Bonaire or Belize?

[Rescue Diver68]

Gosh, surely you need someone to carry your luggage around to all of these places?Your luck! I just happen to be available!

I started this thread in January, and I almost forgot about it recently. For those of you who are at all interested, here is what has happened since then as well as answer to other questions.

First of all, my wife is an avid snorkeler who has a long history of burst eardrums, so she will never be a diver. She is not big on night life, and much prefers out of the way places. She handled pretty much all of our travel arrangements, which are as follows:

Starting June 26, we will spend 6 days in Aruba, taking care of any night life we may need, which will not be much.

We then jump over to Bonaire for more than a week.

Not done, we spend the next four days on Curacao.

The ABC's in order--how great is that?

 

[Gaz]

Different strokes for different folks

As proven here, ones diving expectations determines ones satisfaction with diving in any location and what suits one person does not suit another thats just the way it is and the fun of travelling and diving different location.

A couple of comments I would like to make a point on to be fair

TRASH on AMBERGRIS

This has NOTHING WHATSOVER to do with the people on the island we are not throwing trash all over the place, I clean and rake my beach daily reason is we are the dumping point for all the other islands in the caribbean.

IMAGINE if EVERY day somone DUMPS a garbage can into your back yard and every day you have to go out there and clean someone elses garbage up (not nice huh)

And THEN someone makes the comment you are a dirty person and dont even keep your yard clean and dump all your trash in your yard HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ???

wELL THAT HAPPNENS EVERY DAY HERE

If you look at a map you will see Ambergris and the south part of the Yucatan is the end of the line for floating debris and we are lucky enough to be the recipient of all the oceans trash that ends up DAILY on our beaches, be it plastic bottle, shoes, Bales of cocaine, drug boats abandoned etc we get all sorts of trash floating up on the beach.

Many visitors leave with the wrong impression that the people here are throwing trash allover and in reality the manpower that goes into cleaning up is thousands of hours for something that is not the peoples fault (at least not the people of Belize.)

So its unfair to blame us for the trash all we do is continaully day after day clean up after everyone else that just so happens to end up on our shores.

Its a MAMMOTH TASK and to quote ONE IDIOT that says dont bother coming back is NOT TYPICAL of the firiendly people of Belize.

The town board daily has beach rakers that clean the beach and each owner of resorts clean there beach daily too the areas that do have a build up are non developed lands that are not being taken care of as the island develops more and more this problem will not be eradicated but will certainly improve as it is each and every day.

All the resorts beaches are Spotless and and those beaches that are not instead of *****ing about it why not pick up the odd plastic bottle and put it in the trash can and help us with what is a MAMMOTH daily task which in reality has nothing to do with us we are just the dumping ground and do our best each day to keep our island beautiful.

AND WE DO A GREAT JOB based on the daily challenges of our geographic location

Gaz Cooper

P.S if we did not have our reef and we had wave action and big tides such as play del carmen the trash would be taken back out to sea and dumped elsewhere, but we have been blessed with the largest barrier reef in the western Hemisphere and would not change it for the world.

So 2 words of advice

1.) In your dive travels in the Caribbean if you see a piece of trash floating or on the beach PICK IT UP and put it in the correct place cause if it gets washed out ot sea it will end up along this coastline

2.) If each of us were responsible daily in putting our trash where it should rightly go we would not be having this conversation and the worlds oceans would be better off for it.

 

[traciedee]

I loved the charm of ambergis caye. The diving was awesome and I ate great food in restuarants with dirt floors! We were there during 9/11 and the locals were very kind to us. I did not see alot of trash and we wandered around quite a bit in our golf cart.

As for Bonaire-you will love Bonaire. Some say it's not the prettiest island in the world, but I got to tell you the diving and the wild donkeys are enough to make the trip incredible. We did not even wear a skin, just our bathing suits the water was so warm. The little downtown has some great places to watch the sunset and have an evening cocktail. A dutch couple opened up a great cigar bar with the most incredible jazz collection when we were there. We stayed at the plaza and loved just slipping out whenever we wanted and taking a quick dive. Not many places you can do that

 

[pilot fish]

Different strokes for different folks

As proven here, ones diving expectations determines ones satisfaction with diving in any location and what suits one person does not suit another thats just the way it is and the fun of travelling and diving different location.

A couple of comments I would like to make a point on to be fair

TRASH on AMBERGRIS

This has NOTHING WHATSOVER to do with the people on the island we are not throwing trash all over the place, I clean and rake my beach daily reason is we are the dumping point for all the other islands in the caribbean.

IMAGINE if EVERY day somone DUMPS a garbage can into your back yard and every day you have to go out there and clean someone elses garbage up (not nice huh)

And THEN someone makes the comment you are a dirty person and dont even keep your yard clean and dump all your trash in your yard HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ???

wELL THAT HAPPNENS EVERY DAY HERE

If you look at a map you will see Ambergris and the south part of the Yucatan is the end of the line for floating debris and we are lucky enough to be the recipient of all the oceans trash that ends up DAILY on our beaches, be it plastic bottle, shoes, Bales of cocaine, drug boats abandoned etc we get all sorts of trash floating up on the beach.

Many visitors leave with the wrong impression that the people here are throwing trash allover and in reality the manpower that goes into cleaning up is thousands of hours for something that is not the peoples fault (at least not the people of Belize.)

So its unfair to blame us for the trash all we do is continaully day after day clean up after everyone else that just so happens to end up on our shores.

Its a MAMMOTH TASK and to quote ONE IDIOT that says dont bother coming back is NOT TYPICAL of the firiendly people of Belize.

The town board daily has beach rakers that clean the beach and each owner of resorts clean there beach daily too the areas that do have a build up are non developed lands that are not being taken care of as the island develops more and more this problem will not be eradicated but will certainly improve as it is each and every day.

All the resorts beaches are Spotless and and those beaches that are not instead of *****ing about it why not pick up the odd plastic bottle and put it in the trash can and help us with what is a MAMMOTH daily task which in reality has nothing to do with us we are just the dumping ground and do our best each day to keep our island beautiful.

AND WE DO A GREAT JOB based on the daily challenges of our geographic location

Gaz Cooper

P.S if we did not have our reef and we had wave action and big tides such as play del carmen the trash would be taken back out to sea and dumped elsewhere, but we have been blessed with the largest barrier reef in the western Hemisphere and would not change it for the world.

So 2 words of advice

1.) In your dive travels in the Caribbean if you see a piece of trash floating or on the beach PICK IT UP and put it in the correct place cause if it gets washed out ot sea it will end up along this coastline

2.) If each of us were responsible daily in putting our trash where it should rightly go we would not be having this conversation and the worlds oceans would be better off for it.

Since tourism is the life's blood of the island, I would imagine that any trash, if there was any, would be cleaned up fast. Looking forward to my trip there. Is the diving off Ambergris good?

 

[Dive Bunny]

Different strokes for different folks

As proven here, ones diving expectations determines ones satisfaction with diving in any location and what suits one person does not suit another thats just the way it is and the fun of travelling and diving different location.

A couple of comments I would like to make a point on to be fair

TRASH on AMBERGRIS

This has NOTHING WHATSOVER to do with the people on the island we are not throwing trash all over the place, I clean and rake my beach daily reason is we are the dumping point for all the other islands in the caribbean.

IMAGINE if EVERY day somone DUMPS a garbage can into your back yard and every day you have to go out there and clean someone elses garbage up (not nice huh)

And THEN someone makes the comment you are a dirty person and dont even keep your yard clean and dump all your trash in your yard HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ???

wELL THAT HAPPNENS EVERY DAY HERE

If you look at a map you will see Ambergris and the south part of the Yucatan is the end of the line for floating debris and we are lucky enough to be the recipient of all the oceans trash that ends up DAILY on our beaches, be it plastic bottle, shoes, Bales of cocaine, drug boats abandoned etc we get all sorts of trash floating up on the beach.

Many visitors leave with the wrong impression that the people here are throwing trash allover and in reality the manpower that goes into cleaning up is thousands of hours for something that is not the peoples fault (at least not the people of Belize.)

So its unfair to blame us for the trash all we do is continaully day after day clean up after everyone else that just so happens to end up on our shores.

Its a MAMMOTH TASK and to quote ONE IDIOT that says dont bother coming back is NOT TYPICAL of the firiendly people of Belize.

The town board daily has beach rakers that clean the beach and each owner of resorts clean there beach daily too the areas that do have a build up are non developed lands that are not being taken care of as the island develops more and more this problem will not be eradicated but will certainly improve as it is each and every day.

All the resorts beaches are Spotless and and those beaches that are not instead of *****ing about it why not pick up the odd plastic bottle and put it in the trash can and help us with what is a MAMMOTH daily task which in reality has nothing to do with us we are just the dumping ground and do our best each day to keep our island beautiful.

AND WE DO A GREAT JOB based on the daily challenges of our geographic location

Gaz Cooper

P.S if we did not have our reef and we had wave action and big tides such as play del carmen the trash would be taken back out to sea and dumped elsewhere, but we have been blessed with the largest barrier reef in the western Hemisphere and would not change it for the world.

So 2 words of advice

1.) In your dive travels in the Caribbean if you see a piece of trash floating or on the beach PICK IT UP and put it in the correct place cause if it gets washed out ot sea it will end up along this coastline

2.) If each of us were responsible daily in putting our trash where it should rightly go we would not be having this conversation and the worlds oceans would be better off for it.

I think that it is terrible that you guys get all of the trash dumped there and I can't blame you for being upset because people label you for that. When i wrote about being disappointed about the trash, it was my own personal observation. We were there for a week, walked to town many, many times down the beach and never seen anyone out cleaning it up. And I can only speak for the area that we stayed. I have absolutely no problem picking up stray trash and putting it in a can, but it was definitely more than just a bottle or a bag. And it may have just been that week and other times it is great, I don't know. The beach was very clean in front of our resort, but I can't say that for the rest of the resorts down the beach. I live at the beach in a tourist area and we are constantly having to clean ours because the tourists leave it a mess. I don't think badly of the people of Belize at all. I think they were great and we had a great time.

 

[traciedee]

I thought the diving in Ambergris was great. Most sites are fairly close, water was warm and visability was great. We just wore bathing suits, no skin or wet suit. We dove with Patoho (don't know about spelling). We were there in Sept and water was a little rough some time which made getting back on the boat a little challenging, but if the currents were a little strong we did a drift dive and it was great.

 

[pilot fish]

I thought the diving in Ambergris was great. Most sites are fairly close, water was warm and visability was great. We just wore bathing suits, no skin or wet suit. We dove with Patoho (don't know about spelling). We were there in Sept and water was a little rough some time which made getting back on the boat a little challenging, but if the currents were a little strong we did a drift dive and it was great.

That's good to hear. Where did you stay?

 

[traciedee]

We stayed at a little place called the Tides-Patojo's Scuba Center is there and he also has this little outdoor bar where all the locals stop by for a beverage. Not a fancy place, but it had a lot of charm and you will get to know Patojo and his ton of kids. I loved it and the view was awesome. We snorkled off the dock and the dive boats left steps outside our room. Grocery store close by-bring your own snacks-very expensive!

 

[divetahoe]

I have been to both Bonaire and Belize, and the diving is different in each place. In fact, I stayed and dove with Gaz while in Belize in November of '01. He has a nice place that is (was) off the main part of Ambergris so it was even more quiet and peaceful than "downtown".

The only divers with us were us, so we had a week of great tongue and groove coral diving.

The only drawback was the water taxis on Ambergris: expensive. Our last night on the island, my brother and I decided to go to town an have a few drinks and socialize. Came time to return to the hotel and we balked at paying $15 US each for a ride back to Gaz's place, and the taxi driver wouldn't bargain or negotiate. Further, there were no more taxis available until morning. As a result, we were in town, 6 miles from Gaz's place at 1am and we were scheduled to leave later that morning.

Let me tell you, walking up a beach for 6or so miles in the dark (no moon!) was challenging! Got back in time to crash for an hour or so then pack up and head inland.

BTW Gaz was helpful in arranging a car rental for us that saved us some money too.

Regarding the trash issue on Ambergris: I didn't notice an abundance of trash, in fact, it appeared to have less trash than I remembered from my trip to Bali a couple years earlier. If someone is looking for the pristine beachwith nothing but footprints, good luck. Our species has dragged its trash with it everywhere.

FWIW.

 

[pilot fish]

We stayed at a little place called the Tides-Patojo's Scuba Center is there and he also has this little outdoor bar where all the locals stop by for a beverage. Not a fancy place, but it had a lot of charm and you will get to know Patojo and his ton of kids. I loved it and the view was awesome. We snorkled off the dock and the dive boats left steps outside our room. Grocery store close by-bring your own snacks-very expensive!

Glad you mentioned snacks. I would not have thought to do that. Thanks.