Another successful scuba vacation with Blue North Scuba and Rebecca Metcalfe.
San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, May 2 – 9, 2026
Seventeen of us travelled to Belize City on May 2 to take the island hopper to San Pedro, a stone’s throw from our home-away-from-home, Ramon’s Village Resort on Ambergris Caye, diving with the onsite dive operation called Ramon’s Village Divers, the oldest and one of the most respected dive shops in Belize. The resort is situated on a stretch of beach beside the jungle cabanas that we lived in — styled after the Tahitian cottages on the Polynesian island of Bora Bora. Very picturesque, very comfortable, with a beautiful lagoon pool, walking paths through the resort, and comfortable dining areas at “Pineapples”. Our cabanas, constructed from native materials, were built by craftsmen using the techniques from the days of the great sailing ships. Ramon’s Village is nestled in a tropical garden of palm trees, bougainvillea and replicas of Mayan sculptures to create an enchanted village.
click the photos to enlarge
We hit the jackpot with charm, ambience and terrific staff at the resort. Divemaster Jermin and his crew kept us pampered and safe on our diving excursions with the help of Captain Elmer, Geraldo (GR “the new guy”) and Marcus who was the other Divemaster. Rebecca kept us on schedule and full of enjoyable activities. The weather kept us happy — nice and warm after a snowy Canadian winter, with a refreshing breeze so we never felt too hot.
Rebecca Metcalfe was once again our magnificent Trip Leader with Blue North Scuba Club, and introduced the 13 divers and 4 snorkellers to Belize’s legendary diving experiences with nurse sharks, reef sharks, stingrays and spotted eagle rays. The nurse sharks reminded us of cuddly puppy dogs looking for affection (or more likely, a morsel of food that they’re used to getting from divers and fishermen). We always had several nurse sharks with us on a dive, swirling around amongst our little group, and occasionally snuggling up to Jermin, our Divemaster and guide.
We dove the local reefs that were close to the resort for the first day or so. They are composed of steep coral canyons with sand channels through the reefs, very picturesque underwater topography with elegant soft corals. We saw drum fish, grouper, trunkfish, fairy basslets, bluehead wrasse, stoplight parrotfish, moray eels, damselfish — just about everything you would expect — but not very many of them. Sadly, the throngs of fish and massive schools that we enjoyed a few years ago in Bonaire, were not evident here. I haven’t seen Triggerfish in a while. I miss their quirky shape and beautiful eye markings. Ah, but we had cuddly nurse sharks, oh my goodness, so funny.
Here’s our group heading out for the night dive — Everyone was excited, but it was Alex’s first night dive, and we were all thrilled for him.
Mid-week, we had a trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, with a snorkel stop along the way where they fed the nurse sharks and lots of jacks. Some of us jumped in before they started to chum. Before I hit the water, the sharks hit the scene, big time. They were like a solid lumpy brown carpet at the surface of the water. It was hard to find a place to leap in. Once in the water, we were surrounded by the feeding frenzy and they completely ignored us — quite an experience!
We moved on to another location within the marine reserve for a scuba dive, starting in very shallow water (only 1 meter deep), in a grassy sea. Then gradually found slightly deeper water, to watch fish gathered under the coral overhanging ledges. Happy, easy diving in the sunshine.
One afternoon we did a separate snorkelling trip north to Mexican Rocks and Stingray Alley. Mexican Rocks was a drift dive, moving from coral head to coral head. Back on board, and a little further south, we climbed back in the water while they fed the nurse sharks and stingrays. Quite a surreal experience, sitting back and watching these graceful creatures swirl around us and each other without connecting, just constant movement.
The resort dive operator organized a trip to the Great Blue Hole which attracted a boatful of divers from the resort, including three divers who took the day off from our scheduled Blue North dives to participate in Ramon’s Blue Hole excursion. I had been there 50 years ago with HHUC and found it quite interesting. After the Blue Hole, they stopped at two other shallow dive sites with a diverse fish population.
The wind was picking up, and we wondered if Ramon’s would have to cancel the diving beyond the reef barrier for safety reasons on our last few days. Lucky for us, they came up with a plan to travel south, between the reef and shore where it’s calmer, then cut across the seas to Turneffe Atoll. What a great day! The sun was sparkling, the boat was rocking through the waves, the breeze was invigorating — and the wall diving was delightful. Eagle rays, grouper, reef sharks, lots of small fish life along the wall and some colourful coral for a change, and one annoying free-swimming Remora who wouldn’t leave us alone. This was a terrific location for our last dives, very memorable and interesting.
The town of San Pedro on the Caye is a laid-back place to explore. Many of us ventured to try the local cuisine, but I think Bence and Alex were the best at it. Sammy’s across the road was a favourite, and they specialized in montreal smoked meat which caught our attention!
One afternoon, we rented golf carts to travel through town and see the sights. It’s an interesting place with a mixture of fancy private homes, dilapidated ruins, construction sites, and normal daily life on the Caye. Golf carts are the main mode of transportation here. We survived the deep traffic-calming bumps and swerving road turns every few blocks. Enormous thanks to the drivers! Our destination was The Truck Stop, a shipping container food-truck park, featuring different cuisine choices. Absolutely delicious shrimp taco lunch with ice cold ginger ale. What a treat!
We have a lot to celebrate! First and foremost, we celebrate Rebecca and the joy that she brings to our lives.
We celebrate families, and fathers & sons who dive together.
We celebrate our lasting friendships since the 1970s.
We celebrate new blossoming friendships that we look forward to continuing.
We celebrate accomplishments for new divers, and we celebrate youth, the future of diving.
We celebrate three couples who are making moves to new homes this spring.
We celebrate two new retirees, launching the next phase of their lives.
We celebrate multiple birthdays on our vacation.
We celebrate the anniversary of a beautiful couple.
We celebrate the excitement of looking forward to our next adventure together.
Belize is an interesting country. There are many eco-adventures to be had on the mainland if we were staying another week, but alas, it was time to say goodbye to paradise, and head home to Spring in Ontario (and dive planning for the Tobermory Certification Weekend!)
We left our mark — Rick, the dive operation manager shared that our boat crew loved our group, experienced us as very friendly, a lot of fun to be with, and that we were making an easy week for them. Rebecca left our Blue North decal logo on board Al’s Honey to remember us by.
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Dive Log
May 3, Dive 1 – Cyprus Gardens Reef – This is where we first met the daytime free-swimming affectionate nurse sharks. We also encountered black tip reef sharks who came surprisingly close to us as well as the free-swimming remoras. This reef is part of the greater Belize Barrier Reef system, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the second largest in the world.
May 3, Dive 2 – Happy Hour Reef – After our surface interval back at the dock, we headed just off the coast of Ambergris Caye to Happy Hour Reef, so named for someone’s memorable late afternoon dive featuring spawning barrel sponges – a happy event indeed. It is a drift dive with diverse corals. We had a yellowtail jack following me and Ian throughout the dive, more snuggly nurse sharks and another reef shark.
May 4, Dive 1 – Ramon’s Canyon – Nurse sharks, a reef shark and Jermin was very excited to find us a turtle! The reef was looking sad and grey, vis was not as good as yesterday, hardly any fish.
May 4, Dive 2 – Tres Cocos Canyons – Spanish for “three coconuts”, it’s a spur and groove coral formation typical of the area – tiny nudibranch, loggerhead turtle, nurse sharks, reef sharks, moray eels, large crab, two sightings of a spotted eagle ray, christmas tree worms, and variety of reef fish in the shallows towards the end of the dive.
May 5, Dive 1 – Mayan Princess – Continuing with the puppy nurse shark, we also saw three turtles (one Loggerhead Turtle was sleeping in the sand canyon, covered in Remoras), a barracuda, and Queen Angelfish for Dave who was under the weather today, and soft corals. The dive operation used our boat today, Al’s Honey, for the trip to the Blue Hole. After 15 minutes, the engine conked out, so they returned to the dock and switched boats. Interesting that they sent us out in Al’s Honey, and, surprise, it conked out. So, we also switched boats, for an easy, floaty, enjoyable dive.
May 5, Dive 2 – B & D – Called Big & Dirty, we saw a ray, turtles, beautiful French Angelfish, and a lovely fat squid with yellow markings and big eyes. We shared a moment. I wonder if my mask is reflective and it sees itself, or is it looking deeply into my eyes? I love floating motionless so that I drift slowly into the creature’s domain for a close-up look, even with the French Angels who are usually quite skittish. After the dives we spent an enjoyable time on the beach, looking up, watching the Frigate birds soaring above, with Tom pondering “If one of those coconuts happens to fall…”
May 6, Dive 1 – Tackle Box Canyons – A day of wild winds – This is where you confirm what a fantastic dive operation it is at Ramon’s Village Divers. The seas were up, but the sun was shining, and it was a good day for diving. We saw a juvenile spotted drum, one of my favs, and swam over several coral canyons along the way. When exiting, Jermin assisted by taking my tank in the water. GR and Elmer hoisted my tank on board. Jermin even took my fins off for me, and I climbed up the ladder. Remarkably easy for me (maybe not so much for Jermin) in the waves. Thanks to the crew for an enjoyable outing.
May 6, Snorkel – Shark Ray Alley – To avoid the chance of rough seas on the second dive, we headed over to Hol Chan Marine Reserve, and stopped along the way for a snorkelling adventure with nurse sharks and their buddies. Wow – feeding frenzy fun.
May 6, Dive 2 – Hol Chan Marine Reserve – Started off in a very shallow, grassy sea, 1 m or less deep, and gradually increasing to some coral heads. A little extra weight in the BCD pocket helped immensely. My group didn’t go through the cut, but had a good look around. Barbara got her beloved sea cucumber pictures at last! I liked sliding into the coral overhangs filled with fish.
May 7, Two Morning Dives – Our group headed back to Hol Chan Marine Reserve in the morning to avoid the rough seas beyond the protective reef wall at Ramon’s.
May 7, Snorkel 1 – Mexican Rocks – This was our afternoon scheduled snorkel trip with Chris and Carlos. We headed out as they described the safety features such as lifejackets for all, in case of emergency. “Why,” I asked, “are the lifejackets stored in a locked section of the boat?” This prompted a return to the dock to get the key! Good thing too because some of the participants wore lifejackets for snorkelling. It was a drift dive which was pleasant for us as we finned from coral head to coral head in search of trunkfish, angelfish, stingray, and schools of fish gathered under coral ledges. No wetsuits required, it was lovely and warm.
May 7, Snorkel 2 – Stingray Alley – This was a very different kind of dive — Staying in place in approx 1-2 m of water while the nurse sharks and stingrays swarmed around us, zinging between the snorkellers and other creatures, enjoying their meal. Really fun!
May 8, Dive 1 – Coral Barrel Canyon, Turneffe Atoll – Due to the rough seas and winds again today, we chose to take the calmer waters between shore and reef to head south to the end of Ambergris Caye, then cut across to the Turneffe Atoll for calmer diving. These were very nice dives. My dive notes say this is the dive with the Remora who wouldn’t leave us alone. But I think that happened on several dives! I saw a beautiful green coral, round and delicately scalloped with white polyps. This was a lovely wall dive, with free-swimming green moray, spotted moray, squirrelfish, a plump beautiful drumfish swimming in its figure-8, a trumpetfish hiding on a sea fan, and so much more. It was enjoyable to see a healthier reef with many fish as part of our last day of diving. After the dive, they served a snack of peanut butter and jam sandwiches (yum) with fruit.
May 8, Dive 2 – Mini Elbow, Turneffe Atoll – We saw a spotted eagle ray, grouper, reef shark, queen angels, french angels, lobsters, one of the lobsters was crawling around on the sand and coral, a drumfish as well as a juvenile drumfish, a scrawled filefish up close & personal, and Jermin found us a tiny flounder. At the surface internal this time, we were served a magnificent lunch of chicken, rice, coleslaw and fruit, topped off with Orange Fanta. Wow! Delicious. Then we cleaned our plates overboard and watched the fish frenzy begin. Very entertaining.
May 8, Dive 3 – Sandy Point, Turneffe Atoll – Another lovely dive. I sat out the third dive and enjoyed this part of the afternoon on the ocean, mostly on the upper deck of Al’s Honey. Instead of today’s usual dive package of a morning outing with 2-tank diving, Ramon’s transferred our payment towards the cost of a full day outing with 3 dives and lunch onboard. It was a spectacular day! We are so fortunate to have these experiences, and give thanks to Rebecca for her superb organizing and leadership.
Farewell until next time …
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~ KJCullen
Communications Director
Blue North Scuba Club
Blue North Scuba Club 