Overview

This is my trip report for our stay aboard the Belize Aggressor III, a “liveaboard” ship dedicated to scuba diving. We visited the 2 larger atolls off the coast of Belize: Turneffe Atoll, and Lighthouse Reef Atoll. The ship makes port in Belize City, which is about a 40 minute drive from the international airport. We arrived at the airport around 12:20 PM, and were picked up by staff and eventually transported via large van to the vessel around 2:00 PM. Boarding wasn’t until 4:00 PM, so we got lunch nearby, and spent some time exploring the immediate area.

Overall the diving was quite good. The reefs are not in great shape, but this is true across the Caribbean unfortunately. It was still quite fishy with lots of great encounters on our dives. The dive sites were all varied and interesting. One dive had some mild current (easily countered), but otherwise the diving was easy. Water temps got as low as 77º F and Becca and I only brought our 3/2mm wetsuits, so we were a little chilly on several dives. A full 3mm wetsuit would have been more comfortable.

The crew was great, but the food was mediocre at best. Becca and I follow a vegan diet and it seemed like the chef had no idea how to feed us. We had even gone as far as writing the company well before our trip with good protein and milk/egg alternatives for us, but it seems the chef never got those notes. We had some steamed tofu on one meal, and some soy-nuggets on a couple other meals, but otherwise the only protein offered was some chickpeas in a few dishes. Snacks and desert were always just fruit. Lucky for me, Becca had the forsight to pack some protein powder for smoothies, and protein bars for between meals. I don’t expect five-star food service on a dive liveaboard, but I do expect the same quality/diversity of food that the rest of the omnivore guests enjoyed.

But, besides the food, the trip was awesome. The crew was exemplary, and they were fantastic supporting our diving and safety.

Highlights

Becca and I both reached our 100-dives milestones on this trip! Becca made her 100th dive in the Great Blue Hole! I just made it to 100 on the last dive of the trip. It was not as memorable as Becca’s 100th, but it is still awesome to have come so far in our scuba diving journey.

This was by-far the most diving I’ve ever done on a single trip. The adage “Dive. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.” holds true for the liveaboard experience.

Crew:

Captain: Monique
Chef: J.R.
Sous Chef: Randy
Engineer: Jay
Instructor: Pablo
Instructor: Shawn
Night Watch: Stewart

Conditions:

Avg. Air Temperature: 78º F
Water Temperature: 77-83º F
Avg. Visibility: 60-80 FT

Dive Sites

There were 25 dives in total during this trip. We started and ended the trip at Turneffe Atoll, which is closest to the mainland. We did most of our diving out at Lighthouse Reef Atoll. I personally made 23 dives. I skipped two of the night dives so I could get extra rest.

map of our voyage

Sunday:
- Black Beauty (2 dives)
- Front Porch (3 dives)
Monday:
- Grand Bogue (2 dives)
- Transit to Lighthouse Reef Atoll
- Half-moon Caye Wall (3 dives)
Tuesday:
- Angel fish wall (2 dives)
- Secret Garden (3 dives)
Wednesday:
- Shark Point (1 dive)
- Inspiration (2 dives)
- Chain wall (2 dives)
Thursday:
- Blue Hole (1 dive)
- Half-moon Caye land tour for surface interval
- Aquarium (2 dives)
- Transit back to Turneffe Atoll
Friday:
- Sandy Slope (2 dives)

Dive Log

Saturday — Day 1

Boarding was at 4:00 PM. We had fifteen divers total on this trip—three less than the full capacity. There were very few liveaboard virgins (I think just me, actually) and most of the group had experience diving in Belize. Everyone set up their dive equipment, and were then shown to their respective cabins. Becca and I were in cabin 1, which was in the very front of the boat.

After getting our stuff settled in our cabin, we had a welcome speech by the captain and an introduction of the crew and guests, followed immediately by a safety briefing. Dinner was served shortly after.

Sunday — Day 2

The engines were fired up at 5:00 AM. At about 5:15 AM all lines were secured and we pulled away from the Radisson dock. Winds were blowing from the north west so we headed to the south east side of Turneffe to spend our day tucked in from the wind. Our check out dives were done at Black Beauty followed by our afternoon and night dive at Front Porch.

At Black Beauty the visibility was phenomenal. On the dives there were hundreds of creole wrasse in the water column feeding, with males competing in courtship for females. A scorpion fish was spotted in a sand channel on the sea floor. A humongous southern stingray was near the mooring pin feeding in the sand creating a massive cloud in the water column. A porcupine fish, trumpet fish, a couple lobsters and two green moray eels were also spotted on the dives.

We had lunch, moved the vessel to the Front Porch dive site and by 2:30 PM we were back in the water. Visibility wasn’t the best at this site but we got lucky with a giant Loggerhead Turtle. It glided along the wall with the divers for quite some time before it turned around to check out other divers. We also saw a couple spotted moray eels, green moray eels, flamingo tongue snails, lobsters and a channel crab between the two dives here.

Dinner was served followed by a night dive.

On the night dive we saw a couple octopus, one of the other divers saw a couple spotted toadfish. This species is only known to be found around Turneffe atoll. Additional sightings of black grouper, lobsters, a Spanish lobster, nudibranch, channel crab and basket star made the dive worth the while followed by warm showers and towels to top it off.

Divers had a great day. Some retired and went to bed while other hung out around the wet bar socializing with their favorite drinks. A great day was had!

Monday — Day 3

Just before breakfast we started to make our way north to start our day. We moored at Grand Bogue at about 7:30 AM and prepared for our first two dives. Winds had dropped significantly and the sun was shining much more. The visibility on the dive wasn’t too bad and we found some really cool stuff. There were about four green moray eels and a couple spotted eels. Lobsters were tucked in crevices as well as a small channel crab. In the water column were hundreds of creole wrasse. We also came across a southern sting ray, yellow head jawfishes, peacock flounder, Pederson shrimps and a couple squat anemone shrimps. A school of horse eye jacks were spotted in the distance. Some divers spent quite a lot of time photographing tiny fishes like the territorial damsels and the blue chromis. A spotted toadfish was found tucked away in the reef, some of us managed to get a close look at it.

Lunch was served after the dive, and soon after that we were making our way to lighthouse reef to spend most of the week. It took us about two and a half hours to locate a suitable dive site. Winds were blowing from the north now so we ended up tucked in southward at Half-moon Caye Wall.

The two afternoon dives were loaded with excitement. One of our fellow divers, Dan, explained that he was cruising above the group and a green turtle was coming along the reef but didn’t want to get close, so it started to swim away. However a couple of reef sharks were approaching from the other side of the turtle, and the turtle then tried to seek shelter from the sharks, by swimming closer to Dan. At this point he pulled out his camera to capture a great shot of the turtle and two sharks in one frame. There were some friendly Nassau groupers. They were like puppies as they stayed right there close to us almost like they wanted to be petted. (Becca may or may-not have actually petted one of the groupers, hehe). Another large reef shark cruised along the wall and in the shallows with the divers. There a couple southern stingrays and tons of queen conch on the grass bed.

Dinner was served followed by our last dive of the day, night dive.

There were almost 20 tarpons under the boat feeding in the water column on tiny silverside fishes. Some followed us on the dive, trying to use our light to spot their next meal. A couple southern sting rays fed in the sand and hermit crabs of all sizes filtered through the sand for tiny bits of food. There were a couple large black groupers and snappers. Unlike during the Nassau grouper, these were a little shy. One reef shark was spotted cruising along the drop off and a lucky sighting of a massive green turtle swimming over the reef. It swum to the surface as we tried our best not to disturb him and he quickly disappeared into the shallows of the reef. We didn’t see any octopus but we saw a very tiny reef squid that swum right up to Christine’s light as she tried to capture a picture of it. There was also a comet sea star, channel crab, and tiger tail sea cucumber.

Tuesday — Day 4

We started our day of diving at Angel fish wall. This site offers a huge grass bed and large sandy area and a narrow strip of coral reef that runs in an East to west direction. There were a variety of marine life in the different parts of this site. Reef sharks cruised with us along the wall and a green turtle gave us quite a show as well. The friendly Nassau groupers were out to play. In the sand were hundreds of garden eels. southern stingrays were hanging out as well as hermit crabs and queen conchs.

We motored to the east side of Long Caye to a site called Secret Garden. The reef-top is about 45ft and is completely covered in lush soft corals. Sea whips, sea rods, purple sea fans humongous barrel sponges and tube sponges were all over. Some cracks in the reef and some areas of high rising coral heads offered a lot to explore. On the reef-top we came across a greater soap fish swimming from one hole to the next. We also saw a cowfish, couple lion fish, a massive spotted eagle ray with a 5 foot wingspan, lobsters, channel crab, French angel fish, lettuce slugs, and to end it nicely was a very curious reef shark that circled us a few times and then decided to swim from above the reef-top to about 20 feet where we were doing our safety stop.

On the dusk dive, there was a lot of octopus action. Three octopus in total, and a couple of them were free swimming along the sea floor. Some divers even saw a sleeping hawksbill turtle which they tried not to disturb it from its slumber. There were lobsters, crabs and puffers found as well.

Dinner was served when everyone was dry. Some guests retreated to the wet bar to socialize while others played board games and some went to bed.

Wednesday — Day 5

Wind direction had shifted slightly to the north east. We ended up starting at shark point. We managed to only complete one dive at this site since we had some big waves rolling in from the East. With the waves, it would have been impossible for the galley crew to make lunch for us, so when the dive was over, we were out of there. At shark point divers saw trumpet fish, nurse shark, sting ray, groupers and trunk fish. Some ocean triggers and queen triggers were also spotted.

We then headed over to Inspiration for a couple dives. The wave action wasn’t so bad over here. Divers saw an eagle ray, hawksbill turtle, reef shark, angel fish, lettuce slug, lobsters, channel crab and some mahogany snapper. The coral garden at this site is lush and the visibility was phenomenal. Easy and relaxing dives.

To finish off the day we headed over to Chain wall. There was a slight current from the shallows flowing to the wall; it was manageable though. The dives were super active as well. Our guide, Shawn managed to find a common octopus hiding among some conch shells. There was also an extremely friendly logger head turtle that tried to nibble on Dan and Will. It stayed with the divers for a very long time, just checking them out. When we were all on the boat, he popped on the surface about 20ft from the vessel and just hung out there. That was a pretty cool experience.

For the dusk dive Andrew saw a sharp-tail eel. We also saw a nurse shark, a fish that may looked a bit like a tuna, which I think was a Blue Runner jack. Stingrays, spotted moray eels, lobsters, channel crabs, and an octopus rounded-out the sightings on this dive.

Thursday — Day 6

Hot breakfast was served at 7:00 AM sharp. The weather looked great! We started the engines and headed to the Great Blue Hole. It was a little cloudy at first but by the time we arrived the sky fully cleared up and the sun was shining the brightest for this entire week.

Divers plunged in to explore the depths at 130 feet down, swimming among some interesting stalactite formation. This dive was also Becca’s 100th dive which made it extra special! The visibility wasn’t too bad in the hole, perhaps 20-30 feet. The depth alone got the adrenaline of most the divers going. It was my deepest dive ever, and was approaching the recreational limit of 140 feet.

We headed to Half-moon Caye Bay, where we moored offshore to get divers tendered to the island. There we walked around for about an hour checking out the nesting grounds for red footed booby birds. This site is the largest colony in the Caribbean.

To complete the day, we went to Aquarium—a very popular dive site at lighthouse reef. The weather and diving conditions were perfect. Divers very much enjoyed these last two dives around this area. Spotted Eagle Rays glided gracefully with the divers on top of the reef and off the wall. There were the residential reef sharks like ‘Patches” and ‘Sarah” among the mix. Patches and Sarah were also accompanied by a couple smaller reef sharks. At one point there were four reef sharks, two nurse sharks, and three eagle rays! Mind. Blown.

The reef-top was teeming with hundreds of creole wrasse. All sorts of reef fishes like snappers, trunkfish, porcupine fish, groupers, trumpetfish, horse eye jacks, parrotfishes, black durgons and sergeant majors were spotted. The visibility was incredible. All this made the dive fantastic.

Ladders were up and into the sunset we sailed for our 4-hour transit back to Turneffe Atoll to end the week.

Friday — Day 7

This was the last day of the charter, down to our last two dives at Sandy Slope. The first dawn dive was a little quiet but the 2nd dive after breakfast was better. There was a nurse shark swimming around the divers, an octopus in the sand, garden eels, slugs, various reef fish, spotted and green moray eels, and some lobsters were all found by the group. What a wonderful week it was.

The last dive of the trip at Sandy Slope was my 100th dive. It wasn’t as epic as Becca’s 100th dive in the Blue Hole, but it was awesome that we both got to hit such a momentous milestone on the same trip!