Welcome to Belize

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Belize is a wall diver’s paradise. Sheer walls like Painted Wall, Half Moon Caye Wall and Quebrada are adorned with huge crimson gorgonians and giant orange elephant ear sponges. Moray eels, spiny lobsters and tiny arrow crabs hide in every crack, crevice, cave and tunnels of these beautiful coral formations. These are just a few things you will see at Lighthouse Reef, Half Moon Cay and Turneffe Reef.

Every Saturday at 6 pm, the luxurious Belize Aggressor III casts off from the Radisson Ft. George dock, located in the heart of downtown Belize City for a week of hassle-free diving to Lighthouse Reef, Half Moon Cay and the famous Blue Hole. The mystical Blue Hole, a collapsed freshwater cave system is approximately 1000 feet across and over 400 feet deep. The Blue Hole was made famous by ocean pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau who declared it one of the Top Ten Dive Sites in the World. In 1971, he brought his ship, the Calypso, to the Blue Hole to chart its depths. Once descended into the Blue Hole guests will see beautiful vertical stalactite formations.

Diving begins Sunday morning and ends Friday before lunch when the Aggressor returns to port. Sunday through Thursday there is unlimited diving throughout the day and a night dive each evening.  Friday a half day of diving is offered. A trip to this Central American paradise isn’t complete without a visit to Belize’s Mayan ruins, a cave tubing ride through the jungle, or a canopy tour through the tree tops. Tours are offered on Friday afternoon, but an extended stay is recommended to fully enjoy the wonders of Belize. Guests may enjoy the Radisson Ft. George Hotel pool and bar area free of charge on Saturday.

Getting There:

Belize, Central America is located on the Yucatan Peninsula approximately 250 miles south of Cancun. It borders Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east and Guatemala to the west and south.

Most major airlines fly into Belize City: American, Continental, Delta, US Airways, United and Taca. There are many direct flights from the US and several connecting flights for the UK and Canada. Recommended Hotels: Radisson Ft. George (walking distance to yacht), DuPlooys Jungle Lodge & Chaa Creek, Cayo District – Rain Forest (2 hours from Belize City), Ramons Village (Ambergris Cay).

Arrival/Boarding/Departure:

Guests will be met by a crewmember in uniform at the Belize City (BZE) International Airport and transferred to the yachts. Guests may board Saturday between 3 pm – 6 pm. At 6 pm the yacht departs for its night anchorage to prepare for diving Sunday morning. After a full week of diving, the Belize Aggressor III returns back to the Radisson Ft. George dock in Belize City Friday afternoon after lunch. Check-out is Saturday morning at 8 am. Transportation is provided back to the Belize City International Airport Saturday morning.

Diving Environment:

• Dolphin, Tarpon, Sharks, Eagle Rays, Walls and Reefs with abundant marine life and multiple macro critters.
• All dives from mothership.
• Water temperature: 78 – 82F, 25 – 28C
• 3mm wetsuit recommended

Taxes & Fees:

USD $95 Port Fee paid onboard, $40 airport departure tax (paid in cash at airport).

Top Dive Sites – Belize

Angel Fish Wall
Many friendly Grey angel fish give this site its name. The top of the wall teems with small fish. Eagle rays and an occasional shark cruise the wall.

Aquarium
A sheer drop-off begins around 30’, with an abundance of fish life at the top. About 40’-60’ deep along the wall are large baffel sponges, giant deep water sea fans, and the richest collection of deep water gorgonians almost anywhere in the world. Giant elephant ear sponges, yellow tube sponges and azure vase sponges make this a very colorful area. Comical groupings of spotted truck fish are often seen on top of the wall, and the very corner of this reef is a very good place to see reef sharks, big black groupers, swirling schools of horse eyed jacks and hawksbill or green sea turtles.

Black Beauty
Known for sightings of turtles and eagle rays, this area features long mounds of coral with sandy bottom channels. Wall begins around 50 feet.

Blue Hole
The world’s largest blue hole, it was made famous by Jacques Cousteau in the 1970’s. The first shelf of this collapsed underground cavern begins at 110’. Here stalactites descend from the ceiling. A healthy reef exists around the edge of the blue hole and is home to an abundance of juvenile sea life, as well as schools of parrot fish, squid, flaming scallops and several varieties of angel fish. These shallows are great for diving or snorkeling.

Cathedral
Colorful formations resembling cathedral steeples with sandy cuts in between signify this site. This site is home to many black groupers and jacks, as well as three species of angel fish, scorpion fish, several varieties of eels and silver sides. Spanish dancers are sometimes sighted on the night dives.

Eagle Ray Wall
More arrow blennies that you will probably see anywhere else, plus loads of decorator crabs.

Elbow
This advanced dive boasts one of the best opportunities to see large pelagics such as eagle rays and reef and hammerhead sharks. Strong currents are often present.

Elk Horn Forest
Located on the east side of Long Caye, the shallows grow large mounds of lettuce leaf coral that projects towards the depths. In the shallows are elk horn corals inhabited by numerous species of juvenile fish.

Grand Bogue
This site is home to the elusive white spotted, white lined and large-eyed toadfish.

Half Moon Caye
Weather Permitting, the Belize Aggressor III anchors just off the caye. Guests are shuttled to the island and enjoy a relaxing walk along the beach to the bird sanctuary. Here you can observe red footed booby birds and frigate birds from observation deck built at the canopy level. Located on the east end of the island is an historic light house built in 1848, which by the way is the lighthouse for which the atoll is named. The guests may have the opportunity to snorkel with several nurse sharks around the docks of this tropical island.

Half Moon Caye Wall
Marked by tunnels and grooves which slope down toward the open water, several different species of grouper and snapper can be seen in the tunnels. Just off the wall, one can spot eagle rays, sharks and turtles.

Long Caye Wall
Named for a protruding ridge of reefs and numerous swim throughs with grooves which cut the wall running directly to the open sea. Interesting soft corals and sponges are abundant here, and many eels are found here, as well.

Painted Wall
There are many clusters of small painted tunicates, within the depths of 40 – 70’. These walls have shallows inhabited by species of parrot fish, black durgeon, queen trigger fish, and many more. The sheer walls begin around 25’ and are overhung in many places with black coral trees and rope sponges covered with light bulb tunicates.

Que Brada
Named for a cut in the reef (the wall and shallows), this is an extremely sheer and active stretch of wall. Because it projects out into the current, the extra flow of plankton around it supports an incredibly rich diversity of marine animals. Green moray eels, spotted drum, lobster, crabs, and tarpon on the night dives.

Silver Caves
The large swim through is frequently inhabited by thousands of silver sides, and the vertical wall starts in only 35’ of water. Lots of big black groupers collect under the boat, as do the ubiquitous school of horse-eyed jacks, yellow tailed snappers, and Creole wrasses.

Tarpon Caves
A tall reef buttress rises straight up from the whitest powder sand to within 30’-35’ of the surface and is honeycombed with caves and cuts. This vertical wall is covered with huge yellow tube sponges, black coral trees and monster barrel sponges projecting from the many small ledges. The sand areas are rich in garden eels, midnight parrot fish, razor fish and southern stingrays. Tarpon patrol the inside edge of the reef. This dive site features several tunnels and chimneys in which tarpon and grouper like to hide.

Triple Anchor
Three anchors are very well hidden on a beautiful reef in 45-feet of water. Look for big Barrel Sponges, Eagle Rays and a cleaning station.

West Point 1 & 2
The visibility at these sites is highly dependent upon winds and tides, but the labyrinth of reef buttresses makes this site great even when visibility is down. The walls are very vertical and start in only 20’ – 25’ of water. Loads of black coral and deep water gorgonians abound, as do giant barrel sponges and red finger sponges. You are likely to see mangrove tunicates here. The shallow sandy area is alive with garden eels, peacock flounders, and southern stingrays. In the sandy areas, blue throated pike blennies can be found.

Wreck of the Sayonara
Remains of a 50’ boat with coral growth around the wreck and numerous barrel sponges, along with many other sponge varieties.

Yacht Spec and Photos

The Yacht Port: Belize City, BelizeBuilt to Lloyd’s Registry and American Bureau of Shipping Standards. Length:  110 ft. Beam: 22 Passengers: 18 Crew:  6 Saturday to Saturday trips Boarding:  Saturday 3 p.m. Check out: Saturday 8 a.m. The Belize Aggressor III has been an Aggressor Fleet destination since 1987. Staterooms Room #1 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  9′ x 9″ feet Top Bunk: Bottom: 38 x 80 inches 38 x 80 inches Room #2 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′  x 8’6″ feet Top Bunk: Double: 38 x 74 inches 53 x 74 inches Room #3 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′  x 8’6″ feet Top Bunk: Double: 38 x 74 inches 53 x 74 inches Room #4 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′  x 8’6″ feet Top Bunk: Double: 31 x 74 inches 54 x 74 inches Room #5 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′ x 8′ feet Top Bunk: Double: 31 x 74 inches 53 x 74 inches Room #6 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′ x 7′ feet Top Bunk: Double: 31 x 74 inches 54 x 74 inches Room #7 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′ x 7’6″ feet Top Bunk: Double: 31 x 74 inches 54 x 74 inches Room #8 Deluxe Stateroom Rm Size:  8′ x 8′ feet Top Bunk: Twin: 31 x 74 inches 54 x 74 inches Room #9 Master Stateroom Rm Size:  10′ x 8′ feet Double: 54 x 74 inches

Master Stateroom (#9) Double bed, private head and shower, closet, port window, individual climate control and hair dryer.	Deluxe  Stateroom (#2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) Double bed (lower) and twin bed (upper) bunk-style, port window. All with private head and showers, individual climate control and TV/DVD.
	Deluxe Stateroom (#1) Two bunk-style single beds, no port window. All with private head and showers, individual climate control and TV/DVD.

Meet the Crew

Captain Jay Roberts, born in Clearwater, Florida has always loved being near the ocean. Having been a certified instructor since 1996, he has enjoyed teaching and showing others the underwater world he loves so much. He began working in 2002 as the photo pro on board the Okeanos Aggressor in Cocos Island. He holds a USCG 500 ton international captains license. As captain of the Belize Aggressor III, he is devoted to passenger and vessel safety at all times and it shows.

Captain Mike, formally from the private mega yacht community in South Florida, Michael was initially introduced to boating, snorkeling and SCUBA back in 8th grade off Catalina Island in Southern California.  Since then, he has dove in a variety of locations throughout Southern California (from Malibu to San Diego), South Florida (from West Palm Beach to Miami), Florida Keys (from Key Largo to Key West), Bahamas, East and West Coasts of Mexico, Cayman Islands, Hawaiian Islands and the Caribbean. Michael holds a MCA Master of Yachts 200 Ton Offshore rating, is an Emergency First Air Responder Instructor and is also a SCUBA Specialty Instructor for Enriched Air, Underwater Photography, Underwater Videography, Night and Deep Diving.   Michael is currently perusing to advance his yachting career by earning his 500 Ton Master of Yachts rating. In his off time, he likes to keep active by rollerblading, hiking, biking, snow skiing and is also a private pilot.   When schedule allows, travels back to his home town of Ann Arbor, MI and visits his mother in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Fermin Carpio, born in Peten, Guatemala and moved to Belize at the tender age of 7. He is the chief engineer and dive-master, and has been on the Belize Aggressor III for a little over a year. Fermin started diving about five years ago and particularly enjoys showing guests the sea critters on night dives. His favorite marine animal, is the toadfish.

Jody Martinez, growing up in a small coastal village in Dangriga called Hopkins, Jody started at a young age when he first snorkeled the local reef and considered the possibilities. Falling in love with the aquatic realm, Jody was determined to make a career out of diving and got certified. Today he is an Open water scuba instructor and has a genuine passion for what he does. His upbeat personality extends underwater where he constantly points out the marine life and their interactive behavior. Jody certainly has a sincere devotion for his profession and the ocean.

William Johnson, a true islander having grown up on Turneffe Islands in Belize, began diving with a local dive shop 4 years prior to joining the Belize Aggressor III in 2010.  William or “Buddy” as friends call him, is super fun to be around and enjoys taking dive guests on a tour of his underwater world.  During his off time, he hangs out with friends and family and recently has been building a new house.

Chris Taylor, grew up in a house right across from the Caribbean Sea and spent a lot of his childhood in the waters around different islands in Belize. That familiarity with the ocean took a natural transition to scuba diving in his teenage years, then to Scuba Instructor in his later years. Chris worked on the Belize Aggressor III from 1999-2005, and is now back with the fleet. His fascination with the “not so obvious” marine life has earned him an ability to point out to photographers a lot of the smaller and camouflaged critters who blend in with their surroundings. Chris loves showing off his “backyard” to divers that visit Belize and still gets as excited on dives now as he did on his first dive.

Yanis Gibson, has astounded guests of the Belize Aggressor III with her award winning culinary delights, infusing local Belizean flavors with traditional American panache. Embarking on her live-aboard career 13 years ago, Yanis has accrued some of the finest recipes from all over the world. Born in Corozal, Belize, Yanis lives with her Mother Durrith and beautiful daughter also named Durrith, age 14, in the northern part of Belize close the Mexican border. Even on her time off Yanis enjoys the kitchen and also loves spending quality time with her family which she passionately adores. Yanis takes pleasure in the rewards of her hard work with a fine meal accompanied by friends and family, and for dessert, a good delightful laugh.

Anna Grant, from Isabella Bank, Belize, Analisa Grant has been with the Belize Aggressor III for over 7 years. As chef, Anna ensures that every guest enjoys her Belizean style of food with her captivating presentation of meals and mouthwatering deserts. She always adds a bit of sunshine and brightens up everyone’s day. Watching divers every week returning from the dives in awe of their experience, Anna was curious to find out what all the fuss was about so she decided to take the plunge. Anna became a certified diver and appeared to be a natural. She had no problem getting acquainted to the aquatic ambit and even nonchalantly swam with several Caribbean Reef Sharks during her course. Anna has now caught the scuba bug! When on dry land, Anna lives happily in Ladyville with her husband Jason and gorgeous 3 year old son Jace. She loves to cook, spend all her time with her family and listen to a little Belizean music.

Randy Zaldivar, lives in the beautiful town of Orange Walk 50 miles North of Belize City. He has been a steward on board the Belize Aggressor III since 2006. You can find him preparing coffee long before the sun rises. When not working on board the BAIII, he is busy preparing and delivering some amazing pizza that he creates from his restaurant “Tan’s Pizza” in Orange Walk.

Charter Rates – Belize

Schedule – Belize