Belize by Cristian

Belize, The Hunt for Whale Sharks, 1999
Author: Cristian

The plan and getting there Part 1

What started, as a bar conversation became a necessity after staying dry from salt water during the last 2 months. My recent trip to the Red Sea had been just too little a dose of nitrogen to this junkie and the only thing that was in my mind was diving, diving, and more diving. My body was in need of that weightlessness sensation, my skin for the salt water, and I had the urge to breathe through my mouth. Even if I had done 4 more dives at Lake Atitlan after my return, it is never the same on fresh water.

Miguel, a good buddy and my "Compadre" had just returned spending Easter at Ambergis Caye and from doing a decompression dive with Amigos del Mar at the Blue Hole. This was his second visit to the Blue Hole, but going down 165' and feeding some sharks at that depth had him hooked again on nitrogen. Enthusiasm was the least thing we needed. Things have been difficult here in Guatemala after Mitch's visit, even if everything is getting back to normal. We have suffered a devaluation of 15% over the past 6 months and having an election year in this little country of mine, economy is slow. We had to get in the water soon but it had to be somewhere close because our wives and our wallets were not so eager of our departure.

So we settled for a long weekend at Belize. Having done Ambergris, Lighthouse and the southern Sapodilla Cayes it was a matter of choosing somewhere cheap and fast to get to. After some research and the good help of my friend Waverunner we were narrowing down to Southwater Cayes or Placencia. One day surfing the web I came across a small dive shop at Placencia that offered whale shark expeditions, coincidentally held during the full moon of April and May. So it was set, it would be Placencia on the weekend after the full moon of April.

Our first "escape" attempt would be Thursday April 29 on full moon. Problems with our means of transportation frustrated our attempt to coincide with the planned expedition for that period of time. My anxiety level was rising and the opportunity was slipping. This past month has been really difficult for my buddy so I decided to go without one. After lobbying at home I was convinced I was getting into uncharted territories if I decided to go alone. One thing is to fly around the world and plunge into the Red Sea, if you take your daughter with you, and another is to take off alone to your neighbor country in search for whale shark. Sharks ha! ha!… my wife said. I am sure she is quite a shark!…. Go figure no trust in me!

It took the next two weeks to convince my wife that I had a physiological deprival of nitrogen than needed urgent care and that she could enjoy the beautiful beaches of Placencia with me while I recover from this illness. The only condition she placed on the table was that the expenditure of this trip would not interfere with the last touches of the remodeling job we have been doing at home. I had planned this trip on a very low budget before and I would have to improvise since now I was taking two persons for the price of one. Over time my wife has become a little stiff and snobbish and she was going to be in for a surprise. The only thing that I had hinted her was that she had to be really open-minded since we were going to be traveling without a schedule.

We left Guatemala Thursday 27th at 4:30 am and drove four hours to Puerto Barrios. Puerto Barrios is our largest port town on the Atlantic coast that handles most of the boat operations and has a special dock facility that handles our banana exports. Shopping around the municipal pier we found two fast boat shuttle services that could take us to Punta Gorda in Belize. After looking at the boats we settled with "Transportes el Chato" and her 40ft twin 200hp outboard skiff with Bimini top. At $20.00 per person round trip and arriving to Punta Gorda at 11:00 a.m. I thought it was a bargain.

The boat was fast and exciting and I felt young with a couple of backpackers also heading our way. The hour ride went in a flash after listening to the adventurous stories from these travelers we had encountered. We arrived to the dock of Punta Gorda five minutes past eleven. Punta Gorda is the most important town in the southernmost district of Toledo. The closest immigration point with Guatemala with the exception of Melchor de Mencos in the northern territories near the Maya ruins of Tikal. The town is small and of no particular tourist attraction but with all the facilities you need if you are stuck in it. On the dock, Dwight Woody the owner of Southern Frontier Gift Shop with whom I had contacted previously greeted us. Dwight is an entrepreneur man and a typical Jack of all trades. Besides the Gift shop, he ran the fast boat operation to Guatemala, could sell you tickets for the shuttle planes of Maya air and Tropic air, tickets from Z-Line Buses and a small restaurant. After checking immigration we headed to his shop to organize how we would get to Placencia. I had told him that I wanted to tease my wife a little and that I needed his help.

Well my friend, here are your bus tickets he said, it's $8.00 per person r/t. At noon you have to board the last bus that leaves from Punta Gorda to Belize City. Some four hours later you will get to a town called Mango Creek. There you will leave the bus and walk towards the dock. At 4:30 p.m. you will be able to catch a water taxi that can take you to Placencia for $5.00 per person in about a half an hour. My wife's head began spinning after figuring we still had 5 more hours to go under this hot and humid climate and that this time I was taking her on a chicken bus, through a dirt road, to the middle of nowhere. That was exactly how I wanted her! After her look of resignation and the first comment telling me that this little town I was taking her better be wonderful or I'll be sorry, Dwight and I began laughing so hard we couldn't stop. At that moment I knew she was really being a good sport about this trip. The schedule and price Dwight had laid out was the way I was going to go solo before she decided to come with me with the only difference that the times were doubled on purpose. He gave me our tickets and we walked to the airstrip where we would take a small plane from P.G, as the locals call Punta Gorda, to the little tip of the Placencia peninsula. The small monoplane from Tropic air (www.tropicair.com) left at twelve thirty and for $60.00 pp r/t took us to our destination after a 15-minute hop.

To figure out where Placencia is take at a Map of Belize, cut it in half horizontally, move your finger towards the sea and you have found it. A narrow peninsula south of Dangriga that stretches 16 miles with probably the best beaches of Belize. The area is rustic but with a real charm and with the possibility of finding lodging ranging from the backpacker budget to $200.00 a night (try www.placencia.com for travel info.). Since I was no longer traveling alone I had upgraded my previous backpacker choice. I now took a cabin at the Tradewinds Hotel on the very tip of the Peninsula. A wood cabin with cement floor and brightly painted in a mint green with details of white on the windows, frames and doors. Blessed with the best breeze of Placencia at no extra cost this Spartan no frills room was equipped with a small fridge, fresh flowers on the table, a nice veranda with a huge double hammock and the beach 20 paces from your door for $55.00 a night.

Traveling along the peninsula your will find two main towns. Seine Bight Village, a black Garifuna settlement, in the middle and Placencia Town at the very tip of the peninsula. We stayed at Placencia Town, which I could describe as a melting pot of English, Black, Maya and Gringo cultures living together under a strange arrangement since I bet no one understands each other. The town is simple with typical Caribbean Architecture and some touches of Victorian décor here and there. The road to get here is unpaved and once you get to the Town everything has to be done walking. The only touches of concrete are found along the network of sidewalks that we could call pedestrian streets and avenues were no cars venture. Again, very rustic but good enough to forget this race we are calling life and beautiful to put a pause on the fast forward button we are constantly pushing on our internal VCR's.

The afternoon was spent wandering around the town trying to absorb the lay down lifestyle, checking out the little bars and restaurants that would be our home for the next four nights. Olga's grocery store came out handy with Belikin Beers, Cokes and other goodies for the fridge. Once back, we opened the already chilled bottle of white wine I had packed with my dive gear, set a small table with olives, cheeses and some crackers and laid down on the most comfortable double hammock we have tried in a long time. Like magic, our slow, relaxed, rocking motion was forcing the sun to come down and the beautiful bright full moon to appear.

The gentle breeze fiddled a melody during the twilight after the sunset. The palm trees moved slowly to this sexual dance excited from the wind. The sound of the waves on the beach kept tempo to a couple of frogs calling for their mates, sparking even in the most unromantic person a burst of passion. Passion for life… Passion for your woman…Passion for diving.

El Buzo

Next Post Diving Placencia and what to expect

Diving Placencia and what to expect Part 2

The diving around Placencia I could describe it as mediocre if we compare it to any of the outer atolls and even to some of the walls of Ambergris. To get to the dive sites be prepared for long boat rides (going out at 9:00, having lunch on a Caye or the boat and back at 5:00) since you would be heading to the eastern most reef structures or the southern parts of Southwater. The nearby Sapodilla Cayes like Lime, Hunting, and Seal Caye is where I learned diving in the late 70's and some 15 years ago I swore never to go back since there were no more fish in the area. As true then as it is now. The only places I would say are worth getting wet in that area is Silk Caye and Ranguana. Both on the northern point of the Sapodilla Cayes and with wall drops into the blue. This is the closest you will get to the beauty of Half Moon Caye or Glover's reef further north.

One thing we have to give credit is that Placencia can also offer other things besides diving. The tour to the nearby Monkey River will be a highlight to anyone that has never seen a tropical rainforest or heard the howling monkeys near. The lagoon area of Placencia also shelters manatees at certain time of the year, so, If you have not yet snorkeled or dived with these beautiful mammals this can be the place. The Cockscomb Basin Wild Reserve is also a day tour that can be a great experience but don't expect to find a Jaguar waiting for you to say hi! If you like Maya ruins you can also use Placencia as your HQ's and tour the area and the ruins in southern Belize for a full day tour.

The nice surprise for the trip was Laughing Bird Caye. This is the newest Marine reserve in Belize and catalogued by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is a good snorkeling place (5' to 35' average in depth) and if you like photography take your camera, strap a tank and prepare yourself for the "little stuff", endless corals and long bottom times at this shallow dive. This site is perfect for Juniors or new divers. They will enjoy a healthy marine life, good corals, and little things to see and still feel safe at the shallow depth. Surrounding Laughing Bird and still part of the marine reserve are some nice walls like Brian's drop off with 100' depth that are good conventional diving.

I met with Brian Young the owner of Sea Horse Dive Shop (www.belizescuba.com) Friday morning. Seahorse is a typical little shop of the Caribbean and Brian is a great fellow that has dived these waters for such a long time that I bet there is no little pocket, coral patch or bommie he has not explored. The shop has three boats, all skiffs with Bimini tops and with different sizes depending of where they go. The big boat is 33 ft with twin 150hp so this baby is fast and can hold 14 divers easily. The other two are 30' and 19' with single 200hp and 85hp set up for closer dives or tours.

Brian is a Belizean that has been involved with marine conservation for some time now and was one of the promoters of the Laughing Bird Marine Reserve. After checking gear necessities, weights, c-cards, the group started assembling and the two 30'+ boats left with igloo's, folding tables, gear, divers and snorkelers towards a full day camping on Laughing Bird. The full moon had its effect on the winds and the waves were between 4-5' high. Several people in the group got really seasick and they didn't enjoy the day at all. The area is typical Belize Caye with a wayward side with swells and currents and a leeward side with a nice beach and a place to land. The snorkelers' boat left towards the leeward side to land, unload and start exploring the reef close to them. The divers boat continued toward the wayward side were the waves were really picking. We would dive before lunch at site called Laughing Bird East.

Laughing Bird East

92' 55min.

We did a back roll entry with full gear and a float line was extended to hold the group until every one was in the water. The dive would be a drift dive on a gently sloping drop on the eastern side of the Caye. Very simple dive and a shocking welcome back to the Caribbean. After my first Indian Ocean experience two months before, the Caribbean was lifeless. But maybe I was being too harsh to compare things. I don't live near any of the Indian or Pacific destinations so why not enjoy what I can have close. The visibility was 40-50' vertically and no more than 30' horizontally. The water was at an amazing 87 with some hot flashes up to 91 degrees. For a moment I thought I was dreaming diving on a big pool of chicken broth slowly being heated. I don't have a Lycra suit so my full 3mm wetsuit had to be completely unzipped to dive in these conditions. The fish life was meager even if the coral was healthy. Some Sergeant Mayor, some Blue Tangs, some Grunt, a lonesome Barracuda, a couple of File Fish but nothing really exciting or worth the effort for the trip.

It was not until the next day that I realized that we were not taken there to see the fish, we were taken there to be observed by the dive masters. Gearing up on a boat moving hard by the waves, doing a back roll entry and holding to a float line under choppy seas, diving in currents and low visibility conditions, hovering at any depth just waiting, being able to do a safety stop at 15' with a current and getting back on board under these conditions were things we would need to do the next day.

Lunch at Laughing Bird was a nice experience. The crew had set up a folding table with some cold slaw, a cold spicy chicken, some typically Belize "rice and beans", Orange drink, cold water, and a huge cold pineapple cut and ready. This was a camping day so you get the picture. Everyone had to arrange a seat in the sand to relax and enjoy. Some coconuts, some tree trunks, a couple of palm leaves or just your towel were good enough. Experience has shown me that once you share a meal with anyone around a table, a bond is much easier to establish. Comments on the diving, the swells or the low visibility had started a conversation and soon everyone was talking a little more beyond the "good morning" during the boarding.

The group was very heterogeneous with different nationalities and backgrounds. A couple from Virginia, a lady from England, two lawyers from Belize City, a group of PHD's in Botany from Finland and the U.S., a research group from World Wildlife Fund and me from Guatemala. Will and Miguel from WWF were there to evaluate a proposal received from Brian to have the area we would go see the Cubera Snapper spawning and the whale sharks declared a marine reserve. Sara was a cute Californian with no more than 25 years, and incredible diver and a professional videographer that would tape the experience.

After lunch and a quick snorkeling in the leeward reef we were taken to our second dive on Laughing Bird Caye.

Laughing Bird South

73' 50 min

With the visibility being less than ideal and since we would be doing a shallower dive I was determined to look for the little stuff. This slow drift dive had more or less the same protocol as the first, but the slope was shallower and the current mild. There were some sand channels and some coral patches that had lots of little things. Cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs even a nice lettuce slug. The highlight was a patch with hundreds of blue turnicates with their grape like shapes, some barrels sponges and tube sponges but few reef fish. On the very last minutes of the dive we found an upside down jelly fish with a resident cleaner shrimp that I took a fair amount of pictures and had the opportunity to see swimming.

It took some 50 minutes to get back to Placencia town with the sun going down on us and the increasing desire for a cold Belikin Beer on the dock side bar called J'Byrds. The group from WWF, the two lawyers from Belize, my wife and I enjoyed the sunset, the company and the drinks. The excitement for tomorrow's expedition was already in the air, and diving anecdotes were shared bonding a little more this silent brotherhood of divers.

El Buzo

Next Post. "There be whales captain"

"There be whales Captain" Part 3

With all the sun I had received during the trip to Laughing Bird my nose was redder than Rudolph's and I had slept like a baby that night. I woke up at 5:30 with the first rays of the sun since our cabin was facing east and the wind was howling through the screened windows. A constant breeze had blessed us during the previous nights so the lack of AC in our cabaña was never felt. But this morning the wind was strong and you could see at the horizon that the waves had picked up more so than the previous day. We will need Dramamine today was my first thought. I did a mental check of all the gear I had at the dive shop to be sure I would not need anything special for that day and started brewing fresh coffee. After a nice awakening shower we were off for breakfast. Omar's Diner is a little run down wood cabin along the main pedestrian walkway of Placencia that opens at 6:30 am and that was known for good and hearty breakfast. I ordered some huevos rancheros and my wife had a western omelet along with a side order of Jacks. Jacks are a batter, tortilla like, fried bread that I had tried previously in Belize, and that you should try if you ever come down this way. Very similar to the baked Johnny Cakes famous in the Caribbean. After a quick visit to our cabaña we were off to the dock. Tanks were being hauled in, gear was being set and there was a lot of activity going on. Everything was ready by a quarter after eight and the two 30'+ boats left towards the outer reef. The trek took an hour and a half due to the windy conditions and the boats were really rocking this time. Half and hour into the trip there were already some green faces in the group among those that didn't take any precautions or were prone to seasickness. On the horizon you could see the ledge of the outer reef and beyond that the big swells of the Caribbean ocean. Our approach to the reef was better since the waves were much smaller and the boats picked a lot of speed. Brian and Chris, our boat captains, tackled with dexterity and the knowledge of experience, a maze of coral outcrops that made and undecipherable road on a bottom painted with green, aquamarine, light and deep blue hues. Once on the ledge of the reef the boats stopped and the anchor was dropped on a sandy bottom.

Welcome to The Elbow, were Brian's first words. For the past years we have been spotting Whale Sharks gather in this specific area and now we believe it is for a specific reason. During the full moon of April and May, Cubera Snapper gather in huge numbers to spawn in these water. The spawning takes place during the first and the last hours of the sunlight and the whale sharks are only one more uninvited guest to this feast of nutrients, eggs and sperm. In the moment of spawning huge numbers of snapper gather in a sexual dance encircling each other in a mass of bodies that start swirling like and inverted tornado being the ones on the top the stronger and more prone to release their eggs and sperm. Once this happens all the uninvited guests gather around to feast on the spoils of the activity.

The diving drill will be very basic but we have to control our instincts to go after the whale sharks. We will gear up here on the ledge of the reef and will be ready to drop in the water on my command. Once on the open ocean I will get in the water and snorkel for a while until we find a school of Cubera Snapper big enough to attract the attention of the sharks. Once I find the school we will all drop to 100 feet and from there we will do a multilevel for 50 minutes following the school. If there are sharks they will approach us from the top or from the bottom. Snorkelers will drop in the water after the group of divers following the bubbles. When the bubbles reach the surface they will produce enough turbulence to attract the whale shark toward you, stay cool and don't interact with the sharks. Divers, it is imperative that we establish a diving protocol totally different to what you are used to. We will have to stick together as a group and when I say I what to hear tanks banging with each other I am serious. You should be diving with the fins of the person before you at arms length and I don't want a single file. Once we spot a whale shark we will all bunch together and hover at the same depth over the school of snapper and wait for the shark to approach. He will be attracted to our bubbles believing it is the spawn of the snapper. Do not go after them! If they are in the mood they will approach us and will interact with out bubbles.

The Elbow (dive No1) 98' 50 min.

With everything said we all started to gear up, checked everything to be ready and hit the open ocean on Brian's command. The boats tackled the last reef structure and once at the open ocean they were really rocking and we were spayed by the waves every now and then. Brian and Julie, the other dive master, got in the water and started snorkeling…and snorkeling…and snorkeling. The waiting was long and tedious and after 45 minutes we saw Brian performing a ritual like dance moving his arms frantically and producing enough bubbles and turbulence. Suddenly from the bottom a huge 25 ft Whale Shark emerged and was at less then 3 feet from him checking the bubbles. Their tanks were dropped in the water and soon everyone was on its way. We all dropped to 100 feet just to feast ourselves with a huge school of snapper on the bottom moving freely interacting with a smaller school of Bonito tuna. The bottom was a gently sloping terrain that fell into the blue and the visibility was some 60 feet. Even after all the briefing the group was not performing accordingly and the dive masters were gesticulating to get everyone closer. We started following the snapper and I keep an eye on the whale shark that was still on the surface. My wife and the other snorkelers were having a great close encounter with this gentle giant of the sea, lucky for them. They were performing the same ritual like dances producing enough turbulence to have him interested and near for a time. We continued following the thousands of snapper and I was really enjoying the view just with this spectacle. The dive continued and every now and then I keep an eye on the bright green bikini my wife was wearing on top. After some 40 minutes we were approached by two other whale sharks. It was difficult to now if it was the same one we had seen some 30 minutes before just joined by a new curious one. We all bunched together and hovered in place just waiting for their reaction. No luck this time… no interest in our bubbles since we were still spreading to far apart. The smaller one (25ft) just checked us out some 15 feet above us, and the huge one (35ft) just cruised by beneath us. Both had been close enough to have your heart pounding but too far away for any pictures. Sara with her top of the line video equipment was able to catch the images on video that we all enjoyed that night back on the dock.

We surfaced under some choppy conditions and while trying to get back on the boat, Melanie the lady from England, was smashed against the ladder getting a nasty cut on her forehead. The excitement on the boat was evident and we moved back to the ledge of the reef to anchor again and have lunch on the boat. The sun was strong even if the wind was high. The area covered by the Bimini top was small and the conditions were a little cramped with gear, igloos, and divers trying to share space. Lunch again was very good with typical camping meals, simple but tasty. We spend some three hours anchored waiting, snorkeling the close by reef formations and just plain relaxing to be prepared for our next dive.

The Elbow (dive 2) 73' 50min.

We followed the same dive protocol of the previous dive just that this time Brian has just found the snappers. Our group performance was much better and again I was delighted to see so much fish. The snappers were never tame enough to get close by to take a picture, but just feasting your eyes with this wonder of nature was worth the dive. We hovered… and hovered… hovered on top of the school but our luck had run out with the whale sharks. Maybe it was still to early in the afternoon. Maybe we did something wrong. Maybe…

The mood after that dive was melancholic and even if there were lots of smiles you felt like the kid that had been invited for the birthday party but had to leave early before the party gifts were given out. The ride back was somewhat shorter, or at least it felt that way, and I was ready to take a cold shower, a big rum and coke and enjoy the full moon with my beautiful wife just wondering on the beauties of nature.

El Buzo

Next Post The last two dives with Rhicodon Typus and recommendations.

The last two dives with Rhicodon Typus

After the green faces from some of the divers the previous day, and the fact that no snorkelers were going out today, the group was smaller so I really had high hopes of a closer encounter with this magnificent fish. The previous night was spent having dinner at "Tentacles", a little restaurant with a nice deck on a second floor and a cool breeze. Sara, Will and Miguel from WWF had joined us and the hours of the evening rolled away enjoying the moon rays, some fine drinks, amazing stories and mishaps from these seasoned divers. They had some marine charts and what Brian and other locals called The Elbow was charted in the marine map as Gladden Split. Distances or exact bearings I couldn't tell since I am no sailor and going through these maps was a new thing to me. The only thing that I could assess is that the reef makes a sharp angle at this point drawing an elbow type of figure and that it was south west of Glover's reef.

That morning you could feel an atmosphere of camaraderie among the smaller group and I was happy. Happy for the encounter the previous day, happy for having the guts to arrange this trip with no other information other than a web site, and happy that my wife was with me on a place off the tourist path and 5 star hotels.

The routine looked very much like a re-run on videotape of the previous day. Divers were looking for a tank in the boat to set up their gear. Crewmembers were getting Igloos, food and drinks. Photographers were getting bits and pieces together of things that looked from outer space. If any social anthropologist would see this ritual, and not know anything about it, could conjecture on a kind of religious or spiritual adoration with a definite and similar pattern of conduct from each individual. Pushing knobs, inflating war like vests, deflating them, introducing strange looking ornaments in their mouths, spitting inside artifacts that would go en their face, trying everything on but not wearing anything and acting restless once they are done with this activity. Interesting picture under this perspective.

We said our good-byes to the non-divers and departed with the twin 150 hp outboards roaring, taking gear, lunch and divers again to The Elbow. The trip was almost twenty minutes less than the previous day since the sea conditions were a little better. Even if we did head in the same direction we were not going to the exact same place. To me the Cayes looked very much alike but the maze of coral outcrops we were going through this time was different. Again once we reached the reef ledge the boat stopped and Brian went again into the briefing of the dive protocol. This time he highlighted the errors that we had done the previous day and slowly and in detail explained us why we had failed.

The Elbow (Dive 3) 102' 55min.

Today there were 6 little skiffs of local fishermen in the area. They had spent the night on the open ocean and their catch of snapper was plentiful. Brian and the other locals started talking in Caribe and you could catch a word of English here and there as well as a little Spanish with English accent. The fisherman was gesturing towards the south east of our position and Brian just turned our bearing into that direction. Some 5 minutes later Brian was among a group of 4 whale sharks that were swimming freely on the surface. When the first one appeared on the side of the boat you could clearly see it was the same size of our vessel and the bright spots on his back were reflecting like shiny glimpses of light on the surface. Moments later we were all in the water keeping a very tight formation and we had dropped 100' into the blue. There were no reference points of bottom so we were literally in the middle of the ocean. Hovering at depth and with no reference point to compare I could not say if we were being dragged by a current or not. The snapper spectacle could be clearly seen as a massive wall of bodies some feet below us. The group was staying close and I was hoping no one, including myself, would break formation or fail in following the dive protocol. Checking my depth I became aware that my breathing rate was too fast and the first 500 lbs. were history. Relax, keep a breathing rhythm, enjoy were my thoughts. After exerting some tension in the muscles of my hands and arms, I slowly started releasing it; breathing slowly and doing long exhales. In seconds my breathing was slow, relaxed and controlled. We hovered for what seemed to be eternity when Julie banged the tank twice, gesturing to really bunch together. Some 50ft away you would see the huge shadowy figure of Rhicodon Typus approaching. The group was conscientiously following the protocol and this time the gentle giant was approaching. My heart was pounding hard, my breathing rhythm had been interrupted by an abrupt need of air and I could feel the adrenaline rush traveling through my brains and central nervous system. His approach was steady as he first encircled us some 40 feet above us. The beast, some 30' at least, turned gracefully and increased its speed to ram directly into our bubbles. He was approaching us but I felt it was going directly at my bubbles. Stay cool…stay cool…it is still to far away for a picture…wait…wait…wait…now. In a matter of seconds I was able to take three pictures of his approach, a good one of a part of his mouth and eye, and another one of his head and gills. The circle of divers kept close and the fish ram unsuccessfully our bubbles interacting with us for some 10 minutes. Sara the videographer had been given the liberty to break the diving protocol and she was having a blast filming the shark opening his mouth on each approach towards our bubbles. After loosing interest he disappeared the same way he had come, fast and inconspicuous. The diving continued following the school of snapper with everyone wiggling their heads from side to side in search for Rhicodon Typus. The ones that ran short on air didn't want to leave the water and you could see them snorkeling on the surface following our bubbles. Once on the surface you could smell the fresh adrenaline on the boat and the scene looked more like a group of chickens cackling at the same time. Going back to the ledge of the reef for lunch seemed like the best idea to cool off this excessive dose of adrenaline.

Lunch was again simple but good. This time there was conch "ceviche", some fish balls with an excellent sauce, some rice with corn and a huge watermelon. Smiles were on all faces and we all wanted time go bye quickly. We needed more sharks so no one was interested in snorkeling the close reefs. Spots of shadow under the Bimini top were shared to take a relaxed nap before our next dive. My mind was already drifting about this dive and the next encounter we would have in a few hours.

The Elbow (dive 4) 76' 65min

We left the ledge of the reef some minutes after three thirty. The wind was picking up again and the swells were big but not as big as the day before. Brian and Julie got in the water for 30 minutes and no signs of snappers or whale sharks. They both got back on the boat and we moved to another place further south. They searched again for the snapper until finding a school big enough to be interesting. Everyone was in the water and in a few minutes the search started. The excitement of the previous dive, along with our anticipation of having another "for sure" encounter was making me impatient and anxious. We searched… and searched during the complete dive but no signs what so ever of our famous friends. The snappers were minding their own business as we cruised along their love nests and we hovered over their heads with no success with the whale sharks. Time is a cruel reminder that everything is ephemeral and so was our air supply. No one wanted to be out of the water as we had a 15min. safety stop. Long faces were evident on the boat and you could only hear small conversations. Our elusive friends had not showed up for the "prom night" dive of the expedition.

My mind was adrift during the ride on our way back. The sun was going down on us and the long weekend adventure was coming to and end. That song from Meatloaf "two out of three ain't bad" was on my mind but I was only going to change it to "two out of four ain't bad". Now it was time to get to more earthly things as paying the bills, gathering gear, washing wetsuits etc. The visit to Placencia had been fruitful and pleasant and the close encounters a reality. Would I come back to Placencia? Yes, if it is for the whale sharks experience. The diving was nothing to write home about. If you ever decide to come to this little part of Belize the little Tradewinds Hotel was clean and serviceable. Breakfast were very good at Omar's Diner, Bj's and Sonny's Place. Dinners were outstanding at The Galley, Tentacles and the Cozy Corner and we had some good drinks at Lagoon Saloon, J'Birds and the Dockside Bar. Just keep in perspective that this is a backpackers destination so everything is simple and laydown and nothing is fancy.

Hope you enjoyed it

El Buzo.