Something More than just the Deep Blue

My family and I decided to go the extra mile and explore Belize a bit more and we were all happy we made the decision to experience the Mayas in Belize. We were in for an early start leaving Splash Dive Center in Placencia, by road at 6:00 am. I had no doubt that we were on an adventurous and rewarding journey as we headed back to 600 AD!  Archeologists believe that the temples in Xunantunich (pronounced shoo-nan-too-neech), located in the Cayo district dates back to the early Classical Period. It is unimaginable to climb the temples that were built so long ago; yet still remain sturdy.

However, before getting to Xunantunich our licensed tour guide took us to visit the Blue Hole National Park, also located in the Cayo District. I must add, the best thing about Belize is the close proximity of the sites; it took us more or less  1.5 hours to arrive to the Blue Hole and another 45 minutes to get us to Xunantunich. The Blue Hole is a natural 25-foot deep pool in the middle of a cave where the singing of birds is rhythmical. This Blue Hole is found inland and is distinct to the Great Blue Hole, found out in the center of the Lighthouse Reef. It is said that this inland Blue Hole was formed by the collapse of an underground limestone cave. The Blue Hole is named for its glistening turquoise water and is used by many for a quick refreshing swim.

After a quick visit to the secret natural pool we were back on the road to Xunantunich. The kids, Harry and Jim were excited to learn that in order to get to the Maya temple we would need to cross the Mopan river using a cool, hand-cranked ferry. This was one of the major highlights for the kids, as they got a chance to crank the ferry themselves!

We learned that the name Xunantunich was Maya for “maiden of the rock”, or “stone woman”. The area has 6 major plazas surrounded by more than 25 Maya temples and palaces. The largest of all, and also the second largest manmade structure in Belize, is named, “El Castillo” (The Castle), standing 130 feet tall above the plaza. Our guide explained to us that it is believed that Xunantunich was used extensively used for ceremonies and rituals.

The best reward of all was finally getting to the top of “The Castle”, as we stood 130 feet high, we got the chance to enjoy the ‘jungle view’: viewing Western Belize, and into the borders of Guatemala. It is thrilling to stand tall on a structure that holds the secrets of the Maya Civilization. It was certainly worth taking the tour to the Cayo district. The adventure was invigorating!

“A great way to discover the beauty and adventure of Belize above water”

My Fist Dives in the Indigo Blue Waters of the Caribbean….

My boyfriend Tony, at the time, has always been a diving enthusiast and had tried to convince me to take a few dive courses so I can join him in his underwater adventures. Just the thought of going in the ocean filled with sharks and other unknown scary marine creatures, while carrying on your back heavy tanks, was not particularly exciting to me at first. Now, our yearly vacation trip to a new destination was coming up and we were doing a little online research to see where we would go next.  A friend of ours had just visited Belize, a tiny country in Central America facing the Caribbean Sea.  He kept raving about his amazing experience in Belize and all the great dives it offered.  So Tony and I looked it up.  Impressed by what we read, we decided to give it a shot.  Being afraid of water, I was interested in all the charms that a beach destination has to offer but diving. However, Tony was persistent that I took some diving lessons.

Before I knew it, I was already going on a sixty five feet boat to Glover’s Reef in Belize for my first diving course. I felt nervous and tried to focus on all the skills learned and practiced in the pool at the resort.  I was thankful that my instructor at Splash Dive Center in Placencia was very knowledge and patient during my training and practice exercises.  Now at Glover’s Atoll, I kept reminding myself to keep calm, control my breathing, hold nose and blow and so forth. Once there, the views were comforting too. Looking at the nearby great coral ridges, with some rising dramatically and plunging into the ocean into the clear water made me mysteriously excited of what lies beyond this intense surface. 

As nervous as I was inside the sea hearing my own heavy breathing, I was taken aback by what I saw. Words alone can describe what utter excitement it was to be for a moment in a different and strange world.  An ecosphere so close yet so foreign and mysterious strives beneath.  Although terrified, I was in awe of the fish swimming around me.  I saw an intimidating barracuda and schools of yellow tail snappers.  A green moray eel, with a head larger than mine, was looking on curiously from underneath two overlapping rocks. Every coral head held its own surprise. I saw Baby angelfishes, damselfish and tiny arrow crabs and even small worms like the “Christmas tree” and “Feather dusters” which retracted back into their hard shells whenever they sensed danger.  Even the sand held its own wonders. I saw a Green Razor fish hovered over the sand and dived into the sand whenever it felt threatened.  A number of rays, fishes, and eels crawled under the sand as if though playing a game of checkers for their own amusement.

To my surprise, I was also tuned into the sounds around and above.  I could hear the subtle crackling sound of the corals, the crash of the waves against the reef and the feel of the surge.

Belize Barrier Reef

My first experience was both exhilarating and additive. I had forgotten about Tony who was far lost in the gigantic aquarium of Belize’smarine biodiversity.  Unsuspectingly, I discovered a new sport and I was eager to do more dives.

Next we did the open water dive at the Gladden Spit in hope to see the great giant of the Ocean. I was equally astounded here.  Unfortunately, after an hours dive, I did not see a single whale shark until the second dive. Just as we were getting ready to leave, in the distant blue of the sea, a silhouette of a large fish was making itself more visible revealing all the white spots on its body as it swam towards me.  This was indeed a moment.  Diving just 25 feet under water on a late afternoon of a second full moon, had reached its climax with this large breath-taking but curious sea giant coming right up to me. It swam around me for a brief second just to see who I was and swam out of sight into the depths of the ocean.  Although this magical experience lasted less than ten seconds and I ended up swallowing plankton and seawater, it was all worth seeing. I would do it all over again upon an eye’s blink.

Whale Shark

Since these dives, I am a converted diver and a certified dive  master too. If I was told that on the first dive, I would have called it their bluff!  Now Tony and I can enjoy exceptional honeymoons in each dive destination we visit. We have been married now for fifteen years and our love is still going strong and enjoying many similar hobbies and interests like diving! 

If you are interested in learning how to dive you can contact Patricia Ramirez at patricia@splashbelize.com or visit www.splashbelize.com for more information. She will make your diving experience memorable! 

Belize Peace Corp Volunteers.

Natalie Macias, Shaz Davison, Warren Garbutt (Instructor) & Michelle Thompson.

Splash had the privilege of working with three wonderful Peace Corp Volunteers, who wanted to get their open water certification. We want to congratulate Natalie Macias, Shaz Davison & Michelle Thompson.

Learning to assemble the diving gear BCD, Dive tank, and regulator and checkin the BCD

Shaz having a great time being underwater.

Again congrats guys on doing this... we are ever so happy you choose Splash Dive Center. 

We hope to see you all very soon, and we look forward to our next Earth Day event, with you and maybe other volunteers joining in to lend a helping hand.

Splash Dive Center grounds has its own little flora & fauna.

The term "flora" comes from Latin language Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna.

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby - Yellow Bell

Everyday I sit back and enjoy the beauty of our garden that surround our center. We have so many different types of plants and flowers. My favourite are the hibiscus plants at least that what I think we call them... there are so many colors, We have a yellow bell, a pink bell and of course the red bell, which the cinnamon humming birds seem to like very much. I love that they zoom in and out from my window next to my desk. Hovering over the flower drinking it sweet nectar.

Photo was taken by: James Cleeve Westby - Cinnamon Humming Bird

Then there is the somewhat red, with highlight of orange and yellow, a family to the birds of paradise plant. So beautiful. It blends in with the sunset every evening. I can see little lizard in and out of the tall stems, especially the geckos. They are so cute playing and running about, and catching flies with the long tongue. Its amazing what you will see if you stand there long enough and watch with patient eyes.

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby

And every now and then you will see and iguana pop out from no where, and take a sun bath on our dock. As if this say this is my spot so get over it. (laughing to my self). 

Its so nice to the see the life that all around the garden at our center, and as it grow I am sure we will see a hole lot more. The relaxing ambiance is soothing. the four palapas are great for sitting down and just let time roll by. Taking it all in, its our very own little flora & fauna.

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby

Photo by: James Cleeve Westby

Spotlight on Dianni's Guesthouse in Placencia

Dianni's Guesthouse Placencia Village

Every now and then we like to put a spot light on folks we work with in Placencia, and today that Business is no other than Dianni’s Guesthouse.
Dianni’s Guest House is located on the southern shores of the Placencia Peninsula, which offers visitors to Placencia quiet, comfortable, affordable accommodations with spacious verandas overlooking lush gardens.
Inside the guest house you will find everything you need for your overnight visit, long weekend, or extended stay.
Dianni’s is located within minutes’ walk to local restaurants, stores and other amenities. Our guest house is the perfect place to stay for any visitors looking for affordable, quiet, safe and relaxing environment while in Placencia.
http://www.diannisplacencia.com/

Patience, Team Work and Determination.

There is a lot that Splash Dive Center does in and around Placencia Village but to name one that is close to Patty’s heart and to Splash Dive Instructor Team is the Juniors Club. Patty founded the Splash Kids Club, which helps kids from the local community to get certified as PADI Junior Open Water divers. “Not only does this help the kids enjoy the rewards of scuba diving, but it gets them started on a potential career as a local guide or PADI Instructor, and more importantly educates them about the importance of long term environmental conservation and even better as the classes are free.” says Patty.

So with that said Splash Dive Center is very proud to congratulate and announce its first Dive Master Graduates, Norman & Edwin Leslie. They are the first graduates of the Junior Club and are now Certified Dive Master.  Their Patience, along with team work of the instructors and their determination they did it.  The Instructors (Mark Castillo, Sean Faux, and Warren Garbutt) were very pleased with the outcome of they’re performance.

Norman, (Proud Momma) Jodie, and Edwin Leslie

Norman and Edwin started off in 2005, when they were just in Standard 5, attending St. John’s Memorial Primary School; doing the PADI Junior Open Water. After graduating in 2006 the boy moved to Florida, Miami Dade County, where they started High School. Returning home for summer vacation in 2007, they continued with their Advance Open Water Certification, and in 2009 they finished off with their Emergency Frist Response & their Rescue Diver Certification… Both boys did not want to stop there they had to top that by taking it to the next level, in diving and becoming a Dive Master, getting certified this year in August. If you look at the time frame and wonder why the years gaps in between certification, the boys used this times to practice their skills, and make up their dives, before advancing on to the next stage. This is good practice.

Mrs. Jodie Leslie, is proud momma of both boys, and was with them every step of the way, lending her helping hand. She could not be more proud of the boys. When I asked her for a message for the boys or what she thinks of them for becoming dive masters she said… “I am very proud of my boys and thankful to Patty for giving them this unique opportunity for keeping them in tuned with what they like doing and that’s being on the sea. The boys took a spark to diving and realizing that diving and snorkeling is a part of the living environment in Placencia. I am so proud of them for taking it to the next level. I have always encouraged my boys to do their best at what they do and I can see them as future guides and dive instruction in Placencia or anywhere in the world.”

Norman & Edwin Leslie

Splash encourages all young teenagers to join the Juniors Club. They can choose to do the classes during the school year on Saturdays or during the summer on their free time. Teenager must come in with a parent and sit down with Patty to discuss class & time frame and parent must give their consent allowing their child to take the classes. For more information on the Juniors Club give us a call at 523-3080 or 523-3058, or e-mail Patty at patricia@splashbelize.com

Splash would also like to thank the sponsors for making the Juniors Club a success, without your financial support we would not be able to give these kids a chance.

Welcome to Splash Dive Center & Destinatin Management Company

Splash Dive Center is located in the sleepy yet vibrant community of Placencia Village on the pristine peninsula of southern Belize. Since 2000, Splash Dive Center has grown from a small operation focusing on scuba instruction, to a community driven PADI resort facility that not only provides dive and snorkeling packages, instruction courses and inland tours but a host of full fledge services that makes the dive center today a successful destination management company.
 

Our team of Belize specialists stands ready to offer all guests a complete package of all your travel logistics and needs in country from entering into the airport to returning to the airport and beyond for a lifetime experience comparable to no other. Splash Dive Center Destination Management Company has an established network of relationships with key operators and service providers throughout Belize and offers the following services:

1. Hotel booking for accommodations of preferred choice to suit a wide range of budgets or conveniences.

2. Airport or any country entry point coiffeur services to your destination and between destinations.

3. Booking of any aquatic, inland tours or special requests at any destination or point of interest in country.

4. Professional consultation and arrangements for the maximum experience of best available and affordable tours, activities, events, restaurants, shops or any special interest across all destinations at any time of the year.

5. Connections and further travel arrangements to specific destinations in Mexico or Guatemala.

The local team of destination experts at Splash Dive Center is able to offer its customers specially tailored packages that meets and/or exceeds their Belize travel expectations for the ultimate Belize experience!