Canopy ride in Belize
Last jump in Ambergris Caye at the 2010 Boogie in Belize. We opened high so we could take pics of the beautiful scenery.
Mar 5th 10
Mar 5th 10
Island Apparel opens its doors in San Pedro
Island Apparel is opening it’s doors at 9:00 am today. Located across from Sundancer on Middle Street in downtown San Pedro, Island Apparel features clothing and accessories for the entire family, and specializes in plus sizes and stylish childrens clothing. Stop by for their grand opening this morning to see what the fuss is all about!
Mar 5th 10
Blue Hole dive turns tragic
The James couple arrived on Ambergris Caye for a nice Belizean vacation on Thursday, February 25th. However, March 1st proved to be one of the most tragic days for Dianne James, who now returns home to St. Peter’s, Missouri, USA, a widow.
The couple decided to visit the great Blue Hole, it was one of 54-year-old Richard James’ and his lifelong dive buddy, Dennis Baker’s dream to dive the site. Dianne accompanied the group and snorkeled the famous sinkhole while Richard and Dennis dove. The day prior to their Blue Hole dive, Richard and Dennis had enjoyed two great dives outside the reef of Ambergris Caye. The two eagerly discussed their dive plans scheduled for the following day.
The James’ had visited Belize in two separate occasions prior to this February trip. However, in both those occasions, they had visited the country on board a cruise ship which had a stop in the country. They both knew they wanted to return and spend a few days on the island, enjoying the sights while Richard indulged in his love for diving. For the past 13 years, the couple had been accompanied to various trips by Dennis and his wife. For approximately 12 of those 13 years, the two men had enjoyed a lovely kinship stemmed from each other’s love of the great underwater world.
On that fateful Monday, the men carried out all their precautions for the 130 foot dive. “We made sure our equipment worked properly. We reached our maximum depth of 130 feet for eight minutes and had our safety stop prior to surfacing. Everything in the dive went well,” explained Dennis. However, shortly after resurfacing, Richard who held on to the ladder of the dive boat, removed his first fin and, “that is when I glanced at him and saw that he was having trouble removing his second fin,” stated Dennis. That is when personnel aboard the dive boat realized that Richard was having serious problems and worked on getting him out of the water and unto the boat. (Continue Reading)
Mar 5th 10
SPTGA questions Sports Fishing license law
Belize Fishing License
The San Pedro Tour Guide Association (SPTGA) held a general meeting last Thursday at the San Pedro Lions Den where issues impacting the Tour Guides within the community were dealt with. However, the two biggest issues were the explanation of the Sport Fishing License law and the proposed Sardine Statutory Instrument.
Present for the brief explanation of the Fishing License was Colin Gillet of the Coastal Zone Management Authority Institute (CZMAI). During his brief presentation, Gillet explained that anyone who wants to catch a fish must first obtain a fishing license which bears a cost of $20 per week, $50 per month and $100 per year. In an interview with Billy Leslie, President of SPTGA, there was much opposition to the Fishing Act for two important reasons: The Pricing System and the fact that all Belizeans are being charged the fees. During the meeting, many made their displeasure visible through their comments. Many believe that only sports fishermen should require a license to fish and not the ordinary Belizean fishing off of the end of a dock.
According to Leslie, the economic crisis will affect those that are unable to purchase a license. Leslie explained that the $20 a day fee is higher than what is collected for the same license in other neighboring countries. Under the law, anyone, Belizean or tourist, who attempts to catch one snapper for dinner is required to have a license. This was corroborated by Gillet during an interview, explaining that anyone that throws a line at sea in an attempt to catch fish needs to have a license. However, he further stated that exemptions will be carried out, for example, based on age and location of fishing. “These are still being worked out,” he explained.
Mar 5th 10
The Belize Hotel Association attended two travel shows in January – the Toronto Travel Show, and the Vakantiebeurs show in Holland
Team Belize at Travel Shows
The Dutch show is one of Europe’s major travel shows, attracting around 20,000 visitors on each of the five days. Nick Davies, Chairman of BHA’s Marketing Committee, explained that BHA’s ongoing work in Europe, and particularly Holland, had raised awareness of Belize to a level where they could now afford to target people more effectively.
“We took a booth this year in the long-haul destination area of the show, close to the Nicaragua and Panama booths, creating a “Central America” section which allowed us to concentrate on quality enquiries, and generating strong sales prospects for BHA’s Global Marketing Initiative participants.”
BHA representative, Sandra van Noord, also took the opportunity to attend a TUI party in Amsterdam. She said,
“TUI is Europe’s leading travel group, operating in 180 countries worldwide and with 30 million customers. We’ve met with them several times at various travel events, and their interest in Belize is steadily growing to the point where they are now ready to visit Belize with a view to expanding their range of holidays. This is a particularly exciting development for us, with the prospect of accessing the huge potential the European market offers.”
In Canada, Robin McCutcheon and Steve Christensen represented the BHA in Toronto at the Toronto Ultimate Travel Show, and enticed visitors to the booth with maps, bookmarks, and the wonderful “Hot Mama’s fudge” give-aways.
Robin commented
“Belize had a great presence at the show, and we benefitted from a prime location opposite a huge tank with non-stop diving exhibitions from a dive club which is visiting Belize in March.
We find that many Canadians still associate Belize with diving, so this was a great opportunity to educate them in the diverse range of inland activities, and our banners featuring Maya sites and fishing really helped reinforce the message that Belize offers something for everyone.”
BHA’s representatives distributed over 1100 brochures at the two shows to high quality ‘prospects’, and generated 50 sales leads for GMI members. This brings the total brochures distributed to over 4000 and over 500 travel trade sales leads for participants since the start of the Global Marketing Initiative in November 2009. Source: Portofino.bz
Mar 4th 10
General Situation: High pressure ridge over country continues to support fair and mostly dry weather over the next few days. 24hr Forecast: Sunny skies with some cloudy periods today. Partially cloudy and cool tonight. Winds: North to Northeast at 5 to 15 knots. Sea State: Choppy. Outlook: Through Saturday: Similar weather conditions prevail. Highs: 27°C/80°F – Lows: 18°C/65°F
Daily San Pedro Belize Weather Forecast March 4th
IR Satellite Photo
Mar 4th 10
Bizarre World with Andrew Zimmern in Belize
In his new series, Bizarre Worlds, Andrew Zimmern travels around the globe enjoying the culture and food of different cultures. Andrew explores Belize and has the opportunity to cook with chef Jeff Spiegel of Azul Resort in San Pedro Town. The San Pedro Sun enjoyed watching from Behind the Scenes and had the opportunity to meet Andrew and discuss what he enjoyed most on his Belizean travels.
Mar 4th 10
San Pedro Animal Hospital Charitable Works since Opening
San Pedro Animal Hospital's 'Pete' finds new home
JANUARY 2010
ONE RESCUE DOG: “PETE”
Formerly “Kilo”. Found at the Roadside Bar in San Pedro with a chronic illness.
Treated, neutered, vaccinated and rehomed. On-going treatment provided by the San Pedro Animal Hospital with donated medications.
FEBRUARY 2010
4 DISCOUNTED FELINE SPAYS AND 3 DISCOUNTED FELINE NEUTERS performed for the PAWS Cat Sanctuary in Caye Cauker: Andy, George, Amber, Ina, Johnnes, Lizzie, and Delilah. Donated fluconazole and itraconazole given to PAWS Cat Sanctuary, along with advice on how to manage a ringworm outbreak.
10 FREE SPAYS AND NEUTERS GIVEN TO SAGA HUMANE SOCIETY. 4 canine spays and 1 canine neuter performed: Chloe, Muneca, Sophie, Maquesa, and Zaki
MARCH 2010
Free antibiotics and pain medicine sent home with owner of “Little Man”, who suffered from a gunshot wound to the left front foot.
COMING SOON:
THE SAN PEDRO ANIMAL FOUNDATION
Promoting the health and welfare of animals in Belize by providing spay/neuter services and veterinary care for animals in need. Annual memberships will be available.
Mar 4th 10
Wafagua Nautical and Safety Institute offers Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses
Comprehensive Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses in Belize
Wafagua Nautical and Safety Institute Limited offers well structured, comprehensive Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses that are endorsed by and satisfy the Belize Port Authority legal requirements.
These courses provide life skills that can enable the successful participant to be an entrepreneur or be employable in the Fishing, Tourism or Shipping Industries.
Courses offered include:
- Master (Captain) License Course Captain Enhancement Course
- Coastal Navigation Boat Crew (Basic Seamanship)
- Boating Essentials and the Environment Maritime Communications
- Marlinspikes (Ropework) Regulations for Prevention of Collisions
- Safety, Survival and Emergency Procedures Search and Rescue Awareness
These courses which are designed to endure that the mariners become proficient and confident on the water are geared towards those who are complete beginners or the experienced operators who may need to be certified or improve their seamanship skills.
WNSI Ltd prides itself in providing the highest standard of skills to assist you to become safer at sea, without jeopardizing the crew while taking advantage of the pleasures and challenges of boating.
“BOATING SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT; SAFE BOATING BEGINS WITH YOU”!!!!
Whenever you take a course you make a contribution is to the development of the Sea Scouts. Consultancy, other courses (Personal Safety Course) and services are also offered. To book your course kindly contact: Cell # 670 – 8297, Email: wnsi@yahoo.com. (Continue Reading)
Mar 4th 10
Sonia Linares is the Woman of the Year
Sonia Linares is the Belize Woman of the Year
She is a humble woman, but she has worked consistently to bring positive changes to her gender and to young people. Meet Sonia Linares, she has been chosen as the Woman of the Year… a title she was honoured to receive for her more than five decades of service.
The first US Embassy Woman of the year competition ended today with the announcement of the winner. There were ten outstanding finalists but the woman in the spotlight is the General Secretary of the Belize YWCA, Sonia Linares who has devoted more than fifty years to empowering women and youth. Linares was thrilled at receiving the honor and Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally says the selection was no easy task.
Vinai Thummalapally, US Ambassador
“It was not very easy because every single one of the ten finalists who were on our list, we went through their background, their contributions. We had to put a lot of weight on their nominator’s application and information that the nominator had given us, so using that and we used a very sort of objective process to come up with the winner.”
Sonia Linares, Woman of the Year 2010: “It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s one that I had never thought of. I usually just believe in doing what I like to do; working with youth and women because I want to help to empower them and help to give them the opportunity to live a better quality of life.” (Continue Reading)
