The beginning of the trip, Fly from Cleveland to Washington DC, made my connection to over night flight to Dakar Senegal on South African Airways.
Early this morning arrived at the Dakar airport, I ... Full Journal »
Diving at Hamanasi
Beneath
the turquoise sea of Belize is an underwater world that exceeds every
other Caribbean dive destination in diversity, size and scope. The total
diving area is absolutely immense. More than 185 miles North to South,
the Belize Barrier reef system is the greatest stretch of coral in the
Western Hemisphere and encompasses a huge variety of coral reef including
walls, pinnacles, spur and groove, swim-throughs and more. It gets even
better because farther offshore are three enormous rings of coral known
as atolls which provide hundreds of miles of additional reef dropping
off into the deep blue.
Lighthouse Reef, the Turneffe Island Atoll and Glover's Reef Atoll together cover more than 400 square miles with a total of 140 miles of drop-off walls. Incredibly, these atolls comprise as much reef surface as the Belize barrier reef itself! These Belizean atolls, unlike Pacific atolls built on volcanoes, actually sit atop two parallel submarine ridges close enough to the surface to allow the formation of massive coral and sponge growths.
Southern Barrier Reef - Itinerary
»
Hamanasi is ideally located and equipped to access all three atolls
by day trips with the added bonus of having the pristine, Southern Barrier
Reef in our front yard. Dives on this section typically produce sightings
of spotted eagle rays, turtles, moray eels, southern stingrays, large
grouper, barracuda, king mackerel, dolphins and several shark species,
as well as almost every kind of smaller tropical reef fish in regular
profusion. These sites are typically wall drift dives interspersed with
sand channels and adorned with multicolored sponges and gargonia corals.
The largest fish in the sea, the whale shark, also visits our area during
the months from April to June.
Glover's Reef Atoll - Itinerary
»
In Southern Belize and directly offshore from Hamanasi is Glover's Reef
Atoll. Named after the 17th century pirate John Glover, who used the
remote islands as the base for his raids against Spanish galleons heading
to and from the Bay Islands of Honduras, Glover's Reef is the most remote
island group in the country. Rising out of the blue from a depth of
well over 2,000 feet this well defined oval shaped coral formation surrounds
more than 700 patch reefs inside its 100 square mile crystalline lagoon.
Of the three atolls Glover's Reef sees the least amount of human contact
and is largely unexplored. Come see for yourself why this atoll was
recently designated a National Marine Reserve and, in 1997, a World
Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Upgrade Fee: $150 per person
Turneffe Islands Atoll -
Itinerary »
The Turneffe Islands Atoll is the largest of the trio and also the closest
from the Belize coastline. Here you will find an area dominated by purely
mangrove islands. These mangrove ranges, both offshore and coastal,
make Belize diving so special as they are the nurseries on which almost
all marine life depend to insure juvenile protection and biological
productivity. Although the atoll is best known for its walls, there
are many shallow sea gardens and bright sand flats inside the reef excellent
for snorkeling and scuba diving. Undoubtedly, the highlight of Turneffe
Islands diving is a spot called the Elbow located at the extreme southern
tip of the atoll. Here at the convergence of several ocean currents
you may dive through enormous schools of permit, snappers, eagle rays,
Atlantic spadefish, grouper and jacks numbering at times in the thousands.
Upgrade Fee: $75 per person
Lighthouse
Reef Atoll - Itinerary
»
Lighthouse Reef Atoll is known worldwide in SCUBA Diving circles for
its spectacular diving, but it is most famous for a site called the
Great Blue Hole. Originally, a cave whose roof collapsed thousands of
years ago and filled with water, the Blue Hole forms a perfect 1,000
foot diameter circle on the surface then plunges vertically to a depth
of 430 feet. At 130 feet depth, one can find the world's largest underwater
dripstones, or stalactites, ever found. Also at Lighthouse Reef you
will find Half Moon Caye, a National Park managed by the Belize Audubon
Society. Half Moon Caye is home to a bird colony of rare Red Footed
Boobies that can be observed up close by visitors. This Atoll is 50
miles out to sea and is the furthest out of the Belize Atolls. Hamanasi
offers dive and snorkel day trips to Lighthouse Reef.
Upgrade Fee: $150 per person
Belize is one of the world's top dive destinations! With Hamanasi you will experience Belize's best diving combined with our personal service touch. Our professional, PADI certified staff will help you explore miles of the pristine Southern Barrier Reef, and three of the Caribbean's four Atolls. We dive Glover's Reef, Southern Reef walls, Turneffe Atoll, Lighthouse Reef, the Blue Hole, Half Moon Caye, the Elbow and more. Non-divers also can enjoy life on the water. We cater to fishing and snorkeling enthusiasts, too!
