The Blue Hole and More

Another trip I would recommend for the divers.  Otherwise, there wasn't much else to do on the island.  Because of the large barrier reef, there wasn't a significant beach- but the hotels and dive shops are right on the water and a short boat ride from some spectacular diving.  If you have the time, I suggest taking the trip to the blue hole- discovered by Cousteau.  It takes about 4 hours but there are several world class dive sites in the area which make it worthwhile.  When your boat arrives, you tie up with the others and you swim to the edge of the hole- where the water turns a deep blue.  You descend 40 feet to the ledge of the hole and meet with your dive group to organize for the deeper part of the dive.  You then swim into the hole and drop to about 110' and swim along the inside edge of the hole.  It starts to feel like a cave dive as the rock wall extends out and above you and as you look towards the light that comes in from the center- you start to see hammerheads and reef sharks circling.  Its a very eery feeling at that depth and you start to get slight narcosis- which I found cool- but others do get disoriented so make sure you keep your wits about you.  I saw one diver accidentally inflate his BCD and take off towards the surface- he was lucky to be pulled back down by one of the instructors.

On this trip the surface interval was along lighthouse reef, where we grabbed lunch and checked out the bird sanctuary.  Great photo opportunities there.  In the afternoon we did two wall dives that were amazing.  Tons of life, but very deep- at least 80-90 feet.  My sinuses were starting to really feel the squeeze by the end of the day.

The locals will then let a chicken loose in the grid and whichever number he craps on is the winner.

Didn't really do much else on my stay.  While topside I just chilled by the pool or in a hammock on the water listening to music or reading.  You can get great fresh fish from the fisherman on the piers and cook them up yourself- I highly recommend doing so.  I also enjoyed a local gambling tradition at one of the bars.  Basically they draw a grid on the sand with numbers in each square.  Each number costs a dollar.  You buy the numbers you want for a buck each.  The locals will then let a chicken loose in the grid and whichever number he craps on is the winner.

Also, this area is quite poor and therefore potentially dangerous.  During the evenings, I would recommend staying along the water or one street inland at most. Of course I went deeper and saw some people really living in squalor.

BTW, the vehicle of choice in Ambergris Caye is a golf cart......