1. padi.com
Girls
Gone
DivingSeven women learn there’s much more to a dive trip
than diving. they — and belize — will never be the same.
April 2006 41
By Megan Padilla photos by Tanya Burnett
sportdiver.com40April 2006

2. sportdiver.com42April 2006 padi.com April 2006 43
“GreGory D.” I shout out, then spell:
“Capital G, r, e, capital G, o, r, y, capital
D. For Girls Gone Diving!”
The name sticks. After all, here we are,
Jen is the resident biologist at Lamanai
Outpost Lodge, and she’s here to collect
data on the reproducing population of
crocs in Belize’s New River Lagoon. Tonight,
we seven women are her assistants.
She snares a five-footer and pulls it
onto the bow, then duct-tapes its mouth
shut. The rest of us take turns holding it
— its skin is astonishingly dry, soft and
smooth — as Jen measures and weighs
it, determines it’s male and locates the
implanted chip that reveals our croc has
been in this position before. “You want to
name him?” she asks.
holding a croc in the moonlight on our last
night in Belize. There is no better mascot
for the week of adventures we’ve shared.
Beginnings
Girls Gone Diving began at a backyard
dinner party when a friend spoke of her
early scuba experience: an impatient dive
master, an advanced destination and a
photographer-husband who proved an
inattentive buddy. She’d never taken to
mustdomustdive
Chicken on a Stick
Drive your own gas-fueled golf cart on
Ambergris Caye. Venture to the north of
the island for cocktails and appetizers at
Captain Morgan’s. Drive south at dusk
to feed the local crocs ­— just tie some
chicken to a stick and stand back.
1. Half Moon Caye Wall
2. Small Mouth
3. Hol Chan Canyons
4. Hol Chan Marine Reserve
5. Cypress Gardens
diving — imagine that. Then I met Sara on a
flight to Mexico. We clicked right away. She’s
a diver — the dabbling-while-on-vacation
variety, and always with a boyfriend who’d
deal with the gear. But Sara didn’t feel like
adiverinherownright,confidentwithher
equipment and self-reliant in the water.
These two women inspired me; I wanted
to transform each of them into a Diver, the
kind who plans her next dive trip while
on a dive trip.
I extend an invitation and Sara
jumps, immediately booking vacation
time from her engineering job at Lock-
heed Martin. My sister Erin, a divemas-
ter, is game, making arrangements to be
away from her jobs as a lead project man-
ager and as a single mom. She extends an
olive branch to Crystal, who is essentially
Erin’s daughter’s stepmother. Crystal rec-
ognizes the gesture and signs up for her
PADI Open Water course right away. I
close encounters Right: The lush
walls of Lighthouse Reef are live-aboard
country. Far right and below: Who said
marine life is unpredictable? At Shark
Ray Alley, encounters with nurse sharks,
stingrays and jacks are guaranteed.
Previous pages: Girls hit the dock for
an early-morning pickup at Chabil Mar
Villas in Placencia.
The spotlight pans across the flooded
savannah and settles on two red
reflections — a crocodile’s eyes. “Jen,
Jen!” the driver shouts above the din of the
airboat’s fan-like motor, “Over there!” He
sidles the flat-bottom boat closer to our prey.
Apparently, crocodiles don’t hear so well.

3. sportdiver.com44April 2006 padi.com April 2006 45
add to the mix photographer and vet-
eran diver Tanya Burnett, who is perfect
for this trip in every way. Tanya invites
experienced diver Mary, who is taking
time off between consulting gigs to dive
every chance she gets (she and Tanya
met while diving in the Galapagos). And
last is my mom, Carol, who this past
summer, at the age of 66, became a cer-
tified diver so she could join her daugh-
ters. As for me, I get an off-campus pass
from my cubicle in Magazine Land to go
do what most people think I do all the
time — dive. The common denomina-
tors among those in our group: enthusi-
asm and an appreciation for wine. I ask
each person to bring two of her favorite
bottles to share.
Figuring out where to go was just as
important as identifying who would go. I
wanted these women to have adventures
they’d never imagined. Belize instantly
came to mind: It’s a safe country where
English is spoken, yet it feels utterly for-
eign. The charming and little-developed
Ambergris Caye is a mere giant-stride to
dive sites up and down the second-longest
barrier reef in the world.
We’d have our choice of
dive sites that are easy
enough for beginners
but varied enough to
interest advanced div-
ers. We could dive three
times a day and still
have time to hang at a
simple beachfront ho-
tel, hopscotch through
happy hour in golf carts
and go exploring on our
own. For mainland at-
tractions, I recalled my
own jungle hikes and
river excursions during
which I’d encountered troops of howler
monkeys, iguanas basking in the sun
and crocs resting on riverbanks at night
— not to mention the mysterious Maya
ruins. Belize had once rocked my world; I
suspected it might rock my companions’.
Cypress Gardens
•Belize City Thanks to Tropic Air’s convenient
and affordable in-country flights, we
could spend five days on Ambergris Caye
diving, one night in a low-key beach
town on the mainland and still spend a
few nights in the jungle.
Wooing Crystal
Ours is the only boat bobbing in the inky
darkness at the Hol Chan Marine Reserve.
The waves breaking 100 yards away on
Belize’s famous barrier reef are silver in
the moonlight — a decidedly different
scene from the last time I was here, sev-
eral years ago.
That was the day I overcame my fear
of wearing a mask and
breathing through a snor-
kel; the day I felt the soft
fleshiness of a stingray’s
wing as it glided between
my outstretched hands.
That was the day a Be-
lizean guide named Juni
opened the underwater
world to me, ultimately
bringing me to this mo-
ment, on this boat, with
this gang of six other ad-
venturesses keen to expe-
rience their own firsts.
Crystal, a beauti-
ful blond veterinarian, is
visibly shaking. Today’s
the first time she’s used
her freshly minted C-
card, having completed
her check-out dives in La
Jolla the weekend before. In the spirit
of our adventure — and after the day of
great diving we’ve already had — she’s
game for her first night dive. This site is
shallow, rarely exceeding 25 feet, and her
buddy is Erin, who gets as stoked turn-
ing new divers on to the sport as she does
actually doing it. In fact, it was she who
persuaded me to trade up my snorkel for
a second stage. It was she who invited me
on my first dive trip. Crystal is in good
hands.
From the moment we enter, I know
this is special. I shouldn’t be surprised,
Destination Primer
AVERAGE WATER TEMP: 76-86°F WHAT
TO WEAR: Dive skin or shorty in summer; 3-
5 mm fullsuit in winter AVERAGE VIZ: 100+
feet WHEN TO GO: Year-round
continuing education
Get your AdvancedDiver
specialty. For more info, go to
padi.com.
telling stories Above: Wine, food, a fire and friends at
Chabil Mar Villas complete a perfect day of diving. Opposite,
top: A bird’s-eye view at Lamanai. Opposite, center row, from
left: Skimming Belize’s surface on snorkel; Lamanai biologist
Jen displays a juvenile boa; Half Moon Caye; shopping in
Placencia. Opposite, bottom: A playful dive buddy.
Deco Stops BelizeThere’saT-shirtlogothataptlydescribesSan Pedro(ambergriscaye.com)as“aquaintlittledrinkingtown
withadivingproblem.”You’llneedsomestaminatodoitall,though;thelocalsdon’tstarttheirpartiesuntil
at least 10 p.m. Wednesday is ladies’ night at Wet Willy’s, and you can groove to live music nearly every
nightatFido’s.TherestaurantattheSunbreeze Hotelisperfectforeverythingfromajuicycheeseburger
at lunch to an inventive dinner infused with Asian influences. Before diving, try Ruby’s Bakery for cin-
namon rolls or a breakfast burrito. Rent a golf cart from Island Adventures to explore the island. Throw
your own wine-and-cheese party with provisions
from Wine de Vine. In Placencia (placencia.com)
it’s “ready, set, shop.” Gift shops, artists’ studios and
craftcollectiveslinethesidewalk.Placenciahasalso
spread out to the “back road” — which is really the
main road — where you’ll find everything from Ital-
ian gelato to coffee shops with high-speed Internet
access. Of course, there’s always the beach.
Lamanai•
AMBERGRIS CAYE
MEXICO Hol Chan Marine ReserveSan
Pedro• Hol Chan Canyons
Small Mouth
Lighthouse Reef
Blue Hole
Half Moon Caye
Wall
Shark Ray Alley
ca r i b b e a n s e a
Placencia •
BrendaWeaver

4. padi.com April 2006 47
considering the fact that I’ve seen this
channel packed with marine life before.
The first thing I notice is the unusual tex-
ture of the sand. I hold still and stare.
A dome-shaped eye looks back. I sweep
my light slowly side to side, then in front
of and behind me. It’s a slumber party
of stingrays, their wings overlapping one
another. I hover over one brute so ex-
pansive that I envision eight people (10,
in my old New York apartment) pulling
chairs around for a dinner party.
If it weren’t for the competition — a
pack of hunting squid, a delicate octo
dancing clear of its den, a crab devour-
ing its lobster dinner, a giant parrotfish (I
had no idea they could be so big) tucked
motionless under a ledge, prowling tarpon,
a curious grouper and a free-swimming
moray eel — I could have passed the
entire hour-long dive enraptured by the
motionless rays.
Crystal is triumphant, even though
the iron grip she applied to Erin’s hand
throughout the dive earns her the nick-
name Remora. She’s a woman who loves
animals, and the number of critters in her
universe has just multiplied exponentially.
On the boat ride back, we spot Mars
for the first time. Its red glow sears the
night sky, as it will throughout our visit.
Mars, Erin tells us, won’t be seen at this
intensity again in our lifetimes.
Flying With Turtles
Piling our dive gear on a golf cart for a
short jaunt down the beach isn’t a bad way
to start the day, even if it means saying
goodbye to our guys at PADI resort Aqua
Dives. My boot-camp approach requires
us to sample different dive operators. I
want our newbies to face many variables:
a varying number of divers as well as dif-
ferent boats, gear setups, entrances, water
exits and crew.
Ramon’s Village Resort is a big op-
eration, a PADI Gold Palm IDC with an
excellent reputation, yet it manages to
maintain a personal, owner-operated
feel. Again, we have our own boat and a
crew who ask enough questions to map
out a unique day, including a surface in-
terval spent snorkeling at Shark Ray Al-
ley, ripe with people-friendly throngs of
nurse sharks, rays and jacks.
Grouper are common on the reefs in
Belize, and at a site called Small Mouth a
single Nassau grouper joins us, tagging
along for the entire dive like a friendly
neighborhood dog. Each time I take a
head count, the mutt is always there —
instead of seven divers, we’re eight.
Hol Chan Canyons is similar to Small
they come in all sizes Belize offers
the opportunity to dive with whale sharks,
the largest fish on the planet.
Whale Sharks
of Gladden Spit
The Gladden Spit Marine Reserve off
the coast of southern Belize remains
one of the few places in the world
where divers can get fin-to-fin with
whale sharks. To see them during
their annual migration, April through
June, check out the whale-shark
excursions offered by Blue Marlin
Lodge, Hamanasi, Isla Marisol and
Manta Resort.
DougPerrine/Seapics.com
46April 2006 sportdiver.com
On the Web: Plan
your whale-shark trip at
sportdiver.com/whale
sharksbelize.com.
for more information
Mouth — an 80-foot dive on a series of
dramatic canyons, the tops encrusted
with healthy coral and sponge life. But
the marine life is even better here. A
pack of grouper (they really are so dog-
like that “pack” feels most appropriate)
repeatedly appear. A single hawksbill
joins us; together we swim close above
the coral and then fly over the abyss until
we “land” on the other side. Our game
wears me out just as a duo of spotted
eagle rays swoop onto the scene — two
kites catching an updraft in the blue,
triangular wings outstretched and long
tails trailing behind. They circle us once,
twice, vanish and then reappear. Tanya
and Mary, both of whom always have a
digital camera at the ready, are lucky they
aren’t shooting on film — they’d run out
in a matter of minutes.
We’re jubilant back at the dock, and
I watch Sara (and everyone, come to think
of it), pack up her gear like a pro — no
more leaving it to a guy. Now it’s time to
put our golf carts to good use, with an
excursion up-island to Captain Morgan’s,
the luxe bungalow resort known as the
location of the men’s camp on the real-
ity show Temptation Island. Once we’ve
zigzagged through the bustling village
of San Pedro, where we’re staying, we
cross the water-filled cut on the island
aboard a hand-pulled ferry (along with
locals carrying fishing buckets, kids on
bikes and mothers with babies) then
drive another 45 minutes on a potholed
road, stopping along the way to pick
red hibiscus blossoms for our hair. The
drinks at Captain Morgan’s border on cli-
ché — candy-colored and fishbowl-sized,
adorned with rainbow-striped umbrellas
— which makes us love them even more.
At dusk we head back to San Pedro with
fireflies lighting our path.
Sharks and Boobies
The Blue Hole excursion is the signa-
ture trip at PADI resort Amigos Del Mar
(located at the Maya Princess Hotel). Judg-
ing by how long the crew’s been with the
resort — our guide Edgar has been with
the company for over a decade — it’s no
wonder that they have the day choreo-
graphed to perfection. It starts when they
pick us up at the dock of our hotel, the
Sunbreeze, at 5:45 a.m. and ends in the
same place 12 hours, three dives and un-
countable boobies later. (“What’s a girls’
trip without the boobies,” we’d joked
(Continued on page 86)
while admiring the red-footed variety
with feathers.)
Dived specifically to see the giant
stalactites that begin at around 120 feet, the
Blue Hole is one of the world’s great natural-
history exhibits; the massive geologic fea-
tures are a testament to a time when the
cave stood above sea level. Marine life is
notably absent though … or so it seems.
After reaching depth at 130 feet and
cruising our way around the stalactites,
our nine-minute no-deco limit is up
and it’s time to begin our ascent. There’s
not a lot to see — a sheer wall devoid
of growth on one side and the murky
blue on the other. But as we reach be-
tween 90 and 80 feet, movement catches
rigged and ready
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For more info on Mares’ new line for women,
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3
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5. sportdiver.com86April 2006 padi.com April 2006 87
Belize (Continued from page 47) That’s where we pass our favorite
evening. Chef George grills outdoors for
us and we dine, sip wine, stoke the fire,
share desserts and tell stories until the
log disintegrates into ash. Other than my
mom and my sister, there was no real his-
tory behind any of our friendships before
this trip. Now, after a week of diving and
playing, we are one solid group. We are
all friends.
It’s tempting to opt for a morning
“off” but everyone rallies for a sunrise
breakfast and a boat ride out to Laugh-
ingbird Caye, a spit of sand pinned down
by palm trees and protected as a national
park (as is more than 40 percent of the
country). Mom interviews the caretaker
who lives on the island (note to self: Give
that woman a notebook and a pen next
time she joins me on a trip) while the rest
of us pull on our fins, masks and snor-
kels to navigate around half the island.
We’re looking for lemon sharks, which
I’ve never seen in the wild. Not until
we return to shore does a butter-colored
dorsal fin split the water’s surface. Tanya
wades right in to shoot over-unders as
our guide tosses bait.
Jungle Journey
“Amazing. Just amazing,” Carol says for
the umpteenth time as she and I climb
uphill through the damp thickets of or-
chids beneath towering rainforest trees.
We are following the astonishingly loud
sound of a lion roaring; we are still wear-
ing pajamas; and my watch shows a time
beginning with the number 5. Of course,
there are no lions in the jungles of Belize,
but the guttural howl of the black howler
monkeys (known locally as baboons) is a
wicked mimic that never fails to quicken
my pulse.
Thanks to the logistical planning
and expertise of a company called Belize
Expeditions, our dive trip has become
much more. Here we are at Lamanai
Outpost Lodge, a cluster of rustic, art-
fully built hardwood structures on the
banks of the New River Lagoon. We ar-
rived by riverboat last night and slept
in screened-in cottages engulfed by the
sounds of the jungle.
We race through breakfast to reach
the excavated ruins of the Maya settle-
ment called Lamanai. Our self-educated
and unbelievably knowledgeable guide
Carlos takes us first to a museum on the
site and then for a long walk in the shaded
my eye — reef sharks are circling in the
blue! Big ones, too, I note as I lose track
counting at 30. I glide in beside my mom
and gently take her arm, pointing out the
sharks and holding firm, ensuring she
doesn’t bolt. But she’s as fascinated as I
am, comforted by the fact that no one
is stressed. Throughout the two safety
stops, the sharks patrol the surface above
us (apparently the boats act as a dinner
bell). Once everyone is safely on board,
the sharks compete with the seabirds for
fish parts tossed out by the crew — all in
all, a spectacular show.
We go on to dive two sites off Half
Moon Caye Wall on Lighthouse Reef,
one of only four atolls in all of the Ca-
ribbean. The color here is terrific: gi-
ant orange barrel sponges, azure vase
sponges, floods of mercurial silversides
and thumbnail-size angels, drums and
butterflyfish flutter about like confetti. A
dozen barracuda hold tight in the cur-
rent, tucked at a site where two walls
come together like an elbow. They seem
to be watching something. I turn and fol-
low their gaze: First I see an eagle ray,
and then a single reef shark. This rocks! I
think, before telepathically imploring the
ray to get the hell away, and fast.
This is pristine live-aboard country,
and we see both the Belize Aggressor III
and Peter Hughes’ Sun Dancer II moored
nearby. Envy sets in. But in truth, our day
is full: We enjoy a delicious lunch served
on a picnic table under a palm tree on
Half Moon Caye, observe a protected
population of red-footed boobies and the
magnificent frigates that live alongside
them, and log three awesome dives. Af-
terward, we’re fed near-frozen Snickers
bars by the crew who then expertly mix
coconut rum and pineapple juice for the
extended happy hour back to San Pedro.
It’s storytime now. A fireman from
Texas who has dived all over the world
tells us this is the first time he’s been on
a boat where women outnumber men.
Even he gets clued in that Tanya is the
world of diving, and he joins us in pick-
ing her brain about where to go next.
Lombok perhaps? The pattern has started,
I think with a smile.
Later, our evening tradition of shar-
ing a bottle of wine on the patio above
the restaurant at the Sunbreeze Hotel is
further improved. Erin has made us a
little party. We bring out the iPod and
portable speakers and cover a table with
my pretty sarong before spreading out
the feast that Erin’s assembled: cheeses,
crackers, pâté, fruit and dark chocolate.
She’s also found a lovely cabernet to add
to our dwindling cache, and a pinot
grigio is on ice. After four dinners on the
island, the Sunbreeze’s restaurant is un-
questionably our favorite, but tonight,
ours is the perfect feast.
fire and wine
For girls who didn’t seem so interested in
shopping, our hands sure are full. Gua-
temalan belts woven from bright-colored
floss, hair clips made of polished hermit-
crab shells, beaded necklace sets, embroi-
dered stuff sacks — you name it, we need
it. This is our first, and only, afternoon on
the World’s Narrowest Street (according
to Guinness World Records), a mile-long
sidewalk in the beach town of Placencia
on the mainland.
A hand-lettered sign points us to
John the Bakerman for fresh cinnamon
bons. I smile, thinking of my own Grand-
pa John, also once a village Bakerman,
and suspect that my mom is doing the
same. Whether passing locals on their
stilted front porches or passing them
on the sidewalk, we are greeted at every
turn. Further bolstered by a cup of Ital-
ian gelato, we journey on.
We arrived in Placencia from San
Pedro (via Belize City) aboard Tropic Air’s
15-seat aircraft just in time for a little
pampering. Pink golf carts (they sure took
this Girls Gone Diving thing seriously, I
think) dispatched from Chabil Mar Villas
whisk us back to our waterfront home.
After nearly a week of diving, we’re all
ready for some R&R, and at Chabil Mar,
the offerings are abundant. Two mosaic-
tiled eternity pools, wraparound balco-
nies with views of the sea, chaise lounges
on powdery sand and condos so artfully
decorated (The honeymoon suite? Wow!)
that you actually consider reading your
book indoors. Add a staff dressed all in
white, wearing radio headsets to ensure
speedy delivery of another icy Belikin.
Plus, there’s the massage therapist and the
on-demand meal service that will knead
you and feed you in any setting you wish.
The choices are numerous, and in just
over 24 hours, we dine in several spots:
at the end of the thatch-roofed dock, by
the pool and — our favorite — around
the red adobe outdoor fireplace.

6. padi.com April 2006 89
woods before we reach the main plaza
containing the most important temple.
We climb its steep steps, each one
at least as high as my knee. I think Mom
might float right up, so transported is she
by these ancient structures. In all hones-
ty, though, each of us is in our own state
of awe.
The peak rises high above the
jungle’s canopy, and Carlos tells us that
from here we can see 15 miles in all di-
rections — almost to the sea. I survey
180 degrees and imagine the theater of
life that once played out on this mysteri-
ous stage.
Mom reflects, “A few days ago I
dived 130 feet in the Blue Hole. And now
here I am, on the top of a Maya temple.”
The primal call of the howler monkeys
carries to us from across the treetops. “I
never knew such places existed.”
Special thanks to Amigos del Mar
(amigosdive.com), Aqua Dives (aquadives
.com), Belize Expeditions (bzexpeditions
.com), Belize Tourism Board (travelbelize.org),
Sunbreeze Hotel (sunbreezehotel.com), Trop-
ic Air (tropicair.com) and Ramon’s Village
Resort (ramons.com).
Belize listings
Belize Tourist Board
800-624-0686
travelbelize.org
Tropic Air
800-422-3435
tropicair.com
DIVE CENTERS
Aqua Dives Belize
aquadives.com
DIVE RESORTS/HOTELS
Belize Discounts
belizediscounts.com
Belize Expeditions
bzexpeditions.com
Blackbird Resort
800-271-3483
cayeresorts.com
Hamanasi Ltd.
877-552-3483
hamanasi.com
Jaguar Paw Jungle Resort
888-77-JUNGLE
jaguarpaw.com
Journey’s End Resort
800-460-5665
journeysend.com
Manta Resort
800-326-1724
mantaresortbelize.com
Mayan Princess Hotel
800-850-4101
mayanprincesshotel.com
Ramon’s Village Resort
800-MAGIC-15
ramons.com
Reef & Rainforest Dive & Adventure Travel
800-794-9767
reefrainforest.com
Sunbreeze Hotel
800-688-0191
ramons.com
Turneffe Island Lodge
800-874-0118
turneffelodge.com
LIVE-ABOARDS
Peter Hughes’ Sun Dancer II
peterhughes.com
Belize Aggressor III
aggressor.com