Thank you, have fun in your trip
Bonaire or Belize Lighthouse Reef area?
- Thread starter Eleonard
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Kharon
Contributor
Kharon
Contributor
My 2 cents - I think Tolo is way better than Karpata. For ease of entry I'd suggest Tori's Reef, Yellow Sub, the Fuel Pier (unmarked and not found in any literature - it's just a wee bit north of WIndsock and right across from the airport). Other good sites that have fairly easy entry are Alice in Wonderland, Invisibles, Angel CIty, Cliff (especially at night with the 6 foot tarpon), and on a calm day (little to no wind) Red Beryl is great. As far as Hilma - I found it a terrible yawn.
I loved diving lighthouse in Belize, but it is a several hour boat ride from ambergris caye. Also, last I was there there were only a few operators who would go that far. It's definitely worth the trip, but if I were going to do it again it would be on a liveaboard
t-bone66
Registered
If you're looking for bigger sea life, I would agree with the comments above that Belize on a liveaboard will give you more opportunity - on my trip there we saw reef and nurse sharks, a pod of dolphins, tarpon, big grouper, turtles, etc. The East end of Grand Cayman will give you more of the option to see reef sharks and the bigger grouper/snapper, as well. Bonaire seems to have more medium sized fish, with the tarpon at different sites and some big grouper/snapper on the Hilma Hooker wreck site being exceptions it seems - if you want bigger there, I would suggest checking into the options to dive the East Side - you will want a guide since it is windward and not the easy shore diving found on the west side.
With regard to Belize, to me at least, the best option is live-aboard. Turneffe is also an option. But best diving is on Lighthouse Atoll and only way to really enjoy is by live-aboard or if you are very adventurous staying in one of the eco resorts.
You can find several SB trip reports (including mine) about the eco-resort option. I agree it is a bit more rustic, but I found the benefits of being on Lighthouse Reef (or Half-Moon caye) the whole time and being able to skip going to the blue hole (a waste of a day, at least after the first time) outweighed the rusticness. This was in March. Not sure if no-A/C would really be bearable in the heat of the summer.
Doctorfish
Contributor
In the 15 + times I've been to Bonaire, I've never seen a float used except on East Side drift dives.
These shore dive areas are off limit to boat traffic ?
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