Disappointed in Belize

[morey000]

strong easterly winds- looks like all the local east facing ambergris reef dives are shut down. Probably won't get to dive any of them this week. Yesterday went to the Hol Chan marine preserve which is in the lee. Lotsa' other boats there. Good biomass, very shallow, some current to fight if you didn't know how to avoid it. Then over to Sharks and Rays area. If you like nurse sharks, there were plenty around.

Today- since the local reef was too rough, Ramons ran a trip to Tunereffe. Dove Vincente, Sandy Slope, and then The Elbow. All terrific. I was happy with the biomass in this area- alive and crowded with life. Seemed healthy and active with a excellent variety. Found a huge lobster, swam with a 5 ft green moray out of his hole, couldn't get rid of an overly friendly pair of Ramora that were scaring my daughter, a magnificent speckled ray with a 4+ ft wingspan, endless long train-like schools of these medium blue fish. Jacks galore, parrots, triggers, angels, wrases, etc Don't know what the blue train fish were, but I'm sure you guys do. Visibility 100ft. water temp 83F. Only problem was it was ~ $250/pp trip to get in those three dives. Guess that dive boat uses a lot of fuel as there was 3hrs of traveling to/fro to get there. Open sea swell was windblown and tight, 6-8ft. 2ft in the lee of the reef where we dove tho.

and - even tho I charged it, something happened with the battery on my gopro, so didn't get any pictures of anything today. fortunately, I have a spare battery with me that works.

 

[morey000]

yeah, well. Stoo is right. Dived Ambergris this morning. Two locations. (Mermaid's Lair and San Pedro Canyons) reef seems half dead. not colorful. Limited biomass. Plenty of nurse sharks. some lobster, another guy speared a lionfish, nice sea turtle, a couple big 4ft rays. But a limited number of colorful reef fish. No huge schools. Mr. Toad's wild ride clearing the 8-10ft breakers in the boat. And then getting back on the boat in 6-8ft seas would be a challenge for those who are not strong and a little agile. Visibility was good 80+ft, and water temps sweet, 84F, so, can't complain. the geography of the reef was fun to dive, as there were deep canyons, a swim through- plenty to do down there. This wasn't quite what I was hoping for. Not really complaining- and Ramons is very nice.

live and learn.

 

[morey000]

well, the week got better as the winds abated, and I dove a number of additional sites on the Ambergris Reef near San Pedro. The top of the reef area where we were diving was typically about 35ft, with a lot of deep canyons down to between 75 and 100ft. Terrific walls to explore everywhere. Tons of nurse sharks and a few Caribbean Reef (or black tipped) sharks, big spotted rays, green sea turtles, big green morays out swimming. Started to find larger schools of fish and some pretty colorful coral. Did a night dive in Hol Chan which was very fun. At night- many octopuses, rays, lobster, crab, barracuda, eels, and some annoying blood worms that were attracted to my dive light like bugs... but I brought the light near a brain coral and the coral would devour the blood worms- that was pretty amazing to see.

Typical conditions: Minimal current. Water 84F. visibility 100ft. Perhaps it's even better elsewhere, but I was pretty happy with the diving and Ramons.

I've only got a little go-pro knock off, so perhaps not the most stellar dive photos you'll ever see, but if you want a feel for what it looks like off Ambergris and Turneffe, here are some shots.

https://goo.gl/photos/y7qvCFmrxu7Scn6B6

 

[Snoweman]

Tried to see whale sharks in Placencia back in 2012, but missed them by a day. I thought the reefs looked dead with more "weeds" than coral and the biggest finds were spotting the lion fish for the dive master. I would much rather dive Cozumel.

 

[DeputyDan]

I consider Belize a great vacation destination that also has diving.
I do not consider Belize to be a dedicated dive trip destination (The liveaboards being the exception).

 

[scbaNE2179]

I was on one of the BA livaboard boats last month and I too felt a little disappointed in the diving and lack of sea life in general. Now my experience may have been caused by the recent hurricanes that ripped through the Caribbean as we only had a few days of good visibility but overall I probably would not return to Belize anytime soon. A few friends of mine had the had the same feelings about Belize prior to my trip and I was hoping for the best but the reefs and walls were very desolate when I went.

 

[Saltyhawg]

I dove Ambergris in March of 2015 and was not impressed. The reef was not very healthy looking at all and the fish numbers were not impressive.

That said the trip to the Blue Hole was very nice (although the two dives other than the Blue Hole were the stars).

If we go back we will go to Turneffe.

 

[drbill]

I worked as marine biologist on an eco-cruise ship between Belize and Utila back in the mid-2000s. I followed that with a week off diving based on Caye Caulker. At that time I found plenty to see and film. I wonder how much things have changed since then. Of course if I want real biodiversity I skip the Caribbean and head to SE Asia or the South Pacific.

 

[Hank49]

Belize is what it is. When I first went there (l live there but am working in Thailand right now) in 1999 I was a bit surprised in that yes, it doesn’t have the flora and fauna diversity of the Indo Pacific.
But the desert is different from the rain forest also. but also has very interesting life, as drbill pointed out.
There are lots of fish. I’ve found they congregate more around the cuts in the Reef (Hol Chan as an example)
The little bit of tide flows in and out the cuts stimulating the food chain. However, it makes it harder for the DMs to manage a group of divers too so they stick to the walls outside. Nice, but not the best Belize has to offer.
I free dive the cuts. One guy drives and drops and picks up the drifting divers. We see fish.

 

[Saltyhawg]

Agree Hank. Hol Chan had a lot of life but 1) it is so shallow 2) the 3 times we dove it the current was really strong 3) despite asking them to, our dive op would not do it as a drift dive.