Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 114
OP Offline
Unknown Dive Location 47 minutes, 90 feet

My new favorite marine animal, a stingray was chillin' on the sand as I descended into the water. Before long, the stingray flapped his mighty wings and swam away. A green moray poked his frightful head out of his coral home and told us to be on our bubbly way as well.
So the group went into a swim through and I glided over the top. Tiny purple and yellow Fairy Basslets and blazing blue chromis darted into tiny holes and crevices then out again. When Tascio emerged from the swim through, he was hugging a nurse shark. So much lovin' in this sea!
As we neared the edge of the coral canyon, I gazed into the abyss and watched a large mama spotted eagle ray and a small baby spotted eagle ray fade into the deep blue.

Another Unknown Dive Location 43 minutes, 75 feet

(Sorry about the poor dive site location information. I must have spaced out during the dive briefings.)
This was my first day to dive with Ambergris Divers. They have a nice boat with shade. Tascio and Al were the great DMs. Before this second dive, my fin strap wouldn't snap shut. I was getting very nervous that I might not get to make the dive, but Al fixed it for me. Whew!
The currents at this site were unusual. In the past I've always had a steady current that just drifts you along the reef. But here, there was a back and forth current. This was a lot of fun. One, to watch the gorgonians sway back and forth, back and forth. And two, to try and make some sort of forward progress. During the backward sweep of the current, I pushed my fins down to try and stop myself from sliding too far back. Then, during the forward sweep, I kicked kicked as hard as I could. It was one of those two steps forward, one step back situations.

Ruby's

I have really enjoyed staying at Ruby's. I chose Ruby's because people on this board said it was clean and safe. Also, the price was fantastic. The most impressive thing about Ruby's, however, is that it has character and personality. It is not a cookie-cutter hotel.
I stayed in Room Eight on the second floor facing the street. Everyday I trudged up the skinny staircase with my wet heavy dive bag on my back. Now, on account of a slight construction miscalculation, the wooded floor leading to my room was at an angle. Still wearing my sea legs and a little light headed from all the compressed air, I had to maneuver across this tilted patio. It felt at times like I was walking in the fun house at six flags!
Another great thing about Ruby's is their breakfast cafe right next door. Every morning I enjoyed a delicious Johnnycake or fried jack or a fresh fruit salad. Some mornings I enjoyed a Johnnycake and a fruit salad. But get there early. By 9am, they are usually sold out of everything!
There is another shop across the street called The Book Center Plus. It's the plus part of the business that is so useful for they also sell beer, water, snacks and music. Most of the time the man who runs the shop kept music playing in the streets, which of course I could hear in my room. It was great!
Tonight though, I was a little bummed because my Great Blue Hole trip for tomorrow had been canceled. Ambergris Divers needed at least eight divers to take the boat out and four of them had cancelled at the last minute. So, to drown my sorrows, I had gone over to the Book Center Plus and bought three Belinkins. I sat on the balcony, watched the golf carts buzz by, drank my beers and enjoyed the good music.
John, who was staying next door, come home and joined me. Before long we decided to go have dinner at Shark's Bar. Well, I went inside to change clothes when I heard this wonderful song, the same one I had heard on my second night in San Pedro. "Welcome To San Pedro" The first time I heard it, I fell in love with its mellow tropical rhythm.
Fortunately, I remembered to put my shirt back on. Then I went racing out of my room, tripped over John (who didn't know what in the world was going on), bounded down the stairs, across the street and asked if I could buy a copy of the music that was playing. It turned out to be two local guys, Wil Nunez and Dale Wallace Sr. It's a marvelous CD.
Eventually, we made it over to Shark's Bar. They have very good pizza here, but they also have two sharks trapped in a small cage. Too bad I forgot my wire cutters back in Austin or I would have set them free.

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 10,850
E
Offline
E
YEA, Richard would have LOVED that

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 736
Offline
I love your trip reports Ms. Coconuts! If you need some help on the wire cutters, count me in. I'm surprised and dissappointed that they have trapped sharks again at the Sharks Bar. Bummer.

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 114
OP Offline
Who's Richard?

Yeah, Miss Anthropy, I was surprised about the sharks because there's no need for it. The ocean there is full of wildlife. It's a wonderful area and if they's just take away the fence, more animals would swim through.

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Offline
There's been a lil area like that at Sharks bar for a long time, on and off. used to be Tackle Box, and such a thing was quite unusual when it began.

thanks again, ms. coconuts, i look forward to reading your posts. how long you in town?

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 114
OP Offline
I was in San Pedro for eight short, but wonderful days.

Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,364
Offline
love your trip reports. i made the same comment about the prisoner sharks to the mgr who turns out to be from my backyard here in laporte. guess i carry no clout if they are still held captive. :rolleyes: he said they change them out periodically if that is any consolation.
gay

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 736
Offline
Change them out? I live on the island for long periods of time, and also here in the states. When Rasta Pasta was at that location, they freed the sharks that the previous owner of that location kept imprisoned. We all celebrated the "respect for Belize's wild life" that they showed by doing so, and it seemed to be a boon to the business end of it because most US/Canadian tourists are sensitive to wild life being mismanaged like that. And to think that a fellow Texan (I'm a native Texan myself) is keeping wild animals penned in for tourista gawkers does not register well with me as a consumer of Belizian services and goods. I'll contact him just to log in my humble opinion for what it is worth. I won't be spending my gringo dollars at his place if he's keeping those wild animals like that however. If he would stop keeping those sharks or any other wildlife in that manner, the good publicity would do his business better.

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 114
OP Offline
I questioned one of the guys who worked there and he said they buy the sharks when they are little from local fishermen. Then when the sharks grow to a certain size, they let them free. But the guy said the sharks usually hang around the pier after they had been freed. Which doesn't seem too safe for any swimmers.

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 736
Offline
Yes, that and if they've been kept/fed by humans all their lives, releasing them into the wild to fend for themselves is not a good idea either. There is already so much natural beauty everywhere you look in San Pedro town and off the local piers that keeping baby sharks in a wire pen just seems cruel and serves no real purpose. Here's hoping the Shark's Bar ownership will cease this cycle.

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Cayo Espanto
Click for Cayo Espanto, and have your own private island
More Links
Click for exciting and adventurous tours of Belize with Katie Valk!
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 308 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums44
Topics79,199
Posts500,011
Members20,460
Most Online7,413
Nov 7th, 2021



AmbergrisCaye.com CayeCaulker.org HELP! Visitor Center Goods & Services San Pedro Town
BelizeSearch.com Message Board Lodging Diving Fishing Things to Do History
BelizeNews.com Maps Phonebook Belize Business Directory
BelizeCards.com Picture of the Day

The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members
and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5