Blue Hole

This morning I went out to the dock and waited with Mark for a local dive company that was going to pick us up. The boat came a little after 6:30 and we were off for Lighthouse Reef, where the Blue Hole is located. Lighthouse Reef is two hours by boat from Caye Caulker, directly East into the Gulf of Mexico. I spent the time resting on the boat, accompanied by three local guides and a handful of divers excited to see one of the most famous dive sites in the world.It was amazing to me that the boat driver knew where to go. For two hours we headed into the distance with nothing but ocean surrounding us on every side, but sure enough, after a couple of hours we arrived at the Blue Hole.

In all the pictures that are taken from the air the Blue Hole is quite a sight - and it's obvious that it's perfectly round. I wonder though how anybody even recognized it for what it was before seeing it from an airplane. The shallow reef sticking out of the ocean was spectacular to look at, but if I hadn't known beforehand I never would have guessed that the reef formed a perfect circle with a four-hundred foot hole in the center.

Diving the hole was a blast. It seems to get mixed reviews from people, which is understandable since there are hardly any fish to see, but I went with the understanding that I wasn't going for the wildlife and I thought it was spectacular. Our guide lowered slowly over an underwater ledge that led into the hole and as I followed him I could see nothing but blue water fading into black below me. After only a couple of minutes we had lowered to 130 feet, by far the deepest I've ever been while diving. I followed along with a few other divers as our guide led us through a series of massive stalagtites along one edge of the hole. I felt like I was in the middle of a dramatic underwater sequence in a James Bond movie, it was so out-of-this world. Like I said, everyone has different feelings about the Blue Hole, but I remember thinking at the time that it was by far the most intense and amazing dive I had ever done. The Blue Hole is different from other dives. People who dive the Blue Hole expecting to see incredible wildlife are only going to be let down. The Blue Hole is cool because the setting is so surreal. For a few minutes you're in a new, exotic world - different from any other dive and far different from anything on the surface.

After returning to the boat I enjoyed talking with the other divers about their experience as we cruised towards the next dive site. Our next destination was a reef just off an island called “Half Moon Caye”. The dive at Half Moon Caye, like the other dives I've done in Belize, was absolutely spectacular. Half Moon Caye was different though than Hol-Chan or, of course, the Blue Hole. The dive at Half Moon felt like a tour through a giant pet-store aquarium. The different shapes and varieties of coral were what made it so interesting. I had seen sea fans and other types of coral in home aquariums before, but I always assumed that those shapes were something dreamed up in the mind of whoever designs stuff for aquariums. After seeing all the coral at Half Moon I felt like the aquarium designer guy must have cheated; all he had to do was copy the amazing shapes from this dive site. I recognized a few shapes from imitations in home aquariums, but others were completely unexpected. Among the shapes I saw were giant green, red, and purple tubes made out of coral, massive bowls made completely of coral, and coral that looked like giant nests of crabs legs.

Lunch was chicken, coleslaw and rice on the island, followed by a walk through the jungle with Mark to see Half Moon Caye's famous “Red-Footed Booby “ birds. The jungle walk was a nice contrast to all the diving, it was refreshing to see wildlife on land for a change. We came to a lookout tower in the jungle and climbed it to observe hundreds of booby birds flying through the air. On the walk back we spotted a lizard in a tree that knocked bird poo all over Mark as he walked underneath it.

Our last dive was at a site called “The Aquarium” near and island called “Long Caye”. The Aquarium was similar to the dive at Half Moon Caye except that there were many more fish - hence the name, “The Aquarium”.

After arriving back at Caye Caulker I took a short nap and then met up with Mark for dinner - a barbeque on the beach by my Belizian friend Roger from the other night. Mark and I had a massive dinner of rice, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and barracuda steaks. Inevitably I always end up talking about religion while I'm traveling; it seems to be the one defining factor that sets me apart the most from people I meet. Mark and I had a short conversation about Mormonism that was followed by one about politics in the United States (those always seem to be the two hot topics with foriegners who meet a Mormon kid from America). Mark and I also talked about the cost of living in the United States versus the cost of living in London. Mark was amazed how affordable it is to own a four or five bedroom house in the United States. I've always believed that life in the United States has its advantages that way, but talking with Mark really confirmed that. Mark has a law degree from Cambridge and a good job waiting for him at a law firm in London. Mark is as sucessful as young British people come and he still would have a hard time maintaining a standard of living that is completely achievable in the United States.

Anyway, as much fun as Belize has been, I think I'm going to move on tomorrow. One thing I've learned about myself while traveling is that I always like to be on the move, and this trip is no different. Tomorrow morning I'm taking a bus to Tikal and after a visit in the afternoon I'm going to try to catch a night bus to Guatemala City. Mark showed me some amazing pictures from Pacaya Volcano, near Guatemala City, and I've decided that I absolutely have to see it. I'm excited for this trip. My itinerary seems to change a little every day, but I think that it's for the best. This trip is going to be awesome, I'm so excited for it all to work out.