Travelnsj
Contributor
I arrived in Belize-Placencia on 5-9 thru 5-16 for WhaleShark diving which was 3 days before the full moon and dove with Roberts Grove.
Water temps 82 to 84, seas rough to calm .Everything I found on the internet and people I spoke with said three days before and after the full moon is when the Cubera Snapper are spawning .Thus WhaleSharks in the Gladden Spit!....well upon my second day of swimming in the blue for an hour at a time (prior to the full moon) .I asked one of the Dive Masters what was going on? ..she asked where did you hear that 3 days before the full moon? She said it is usually the 3 days after the full moon for the WhaleSharks and always has been! Well three dive trips, 6 total dives at the Gladden Spit, $750 plus .Nothing .my last dive day (a day after the full moon) there were people who had not dove in a year .They put them in 6-9 plus seas and strong currents!....They had to spend time adjusting weights, blowing thru air etc .Thus cutting dive times by 25 minutes! I know nothing is guaranteed (but I was told by more than one person that seeing WhaleSharks was) .but cutting your odds on $225 plus a day diving is greed on Roberts grove part.
Besides the WhaleShark diving it was typical Caribbean diving. I dove Silky and Sapodilla Cays. Some pretty beige soft corals and at Sapodilla some hard Corals .and some pretty fishies .once in awhile here and there just...OK diving. Roberts put 9 divers plus crew on a boat that should have had no more than 4 to 5 divers on it.
Belize is very expensive. I found the diving, meals, transportation to be the most expensive in the world. I can go to Palau for 10 days or more for what it costs to go to Belize for 5 days and the diving is not in the same league .I have seen more in 30 minutes on a bad dive day in Palau, Christmas Island, Australia, Hawaii, Sipadan and even Costa Rica-Cano Island area that had visibility at 15 to 20 ..Than I did in my 10 hours being underwater in Belize.
Would I go again?...I do not know Perhaps with an all expense paid trip .paid by someone else!
Water temps 82 to 84, seas rough to calm .Everything I found on the internet and people I spoke with said three days before and after the full moon is when the Cubera Snapper are spawning .Thus WhaleSharks in the Gladden Spit!....well upon my second day of swimming in the blue for an hour at a time (prior to the full moon) .I asked one of the Dive Masters what was going on? ..she asked where did you hear that 3 days before the full moon? She said it is usually the 3 days after the full moon for the WhaleSharks and always has been! Well three dive trips, 6 total dives at the Gladden Spit, $750 plus .Nothing .my last dive day (a day after the full moon) there were people who had not dove in a year .They put them in 6-9 plus seas and strong currents!....They had to spend time adjusting weights, blowing thru air etc .Thus cutting dive times by 25 minutes! I know nothing is guaranteed (but I was told by more than one person that seeing WhaleSharks was) .but cutting your odds on $225 plus a day diving is greed on Roberts grove part.
Besides the WhaleShark diving it was typical Caribbean diving. I dove Silky and Sapodilla Cays. Some pretty beige soft corals and at Sapodilla some hard Corals .and some pretty fishies .once in awhile here and there just...OK diving. Roberts put 9 divers plus crew on a boat that should have had no more than 4 to 5 divers on it.
Belize is very expensive. I found the diving, meals, transportation to be the most expensive in the world. I can go to Palau for 10 days or more for what it costs to go to Belize for 5 days and the diving is not in the same league .I have seen more in 30 minutes on a bad dive day in Palau, Christmas Island, Australia, Hawaii, Sipadan and even Costa Rica-Cano Island area that had visibility at 15 to 20 ..Than I did in my 10 hours being underwater in Belize.
Would I go again?...I do not know Perhaps with an all expense paid trip .paid by someone else!
