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Crystal Clear Waters – The “October Calms” on Ambergris Caye

Oct 23, 2020|Ambergris Caye

For the past few days, the ocean has been flat as a pancake and crystal clear. Or….as this reader and long-time Ambergris Caye resident called it “The October Calms”.

I posted a short video yesterday – in which I could practically reach out and grab a school of mullet swimming just offshore and he wrote:

“Back in the day the ‘October calms’ was my treasure hunting weather. One year I drove to Robles and back 30 days in a 13 ft whaler. A 900 mile month trip! Miss the days when you could do what you wanted to do without governmental interference! That was the real Belize!”

Intriguing…adventurous…probably illegal! What a blog that would make! But, alas, it was a long time ago.

The time of year when the sea is WARM and the winds in the western Caribbean are shifting – sometimes barely blowing at all or coming from the north and west…leaving the ocean flat and clear clear.

It’s the counterpart to the weeks of HIGH WIND in the spring – the “Easter WInds”. A few weeks, usually in April, when the winds blow off the ocean kicking up sand and rougher seas.

There is a storm system forming off our shores…messing with the winds…and thankfully predicted to avoid us completely. (From NHC)

I did something a bit less adventurous and went for a swim off my neighbor’s dock. And took a bunch of pictures.

But first, I quick CONCH REPORT. 3 weeks into the season, I finally had my first conch. And then my second.

First, the DEEEEEELICIOUS fried conch at Aba Isieni restaurant in Boca Del Rio, San Pedro. $12bzd for a HUGE serving of freshly pounded, dredged and quick fried conch. It. is. so. good.

I saw conch on the menu and asked if they could make it for me.