Hey, Dan -- It was awesome!

San Pedro is a blast. There are some good places to stay, eat (and drink).
I stayed at the Banyan Bay Resort, and it is easily as nice as anything I've
seen in the states (they're 4-plexes). My condo had satellite TV/cable and
all the comforts of home. Their restaurant is wonderful -- even at
breakfast.

The barrier reef is about a half-mile offshore, but it's the second largest
in the world (behind Australia's) so you could dive every day for years and
not see it all. What I liked most about it is that on the inshore side,
it's only 20 to 30 feet deep, so you get incredible bottom time.

Another pleasant surprise -- no dead coral. Unlike the reefs in the Florida
Keys, that reef is thriving, and is full of colorful stuff to look at, which
is not a problem with typical over 100-foot visibility. I also dove "Shark
Ray Alley" and saw dozens of huge Spotted Stingrays and the biggest Nurse
Sharks I've ever seen.

There's an excellent musician called "Barefoot Skinny" that plays at Fido's
(fee-doh's) a few nights a week (Saturday is the Big Night). He could make
a fortune in the states, I doubt he's coming back. He married a French
girl, who makes jewelry on the island, and has his own place called the
"Hammock House" where he plays on Sundays. (Beware -- he has a nasty habit
of giving Kamikaze shots to the whole house (and on the house) numerous
times a night.) A lot of expat Americans show up at his place on Sundays,
and it ends up being a really good time. They're great folks and will want
to meet you.

The weather is gorgeous. It's always between 80 and 90, but there's a
constant 15-knot trade wind that knocks the edge off the heat. It's really
comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. The preferred mode of transportation
is either via bicycle or gasoline-powered golf-cart. Get the golf-cart --
they're about $30 US per day, and well worth it. I did see a few 4-cylinder
Toyota minivans and a jeep or two on the island, but that's about it.

Prices are very reasonable. The Belizian exchange rate is locked in at half
the US dollar. Everyone takes both currencies, so you'll soon get used to
handing out a US ten and a Belizian five for something marked $25 bz. And
yes, EVERYONE speaks English, but there is obviously a sizeable Hispanic
population. They're very friendly, good people.

In short, I highly recommend it!

-- Stinger



"Diverd4777" wrote in message
...
Stinger, Welcome Back !

& thanks for the report.
It's amazing how much stuff you can pick up down there on Shortwave

- Speaking about "Down", how was diving ? How was the food?
How were the accomodations?
What's it like in San Pedro ?

When in Bonaire, I was picking up Lots of South American Stuff ,
( Didn't log anything; Just lazed about ! )

Dan / NYC


In article , "Stinger"
writes:





I took my Kaito 1102 with me to San Pedro, Belize last week, and am happy
to
report that there is PLENTY of shortwave to listen to down there.
However,
they do have noisy powerlines (or generators, or something that makes a
racket on various frequencies).

Just for grins, I also tried some MW dx with it and was really surprised
to
be able to listen to George Noory on WOAI (San Antonio). The signal was
fairly weak but steady, but since there weren't a lot of MW signals out
there to interfere, the 1102 pulled it right in.

FM was the biggest surprise. Two stations -- one playing Mexicano-style
stuff, the other -- get this -- country western (the time I checked --
88.1
Mhz or so).

-- Stinger