{"id":493,"date":"2008-01-15T10:04:08","date_gmt":"2008-01-15T16:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/belize-vacation-diving-in-paradise\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T22:45:34","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T04:45:34","slug":"belize-vacation-diving-in-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/belize-vacation-diving-in-paradise\/","title":{"rendered":"Belize vacation: Diving in paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Belizefish1\"<\/a>
\nBy Nathan Borchelt<\/em><\/p>\n

Given its proximity (just 750 miles from Miami<\/strong><\/a>) and a lack of a
\nlanguage barrier (English has long been the official tongue), Belize could serve as a rainforest-covered, sand-trimmed second home for most
\nU.S. citizens.<\/p>\n

But after I returned from my second Belize vacation<\/a><\/strong> and related my travels to friends, it became evident that
\nthe exotic sound of the country makes it seem like it’s worlds away.
\nAnd in certain respects, it is.<\/p>\n

\nSimply put, you want it, you’ll find it in Belize. Scuba diving and snorkeling?
\nThe second-largest barrier reef system<\/strong> stretches the length of the
\ncountry’s coastline. Evidence of centuries-old culture? Mayan ruins<\/strong>
\ncover vast swaths of the tropical regions — some still buried underneath
\nthe soil, waiting for the necessary funding for excavation. The
\ntried-and-true art of doing nothing at all? Three words: the Caribbean
\nSea.<\/p>\n

And then there’s hiking through dense rainforest trails, swimming
\nin freshwater pools underneath raging waterfalls, kayaking through
\nreptile-infested waters, riding the zip line through a maze of tropical
\nvines, spelunking over Mayan pottery with nothing but a headlamp to
\nguide your way, tubing through underground rive systems \u2026 it’s like the
\ngods of experiential travel<\/a><\/strong> used this small Central American country as
\ntheir tropical prototype.<\/p>\n

Last August, after a flight<\/a><\/strong> from Belize City, I landed on Ambergris Caye<\/strong>, a large island off the northern coast, for a week of diving, diving, and, um, more diving. Single-minded pursuits, no doubt — but then the trip was organized by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors<\/a><\/strong>, one of two dive certification groups in the world \u2014 so at least I was with a crew who shared my obsession.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here<\/a><\/strong> is visual evidence of that obsession, as well as some photos taken on terra firma. The individual pictures (hopefully) speak for themselves, but the collective aim was to attempt to capture some of the grace and beauty — the effortless wonder — that embodies the best moments of scuba diving, and of Belize. And, hopefully, to help you realize that while the country may sound like some tropical far-away land, it may be just as easy, or easier, to travel to Belize<\/a><\/strong> than to fly from LA to New York City<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Technical notes: Above-ground shots were taken with a Nikon D80, while I used a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07 (a point-and-click in a factory waterproof housing) and a Sea and Sea YS-27DX strobe for the underwater photos. The strobe, mounted on a Sea Arm Light base, is a high-powered underwater flash unit that\u2019s synched to the point-and-click\u2019s flash by a \u201cslave\u201d function \u2014 basically, when the camera\u2019s flash fires, the strobe fires.  You can easily control the intensity and the placement of the strobe, and using the unit in consort with the camera can make the difference between a passable snapshot and a frame-worthy print.<\/em><\/p>\n

Related resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n