Belize

Backfilling a little, I Need to get better at blogging.  I haven't put either Belize trip in here, so I'll talk about them together, since they were similar trips.  I think the first time was probably November 2009 and the second in April 2013.  The first trip, there were about 20 of us - along with the main house, we rented not her down the beach a few houses. The second trip was about 10 people.

Belize is amazing of course.  Both times, we stayed at Casa Tortuga on the island of San Pedro, south of the main part of the island.  The house is amazing, donning 4 ensuite and 1 additional large bedroom.  The three bedrooms on the lower level open up directly to the pool.  There are no bad rooms in the place.  It has a large living area with a bar, large couch and table that fits about 12 and a full kitchen.  In addition to the main house, there was also the pelican house, a mother-in-law type full-apt, which is super cute and has two levels of decks above it, that give you a full 360 view.  The best thing about the indoors though, is Maria, the house cook.  She is AMAZING.  And anybody who knows me, knows I can't shut up about the awesome Belizian Hot Sauce that she uses liberally.  I can't get enough of it.  Everything she cooks is amazing.

Outside, it sits immediately on the beach and has it's own dock, which is perfect for the scuba boat pick-ups.  There's also a large pool in the backyard, with plenty of padded lawn chairs for chilling' in the sun. 

A good number of us spent a fair amount of time diving.  I think I did 7 dives the first trip and 5 dives the second. We couldn't dive as many days the second trip because there had been a storm, which disrupted the water too much.  Belize is hands-down, the best diving I've done so far, which is exciting, because from what I hear, there are even better places to dive. Both times, I saw a non-quantifiable massive number of all kinds of fish, including nurse sharks and rays.  Every dive was full of tons of sea life.  We coordinated all our dives through Suya Tours, not far from the house and they pick us up promptly, right at our dock and are very reasonably priced and professional.  Unfortunately, I still haven't dove the Blue whole.  The second time, we couldn't due to weather and the first time, it was at the end of the week - a handful of us took the day boat out there (2 hrs), but I only did the short dives.  My sinuses were too messed up from diving all week to do the blue-whole - 150 feet down with sinus issues on a regulator sounded miserable. One day though, it'll happen.

Both trips, we took a day and rented golf carts for the entire group.  An absolute blast and complete shit-show.  We cruised through town and stopped at a few cool bars and restaurants along the way, like Fidos - a must stop at bar, right in the center of town and on the beach.  It's completely open on the back side, so it makes for a great bar to hang out in and get some fresh air.  That being said, there is no shortage of great beach bars within a stones throw.  The best bar though, is hands-down, The Palapa bar.  It's north of the bridge, so it's a bit of a trek, but well worth it.  It's built on a dock, so you look down straight into the water.  It's a party on it's own, any time of day, with a great lively atmosphere and shotski (well - more like a shot-boom) to boot.  We always have a blast at this bar - too bad it's too far to frequent more often.

When hanging out by the pool during the day, we were often visited by a few local woman (same both trips), that come by to schedule Massages, manicures, pedicures - you name it.  The last time I ended up with a sun burn (like I have now - See Ecuador 2014) and the woman gave me an Aloe Vera Massage to help it heal.  It's messy, but pretty awesome.  Very sweet lady that does the massages with the help of her two daughters or nieces (not sure which). 

Belize is definitely a vacation I look forward to.  Next time, it's possible we will stay in a different house a little ways down the beach.  We found a super cool new house that looked amazing, with all sorts of bells and whistles.  :). But, it'll be hard to switch from Casa Tortuga.