Belize Day 6: Scuba Wyatt

Wyatt and Ann split up for the morning, so Wyatt could do a little diving outside the reef and Ann could soak up rays and read. The scuba company was Aqua Dives. They picked Wyatt up a little after 9 from the dock to get measured for equipment, etc. There were 7 divers, 1 guide, and 1 captain. The wind was particularly strong, so some of the waves around the edge of the reef were 8-10 ft. It was rough! We were getting a little bit of air off our butts.


The first dive was Tackle Box Canyon. We jumped in and descended immediately, not wanting any part of the chop on the surface. We were greeted by 3 nurse sharks circling at the bottom. Hmm...I wonder if people feed these guys? We spent most of our time going through "swim-throughs," which are tunnels and tight canyons that are no longer than 60 ft. It was an interesting challenge, but it was not a good way to see fish and it wasn't eco-friendly. My tank banged into the reef at least twice. We did see lots of grouper and nurse sharks. Our maximum depth was about 85 ft.


San Pedro Canyon was Wyatt's second dive of the day and last dive of the trip. 3 divers from the previous dive were nauseated and chose to sit this one out. Generally, that's a good thing: less divers tend to see more fish. This was definitely the case on this dive. It was unreal how much stuff we saw: 2 sea turtles (one was 10 yards away from Wyatt), 2 moray eels completely out and swimming around, and a 2.5 ft. grouper nearly kissed Wyatt. Our guide was playing with one of the moray eels as if it was a cat. That was probably the craziest thing Wyatt saw the entire trip. (He likes his fingers way too much to play with an eel.) During the eel play time, 5 nurse sharks started circling us, thinking they were going to get some food. Our maximum depth was about 60 ft.

Wyatt got back from diving around 1. We went to the Blue Water Grill for lunch. Wyatt had a shrimp po'boy with fries (8.5/10). Ann had the fried fish sandwich with pasta salad (9.5/10).


We walked back to the hotel and cooled off with a nap. Feeling rejuvenated, we had a happy hour cocktail out on our dock. A pelican showed off his fishing skills for us. Wyatt tried to photograph the sunset, but found the greatest beauty on the dock.


We walked to town to have dinner at Elvi's, which is probably the most storied restaurant on the island. She started as a take out stand vendor on the street. With some success, she added a few tables, and ultimately built a restaurant with a sand floor and a large tree growing in the middle. There was also a 2-man band playing lots of Bob Marley. Ann had the seafood special, which was conch, shrimp, scallops, squid, and a crab claw covered by a fruity salsa with coconut rice on the side (9.5/10). Wyatt had the same, despite the fruity salsa (9/10).


Feeling the food coma start to kick in, we headed to Fido's. It was recommended by a guy that tried to sell us some weed. He also played keyboard for the band playing that night. His eyes were very red...hmm....we thought nothing of it. The owner's cat was named Tiger and had free reign in the restaurant. He found some cat haters and aggressively bugged them for at least 10 minutes.


The reggae band was good; although some of the songs we were hearing for the third time that night, as Elvi's band doubled up on a few of their songs when they changed lead singers. The people watching was exceptional. We knew Fido's would be a repeat.

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