This was the trip I’d been looking for. I wanted to retrace Cousteau’s wake and see this giant hole beneath the water firsthand. I wanted to see the storied stalagmites and the sheer limestone walls that plummet into the abyss. Of course, I knew I couldn’t dive the thing -- not all of it, anyway. At 400 feet deep, it has been ventured by only a select few scuba elite. That, coupled with the fact that I’ve never dived farther down than the deep end of the public pool, made it clear I had my work cut out for me. Still, what better way to learn to dive than to bow before diving’s Acropolis? And I figured while I was in Central America, I’d see what Belize is all about. After all, at 8,900 square miles, it’s smaller than Massachusetts, so I could cover some serious ground in a short amount of time.

Little did I know then that the Blue Hole and all its subaquatic majesty would actually pale in comparison to the rest of this Central American country.

Paradise Found

Moments after I touch down in Belize City, I hop on a quick Tropic Air flight to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. It’s only a 15-minute flight, and there’s a ferry that could also take me to this picturesque island, commonly referred to as the Amber Coast. But I’m itching to get in that turquoise water and don my mask and tanks, so speed is my buzzword.