We flew to Belize City, Belize from a gateway city (in our case Miami) in about one hour and 45 minutes on American Airlines. In addition to American, TACA and Continental Airlines also fly from Houston. Belize (the country) is adjacent to Guatemala and Belize City is a typical Caribbean city of about 70,000 people. It is NOT safe to walk around in Belize City without an escort and especially so at night.
We were met at the airport by the Captain of the Wave Dancer and we never touched our luggage again. Belize airport is about 10 miles from the city; we were transported by bus in about 25 minutes directly to the Wave Dancer. The Wave Dancer is parked right next to its competition, the Belize Aggressor. The Wave Dancer is noticeably taller because it has an extra (sun) deck. However the layout of the diving area seems to be approximately comparable.
Puffer fishThe Wave Dancer is a 120 feet long converted oil boat. It has been outfitted with 10 double cabins each having ensuite facilities. As expected the rooms are small but you are only in your room to sleep. While we had only 18 guests out of the maximum of twenty, there would be no problems handling the maximum number of guests. The boat has four decks, three above water and one below. The lowest deck has some guest cabins and three crew cabins. The main deck has the remainder of the guest cabins, a nice photo table, and the diving deck. The second deck is the dining area (inside and outside dining is available) and entertainment area. The third (top) deck is the sun deck for those unafraid of the tropical sun. The diving area is extremely well thought out. Each person has two tanks and a storage cubicle that are assigned to them for the duration. Your reserve tanks is filled while you are in the water using the other tank so there is always a fresh tank available. Tanks are steel 80s filled to a minimum of 3000 PSI. Getting in the water is simply a giant stride off of the back of the boat. There is a stationary hang bar and tank at 15 feet; getting out of the water is via two ladders which go down several feet into the water. Staff is available for assistance and gear pass up.
Reef SquidDiving is scheduled with two morning dives, two afternoon dives, and a night dive. The only exception to this schedule is on Tuesday when we dive the Blue Hole. The night dive is done at the same sight as the afternoon dive so that you will be familiar with the terrain under water. All diving is done via computer. Rentals are available if you don't have one. In general the diving was excellent. Virtually all dive sites have walls. Most walls go down thousands of feet. Most dive sites also have a shallow (30-50) area available as well. There are swim throughs and coral heads on every dive site. The diving in Belize is still pristine. There are many fish: Tarpon, groupers, trunk fish, lots of angels of various Caribbean varieties, lots of little fish, Eagle Rays, an occasional whale shark, turtles, butterfly fish, dolphins, etc. There are many hard and soft corals, various sponges, etc. All of which are pristine and healthy.
French Angel Fish Diving the Blue Hole is on Tuesday. This is NOT a fishy dive but is a very interesting dive nevertheless. It is the only organized dive which is escorted and where all are asked to stay in a group. The Blue Hole is a cavern dive to 130 feet to see what used to be a cave in times gone. It is very eerie because of the depth, visibility (clear) and overhead environment. We had one diver who pushed the tables and had to be assisted but most people were very comfortable and did not violate the maximum suggested depth. Due to the substantial depth and nitrogen, there is a long surface interval between the Blue Hole dive and the afternoon dive. This surface interval is spent having a picnic on a nearby island and seeing some very rare Booby Birds and Iguanas. A nice interlude on land.
"Dirty Harry" the seahorse
On the very first morning we saw two small pods of dolphins from the boat.
However on the last full diving day we saw, in water, a pod of 8 dolphins. They
frolicked with everyone for at least twenty minutes; one fortunate individual
got this on video tape. Truly a remarkable experience.
LAST DAY
The last day was slightly different. We had an early pre-breakfast dive, breakfast and then paid our bill for miscellaneous stuff before the next dive. Following the second dive we washed equipment and dried it on the top deck. We had lunch and arrived back in Belize City about 1:00 PM where we walked 100 yards to the Ramada. There were various tours available in the afternoon and there is a Karioki Bar and Disco available in the evening.
In summary, there were 26 scheduled dives, five of which were night dives. All dives except for the Blue Hole were unescorted buddy dives. However Wave Dancer personnel were available if you asked for assistance. Equipment for diving and photo/video were available for rent. All gear was high quality and in good condition. PADI courses were available at an additional cost and included AOW and various specialties including photo, deep, night, reef fish and reef critters. Staff were helpful and extremely well organized without appearing so or getting in the way. We had a great time are scheduled to return same time in 1997.
Update: October 2001
An aerial view shows the capsized tourist boat 'Wave Dancer' where 17 American
deep sea diving tourists died in Big Creek, Belize, 100 miles southeast of Belize's
capital Belmopan, October 10, 2001. Members of the Richmond Dive Club are
mourning the loss of their colleagues after their boat capsized during Hurricane
Iris.