I'll have pic's tomorrow. I'll shoot you an email in a day or two w/ more info, OK? __________________ "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."

03-01-2002, 10:11 AM	#6
asmith Mayor Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Lenexa, KS, USA Posts: 978	Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great time! Andrew __________________ Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

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