Thing to Do #36: Visit Every Country-Belize

The third port of call on our cruise in October 2007 was Belize City, Belize.  Our excursion for this stop was scuba diving.  Scuba diving is #46 on the list and I thought this would be the perfect place to check it off.  Off the coast of Belize (and the entire Yucatan Pennisula) is the Mesoamerica Barrier Reef, which is the second largest reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef). 

The only snag to this plan was that I’m terribly afraid of water.  For whatever reason, I fully believed that if I just “sucked it up” and jumped in, I’d have no problem at all. 

We took a taxi boat directly from the Cruise ship to a group of little huts built up on stilts and docks running back and forth from the buildings.  In real life, you train for several weeks or months before you are allowed to go SCUBA diving in open water, but in this day excursion, we were to watch a 15 minute video instead.  If you remember, I had gotten a bad cold on the second day of our trip and when you SCUBA dive, you can’t have anything block your sinuses.  I had alerted the guides of my condition and they were certainly concerned but we decided to try it out anyway.

We were to go to a shallow area in the reef (about 8 feet deep) and go under to demonstrate certain hand signals and that we could share regulators, regain a lost regulator, and clear our goggles of water.  I was the first one in and as the guide lowered us in the water, as soon as my head went under water, I started to freak.  I frantically splashed to get back to the surface and I knew immediately I wouldn’t be diving that day.  The guide was patient with me and tried to work with me, but I felt bad for taking up his time, especially because I knew there was no way I’d be going.  I climbed back up on the boat, dissapointed and defeated, embarassed for chickening out.  Alex had followed right after me and had performed his signals underwater with no problem.  When he came back up, he was surprised that I had finished so quickly, so I had to tell him I had chickened out. 

After everyone had gone into the shallow area for their training, we made our way to a deeper part of the reef.  It was by this time that Alex and I discovered that of our group, all but four of us already had their SCUBA  license.  Several had not been diving in awhile and several others had just gotten their license, so they didn’t feel comfortable diving without a guide.  Of the four of us that were not licensed, I had chickened out before getting my face in the water, one guy had not been able to remove his regulator under water and one girl was able to do all of her necessary parts during training, but was nervous about going into deeper water.  So Alex was the only person in our group that went diving without prior experience.

They left the three of us and one guide while they went under for about 45 minutes to explore the reef.  As it worked out, Alex had his own guide and enjoyed swimming about, but reported few interesting things other than a few colorful fish.  His tank had been leaking so he had to return sooner than the others, but he enjoyed himself and immediately began talking about getting his SCUBA license when we returned home (he hasn’t).

This excursion took up much of the day, so I was doubly disspointed to have failed at diving, as well as missing the chance to see more of Belize.  From what I saw, it was a GORGEOUS country and I’ve heard nothing but good things, so I hope to return one day. 

I have decided that to conquer my fear of water, I must get my SCUBA license.  Even if its only to complete the course and never use it!  Around here, you train in a pool and your open dive is in a nearby rock quarry.  I’d much rather do my first open dive in the clear waters of the Carribbean, but if I can do it in a cold, dark rock quarry, then I can do anything!

Alright, who out there is way cooler than me and has a SCUBA license?