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Belize Aggressor liveaboard trip report, June 2005 by Greg Coyle

We were to spend our time on the Belize Aggressor III during a week in June and were 2 of 10 passengers that were from Chicago. 5 additional passengers were from around the US and another 2 from France were also on the boat.

Day 1

The flight was uneventful, the airport was about what I would expect from other trips to the Caribbean. We arrived at the dock at around 3 pm. All but two of the passengers had already arrived, the last two scheduled to land around 4. Two passengers had baggage misdirected and a few tense hours passed waiting for it to arrive. When the final two passengers arrived at the dock, so did the missing bags. Catastrophe avoided!

The boat, as many of you already know, is beautiful! This was the first liveaboard trip for us. If the experience was bad for my wife, this would also be the last.

The Belize Aggressor III

Dinner was served as we left Belize City for Lighthouse Reef. The journey took about 5 hours, and we were rocking and rolling the whole way. No one on board got seasick (that we know of), but lots of Dramamine was used by all.

Day 2

I love waking up early in the Caribbean and reminding myself that I am really here.

First site was Dos Cocos and we had two morning dives here. It's been almost a year since we dove in the tropics, and that was on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. Entering the water here, it is a delight to once again have 30+ metres visibility. Copious amounts of hard and soft corals and sponges are also a welcome change. Took some pictures of giant stovepipe and azure vase sponges, and tried my hand at shooting some neon gobies on coral heads. We have shot with our Coolpix 4300 before, but since our last trip, we have upgraded our strobe from a Sea & Sea YS-25 to a YS-90. difference was pretty clear.

Second site was Cathedral, two afternoon dives. For anyone who hasn't dived at Cathedral, it is named because the coral heads form some enormous chambers before the wall which make you feel like you have entered a church. It is amazing to come back over the crest of the wall only to find yourself in a room surrounded with coral, sponges, and lots of marine life. Note: The dusk dive was one of the most fun dives we have had to date. Throughout the week, we kept joking about "rush hour", as Blue Tangs passed us by the hundreds swimming down the wall in unison, and equal numbers of squirrel fish and big eyes swam past us towards the reef. Having never been on a liveaboard before, we have done plenty of morning and afternoon dives, and a good share of night dives, but dusk was something new for us.

The Cathedral night dive was very good and there were so many varieties of species that we have never seen before! Giant Hermit Crabs and Flamingo Tongues come to mind. It was also a good chance for us to play with the camera at night and to test our ID abilities.

Day 3

Today the morning dives were to be at Half Moon Wall. The wall itself was pretty, and we took a few pictures which looked like they were from Sleepy Hollow, but most of the fun at this site lay on the sand flats and turtle grass. We had our first experience with Tile Fish here, saw some of the largest hermit crabs we have ever seen, and got some first hand observation time with shadowing behavior. It seemed every hogfish on this site had a jack shadowing him. We had read about it and understand the concept, but this was the first time we had observed it.

The afternoon dives were at Painted Wall. We were informed that Painted Tunicates are abundant on this site in the 20 metre range. We didn't see any on the first dive, but we were cruising the wall on our own and probably didn't know how to find them. Wall was quite beautiful, and was teeming with life. Our second dive was our certification dive for Underwater Photographer, and our instructor took us to 25 metres and pointed out some tunicates. My wife had the camera rig at this point, and took a great shot. Several other shots on this dive also payed off. Rush hour occurred on this dive once again, and kept us laughing for a good while.

Day 3's night dive was also at Painted Wall. Tarpon were out in force. Captain Jay found us a squadron of Caribbean Reef Squid. We knew what they were, once again first time seeing them. One of our fellow passengers, another instructor and videographer, spotted a baby squid, about an inch long, behaving pretty oddly, "bouncing" head to foot on the sand. This behavior stumped all of us, so someday maybe we will find out what that was all about.

Day 4

The morning dive was at the Blue Hole. I have heard many times before that the Blue Hole is much more exciting when you are planning to dive it than it is when you actually dive it. I have to agree, though it was cool to do it once. Our maximum depth was at 45 metres for 8 minutes, stopped at 20 metres for 5 min., then came to 7 metres for 5 min and then finally at 3 meters for 3 min. Deepest dive we had ever done and the deepest I really intend to go in the future. The fringing reef was pretty nice during the safety stops, with lots of Pedersen's Cleaning Shrimp and Banded Coral Shrimp. Also the first time Michelle and I had seen Corkscrew Anemone. Too bad we didn't have the camera with us, as we discovered a small crack in the housing on the hinge. It was outside the O-ring, and as it turned out, we dove the housing safely for a few more days, but we didn't want to risk it on such a deep dive.

We spent the rest of the morning off gassing on Half Moon Caye. We managed to get some great pictures of Boobie Birds and Frigate Birds, a giant termite nest, a couple of Spiny Tail Iguanas, and some nice shots of the Lighthouse. We are told that hurricane damage has left the old lighthouse on its last legs. That is quite a shame, but I am glad we got to see it and photograph it.

Half Moon Lighthouse

Day 4's afternoon dives were at Chain Reef. Prior to diving, Michelle and I had discussed with Captain Jay that we would like to complete the requirements for Master Scuba Diver. Those requirements, for those not versed in it, are Open Water Diver, AOW, Rescue, five diving specialties, and 50 dives logged. We surpassed 50 dives on this trip, and as of completion of Underwater Photographer the previous day, we had 4 specialties, though one of those is a non-diving specialty and probably won't count towards Master Scuba Diver. After some discussion and guidance from Jay, we decided to complete U/W Navigator (a skill we would both like to have mastered) and Boat Diver. Our first dive at this site was our Compass Navigation dive. While navigating, we encountered a Loggerhead Turtle, but the navigation portion of this dive kept us from doing too much exploring and observing on the reef. Dive 2 was our playtime, we once again got to see the rush hour, photographed some Indigo Hamlets, and found a pair of very friendly Gray Angelfish which practically posed for a photo session for Michelle.

The night dive was at Eel Town, but Michelle and I couldn't drag ourselves off the couch for that dive, and decided to take the night off. A shame, since we heard that it was probably the best night dive of the trip. But such is life.

Day 5

On Day 5 the morning dives were at Long Caye Ridge. We gave Jay a hard time about this site, due to a little mishap on a previous tour which we were informed about by divers who were there . All joking aside, we go some great shots of Squirrel Fish tucked into the reef, the school of Jacks and Chubs under the boat, enormous Giant Barrel Sponges, Tile Fish, and one Yellow Headed Jaw Fish.

The afternoon dives were to be at Silver Caves. Michelle found a Peacock Flounder on the bottom practicing not being seen. I moved in with the camera and snapped some close-ups, then gently nudged his fins to move him for a better shot. Caroline (videographer) saw us interacting with the Flounder, and moved in with the camera, getting some great footage for the trip video, and thanked us in the boat later for finding the little guy. More sponges, more coral and more shrimp were also spotted.

The Night Dive was at Sliver Caves. Several divers were in the water already, Michelle and I geared up and headed to the platform. As we were preparing to jump, they shut off the submerged lights under the boat. Dan told us that they had Sea Wasps under the platform, and killed the lights so as to not attract them. Michelle decided that she didn't want to make the dive, considering the current we encountered in the afternoon, combined with the lack of surface supplied light to help us find the boat on the way back. When she told me that she is ok with me buddying up with someone else, I reminded her, anytime, for any reason, with or without cause, I am content to sit the dive out. This time it may just have been fate, as most divers lasted no more than 10 minutes. The bloodworms were out in such force that any dive light would create a cloud of them so dense that visibility was zero. Where Eel Town the night before may have been the best night dive ever, this turned out to be one of the worst. Guess those are the breaks!

Day 6

Day 6 started with dives at Lighthouse Wall. Finally the crack in the housing finally gave way, fortunately on the boat. While the crack was a disappointment, I believe it is quite a testament to Fantasea that we continued to dive this housing for 3-4 days after the crack developed, without a flood. It was just as well, since we did more navigation on these dives, and the camera would only have complicated matters. Again most of the fun on this dive was on the sand flats. Close encounters with a Southern Stingray, Tile Fish, and Flounder were the highlights. We had a mishap on our "Final Exam" for navigation. Two slates were laid, one at the anchor line and one at the destination for the instructions on that slate. We found the slate at the anchor line, and swam to point 2. We could not find the second slate, executed a box pattern but still no luck. Returned to the anchor line by following the reverse heading. Eventually we called off the search and returned to the boat. The instructor entered the water when we reported back, and retrieved the slate. Not sure why we couldn't find it, but those are the breaks.

The afternoon dives were to be at East Cut Channel. Here we entered the water from the side of the boat for our Boat Diver specialty. Visibility was a bit lower here but everything in sight looked healthy, just as all previous dives. We dropped over the wall and kept an eye out for pelagics, but no luck but the dive was still nice. Dive two, we repeated our navigation specialty final exam. Once again, followed instructions, no slate. But this time, we decided to press on a bit farther. Scanning the bottom, I didn't see the slate, but then I looked up. The slate was sitting at the pinnacle of a coral head. Mission accomplished! We returned to the area under the boat to verify that our heading was on, then explored the sand flats under the boat.

Day 6's night dive was again at East Cut Channel. I was very glad we decided to go on this night dive. Michelle and I were the first in the water, and no sooner did we start our descent than we were approached by a foursome of Reef Squid. They seemed curious this time, and had no issue with us approaching. Then we swam through a school of baby squid, very cute. We ducked into some of the sand channels, and in one channel, we found a juvenile Spotted Drum. First for us! Then we crested the wall, where I found my first Basket Stars! Coming back towards the boat, I moved closer to a branching coral, and spotted a juvenile Slender File Fish, less than an inch long. When I put my light on him, he drifted up and away from the coral. We started our ascent, and he seemed to stick right with us as we did. As we suspended from the hang bar, plankton was everywhere, but none of it seemed to swarm like at Silver Caves. As we approached the ladder we spotted an ominous sign. I watched as a sea wasp swam in front of the lights under the boat. We vented our alternates as we ascended, to blow wasps out of the way. As I climbed a ladder, I watched one of them swim by between my mask and the ladder. I pulled my hand away from the ladder to let him pass, and I don't seem to have been stung. A great dive to remember Belize by!

Day 7

We decided to do our last morning dives at Turneffe. We traveled by night, and in the morning, we were at Grand Bogue.

The first dive was at 7 am at Grand Bogue, again we got to see the morning rush hour. Currents were ripping a bit, and the mosquito's were swarming on the boat. Dan handed me a camera for this dive, from the boat's supply. Found a few coral heads to shoot, and Michelle found a pair of Queen Angelfish, which allowed me to get a decent shot, otherwise this was a fairly uneventful dive.

9:30 am was to be our final dive of trip at the The Elbow. I was looking forward to diving this site since before we left Chicago! To begin with on this dive we finished off our boat diver specialty. Once we had finished this we headed for the wall, tucked over and dropped down to about 25 metres. Michelle watched the wall, I watched the blue. At first, nothing....then something...getting closer....a 1.5 metre Spotted Eagle Ray! Our first, and in the top 5 on my must see list! He passed us about 20 ft away, then up and over the wall, looped around for another pass, up the wall, turned around, down the wall, buzzed us, then off into the blue again. Gave the signal to Michelle to work our way up the wall. We crested the wall, started working our way back to the boat. Seemed like it was taking too long. Michelle signaled to surface and take a heading. We did, and the boat was about 50 yards out, and on the same heading we were taking. Currents must have just been stronger than we anticipated. We dropped back to 7 metres and followed our heading. Again, seemed to be taking too long, Michelle wanted to surface and check heading again. As we were heading for the surface, I saw the hang bar and signaled her to drop back down and follow me. Kind of a challenge, but our navigation was dead on, save for the current working us over.

Return to Belize City

Making the crossing from Turneffe, we had a few cool sightings. First, a pod of spotted dolphins decided to hang under the bow. We were cruising at 12 knots, and they weren't even breaking a sweat! The water was so calm, I was able to lean over the bow rail and snap some beautiful shots with the D70 of these guys flying effortlessly below. Then, one by one, they broke off, but just as we thought the excitement was over, we spotted a remora swimming alone near the surface. Strange. Then as the remora disappeared, we watched a flying fish take off and cruise for a good 25 metres or so. Wow!