Getting PADI qualified in Belize

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My Latin American odyssey began in the only English speaking country in Central America. This was an added bonus as I had yet to learn any Spanish however I chose Belize because of the great reports of diving on the second largest reef in the world. I based on the backpacker island of Caye Caulker and it proved to be an ideal place to qualify for my PADI Open Water certificate.

I had managed to time my visit to the island at the height of the rainy season (mid-October) and in fact the day I landed the plane had to circle several times waiting for a storm to pass over the runway. On the mainland there were floods right across the country with most roads into Guatemala impassable. On the island, I had pre-booked a fancy beach-front condominium ( Caye Caulker Condos ) which was just metres away from the ocean and apart from the howling wind, grey skies and torrential rain tearing around outside it was lovely! The next day was just as bad. I wore my expedition jungle poncho when I ventured out into the squall for breakfast. The island looked like it had recently risen from the sea with large pools of water covering most roads. The ‘roads’ were only sandy tracks and the only motorised traffic were golf carts. I’d never caught a golf cart to an airport before. Actually airport sounds a little sophisticated for a single room flanked by a small runway surrounded by mangroves, banana trees and a family of alligators. I wondered if they would chase the little plane away snapping their jaws like crazy dogs.

I chose a reputable diving agency called Belize Diving Services run by two tough old girls, possibly girlfriends, with a love of abused cats. Their shop/house was at the end of a sandy road beside a very water-logged football pitch. I was greeted when I arrived by a friendly striped cat that appeared to be smiling with his eyes closed. I leaned down to pat the cat and then realised that the cat actually had no eyes and the eyelids were sewn shut. Fearing I may catch a contagious blindness-inducing virus I jumped back. This startled the hapless feline who bolted straight into a tree. I later learned from the owners that the cat was not diseased or a voodoo omen but simply a victim of cruel street kids. And not the only one, they had 18!

A standard PADI Open Water course last four days and I paid about 300USD. The first day is all reading and watching videos followed by a day of ‘closed-water’ exercises and two days practical open water diving. Studying a 150 page textbook and watching a three-hour DVD was an ideal way to settle into my condo amidst the raging storm outside. The next day things were calmer. The skies were not exactly blue but the air was warm and there was no rain. I learned to dive with just one other guy, an American who looked rather like my brother-in-law. We both learned at much the same pace and had a good diving instructor. He looked like Tongan rugby player with a love of beer.

Our instructor was pleased with our underwater skills and decided we were good enough to join with qualified divers on day three for our first trip to the reef. The heavens seemed to agree because we were blessed with clear blue skies and calm seas for our inaugural open-water dive. We visited a site called Hol-Chan which is a very pretty coral reef with hundreds of colourful fish. We spent about 20 minutes doing exercises and another 20 minutes exploring. It was amazing being able to swim so close to all these fish, watching them eat and dart about. We saw a moray eel which hides between rocks and gapes at you when you go near. There are also many nurse sharks which are grey and, thankfully, have no teeth.

On the last day we visited Turneffe Atoll which was considered the best site on the reef. The weather was glorious again. Apart from more nurse sharks here we also saw turtles, lobsters and barracudas (really ugly fish). We also got to swim through a really cool narrow rock arch. At sunset we lay in hammocks on the roof of the condo with beers and toasted our success on completion of the course.

Worth a mention is the island’s cuisine. When I first arrived I did my usual ‘orientation walk’ checking out the better places to eat and drink. I found a fancy looking restaurant and to my delight they were serving lobster which is my favourite seafood. It didn’t take long to discover that lobster here was more common than chicken. You could order everything with it! For breakfast there is lobster omelet or burritos. For lunch you can take a lobster pizza or baguette. And for dinner the most popular choice was to visit a fat drunk guy on the beach called Jolly Roger who for around £6 would bbq you lobster on an open grill (served with a disappointing mash sludge). I have since downgraded the scaly crustacean from my favourite food list.

I had one more day of diving after my course, my first ‘qualified’ dive. We visited a site called Long Caye which is an underwater canyon where coral-covered walls rise up on either side. I was a little too enthusiastic in my exploration and dropped down to 90 feet (my max depth should have been 70 ft). The dive was fantastic for all the colourful and funny-shaped fish. The underwater topography of coral formations, caves, rock arches and tunnels also made for a more exciting landscape to explore. There was one small hitch. When I returned to the surface I needed to make a three minute safety stop at 15 feet below. Unfortunately we had not learnt this technique without the aid of a rope to hold onto and so my carefully controlled ascent did not go exactly as planned and before I knew it I was at the surface. I swam back down but that was a little pointless. I felt OK and returned to the boat. The captain warned me to go the hospital if I started feeling cramps, headaches or dizziness in the next few hours. When you surface too rapidly excess nitrogen bubbles can become trapped in your body and cause a variety of problems known as decompression sickness.

Well the rest of the afternoon passed without incident and all I noticed in the evening was a small bruise on my forearm which I assumed I had bumped on something. The following day however appeared another small bruise on my chest. But still no headaches or pain, not even the bruises hurt. Two days later I flew to Quito which is at an altitude of 2800m. By the end of the first night there I had a huge bruise covering the entirety of my right elbow. Now I was getting seriously worried…..but the rest of that story is for Quito J

My last day on Caye Caulker was spent snorkelling at Hol Chan, the first place I had dived. I actually saw a greater variety and number of fish than when I was diving! I also was able to swim around in circles with sting rays and follow a marine turtle. It was a full day excursion with three snorkelling sites and we returned at sunset drinking rum punch on the deck. I met a couple of decent English folk and one French on the trip too so the company was also great. That night I met up with the same people for dinner and mango daiquiris. We were in a beachside restaurant that you sit in swings next to the bar. It was very chilled out…until this total English twat decided to join us. He was a contract computer programmer and insisted on claiming his job was extremely stressful and difficult, even though he only worked seven hours a day. This was why he had quit and been travelling for a year around the world. I think I must have pissed him off when I suggested (from my own experience) that the industry we work in is grossly overpaid compared with the effort required and that he was talking out of his arse. It was my first encounter with a truly disagreeable traveller but otherwise a brilliant final day on the island.

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Comments

[Buds]

almost 3U English standard
Good read mate! Pleasantly surprised there are no cat photos, and I look forward to reading the rest of the story about the mutant bruise

[Kodama]

The cat!
Damn forgot the picture of the blind cat. Thanks buds, it has been added now :)