Delightful Ambergris Caye 
Ambergris Caye, Belize is a fantastic destination for divers and non divers alike! The atmosphere of the island truly belongs in a Jimmy Buffett song! An endless procession of little beach bars and grills, dive shops and tshirt joints await the active bustle of island travelers. Every evening Toucan Divers would traverse this stretch of beach in search for great food and awesome island music! As we would walk along the sand a cornucopia of delightful sights, sounds and smells would assault our senses! One evening a highlight was an accidental meetup with the singer songwriter, Jerry Jeff Walker. He’s been in the music industry for decades and was in Ambergris Caye for a couple of shows. Showing his age, he put his arm around us for support as we moved along the beach. We talked briefly of his career and much we enjoyed his music, especially the hit song he wrote, “Mr. Bojangles”. Though our time with Jerry was short, it was very much an exciting part of the evening’s adventure!
The Diving
Toucan Dive has been to Belize many times over the years. Though the weather tended to be cooler and overcast than other outings, I can’t remember seeing so much marine life in any of our other excursions here. Every dive, there were nurse sharks everywhere! The dive masters like to feed them the lionfish they hunt while diving with the group. So every dive these marine beggars would be there following our group around. It was really a fine opportunity for our divers to get comfortable with sharks in constant contact with us. Turtles, particularly hawksbill turtles were seen frequently. Many would be eating sponges off the reef unaware or at least tolerant of our intruding behavior. Large eagle rays, southern stingrays, as well as tarpon, barracuda, and the occasional caribbean reef shark graced our bows as we moved along the underwater realm!
Our night dive at Hol Chan Marine Reserve surprised us with many opportunities to see leatherback turtles sleeping under large coral heads. We also saw many lobsters, octopi, and moray eels. Even the shy eagle rays hovered above our dive lights like alien spacecraft as we investigated the reef! It was a totally amazing night dive! One of our best!
Day Trip To The Blue Hole
One of our days in Ambergris Caye we ventured to the famous blue hole of Belize, a two hour voyage form our beach. It is the only blue hole that can be seen in outer space by the astronauts! Upon receiving our dive briefing, we set up our gear, did a giant stride, and we were off to make history. As we ventured to our maximum depth, we viewed all the limestone stalactites and stalagmites that lie about 100 ft. below. Though the blue hole drops to the depth of almost 500 ft, we made our ascent after reaching the recreational dive limit of 130 ft. At Half Moon Caye, we had lunch and did 2 more amazing dives that included small juvenile drum fish as well as large Caribbean reef sharks. The Toucan Group had a fantastic day!
Final Analysis
Is Belize a worthwhile destination for divers? Our group of Toucan Divers would give you a resounding “YES”!!! If you haven’t been there, you really must go!
Check out the photos below:
