Favorite Memories from the SB Invasion 2025 Belize
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Well I knew I would take heat for my post. So be it.
I did not read the reviews until we were on the Atoll. I did question Dennis directly and was told to essentially not believe the 8 1* reviews out of 42 reviews that trashed this place. I had faith in the organizers, because I had been on 2 great trips before (Cozumel and Bonaire last year). I was told the 1 * reviews were ignored, and then heard all the comments about how great the trips were etc. Read the 5*ones only. Look at the 5* review that showed up a day ago on Tripadvisor. LOL, it reads just like the other 5* reviews, totally fake. There's a whole other part of the hotel with table service and nightly entertainment. Evidently, some people believed this sort of bs. lol
I won't be back because if nothing changes I don't have faith in anyone who ignores the people telling you to stay away. The recent video posted today on this thread is a Belize advertising business and looks like it was made for $1k Dennis. This is what they bought into. Cheap and old footage combined with a few recent blurbs. Dennis told me all the bad reviews were "old", the newest 1* was in 12/24 and 11/24. Sure wish I had done my homework, bought trip insurance and bailed. Maybe you should have DM'd him? He's run 4 diving trips for 10 years just like you Dennis, and he said this place was "THE WORST".
Regardless of the exact cost of the room, it was a dump of a 2* hotel. And to come out of there feeling like I was starving is something I should be able to complain about. So **** you anyone who thinks different. If I hadn't had shoved 2 boxes of Cliff bars in my luggage and 2 bags of trail mix, I probably could not have done the last 2 days of diving.
Regarding the bar tab I pulled during my week. Yes, it could have killed 3 people lol. The staff did not care about ANYONE meaning YOU. The bartenders put whatever onto anyone's room who had the drink package. That's why they ran out of a lot of booze. There was no management there to manage anything! We ate cold garbage, and unhealthy food while they drank all the booze lol. The storage room was empty.
I would have swam in the pool after diving but I brought test strips (I own a pool retail and service business) and the water tested for no chlorine every day, and very acidic. So, not safe to swim in at all. A clear pool can put you in the hospital. You want to get sick on an Atoll in Belize? This place was unsafe in so many ways.
I'm not going to sugar coat my remarks, because I've done 3 trips with Scubaboard now. If you don't like it, I don't GAF. This was not a Maduro FU. They are the go between. Of course a bankrupt owner of a POS dive resort will lie about it's current condition. I put my faith in the organizers to recognize that, and I missed that. I was one of the group that paid $500 to fly out. To put my faith in anything that was told to me at that point was IMO a poor decision.
Those of you who said I should have known better, you are correct. I won't make the same mistake again. I heard a group bypassed this and went to Cozumel. I'm sure they had a great time.
Keep picking at me lol IDGAF.
If the organizers don't learn something from this good luck. They told you to look at 5* reviews and ignore 1*. I was lectured personally. I've been a business owner of a retail and service business for 14 years. NO ONE goes out of their way to trash your business with consistent 1* reviews THAT ALL SAY THE SAME THING. Trip Advisor is now getting a lot more 1 * reviews, I wonder why. I reached out to the last 1* 12/24 review who does trips just like Dennis does. He said this place was "THE WORST" out of 40 he had organized trips to and was happy to discuss it with me.
Here's something fun to do. Download Grok and ask the AI engine "Tell me everything you know about the owner of Dive Haven Belize". See how many times "Scubaboard" gets quoted in the criticism. I'm not the only one trashing this place, Scubaboard should have known better.
Next
I did not read the reviews until we were on the Atoll. I did question Dennis directly and was told to essentially not believe the 8 1* reviews out of 42 reviews that trashed this place. I had faith in the organizers, because I had been on 2 great trips before (Cozumel and Bonaire last year). I was told the 1 * reviews were ignored, and then heard all the comments about how great the trips were etc. Read the 5*ones only. Look at the 5* review that showed up a day ago on Tripadvisor. LOL, it reads just like the other 5* reviews, totally fake. There's a whole other part of the hotel with table service and nightly entertainment. Evidently, some people believed this sort of bs. lol
I won't be back because if nothing changes I don't have faith in anyone who ignores the people telling you to stay away. The recent video posted today on this thread is a Belize advertising business and looks like it was made for $1k Dennis. This is what they bought into. Cheap and old footage combined with a few recent blurbs. Dennis told me all the bad reviews were "old", the newest 1* was in 12/24 and 11/24. Sure wish I had done my homework, bought trip insurance and bailed. Maybe you should have DM'd him? He's run 4 diving trips for 10 years just like you Dennis, and he said this place was "THE WORST".
Regardless of the exact cost of the room, it was a dump of a 2* hotel. And to come out of there feeling like I was starving is something I should be able to complain about. So **** you anyone who thinks different. If I hadn't had shoved 2 boxes of Cliff bars in my luggage and 2 bags of trail mix, I probably could not have done the last 2 days of diving.
Regarding the bar tab I pulled during my week. Yes, it could have killed 3 people lol. The staff did not care about ANYONE meaning YOU. The bartenders put whatever onto anyone's room who had the drink package. That's why they ran out of a lot of booze. There was no management there to manage anything! We ate cold garbage, and unhealthy food while they drank all the booze lol. The storage room was empty.
I would have swam in the pool after diving but I brought test strips (I own a pool retail and service business) and the water tested for no chlorine every day, and very acidic. So, not safe to swim in at all. A clear pool can put you in the hospital. You want to get sick on an Atoll in Belize? This place was unsafe in so many ways.
I'm not going to sugar coat my remarks, because I've done 3 trips with Scubaboard now. If you don't like it, I don't GAF. This was not a Maduro FU. They are the go between. Of course a bankrupt owner of a POS dive resort will lie about it's current condition. I put my faith in the organizers to recognize that, and I missed that. I was one of the group that paid $500 to fly out. To put my faith in anything that was told to me at that point was IMO a poor decision.
Those of you who said I should have known better, you are correct. I won't make the same mistake again. I heard a group bypassed this and went to Cozumel. I'm sure they had a great time.
Keep picking at me lol IDGAF.
If the organizers don't learn something from this good luck. They told you to look at 5* reviews and ignore 1*. I was lectured personally. I've been a business owner of a retail and service business for 14 years. NO ONE goes out of their way to trash your business with consistent 1* reviews THAT ALL SAY THE SAME THING. Trip Advisor is now getting a lot more 1 * reviews, I wonder why. I reached out to the last 1* 12/24 review who does trips just like Dennis does. He said this place was "THE WORST" out of 40 he had organized trips to and was happy to discuss it with me.
Here's something fun to do. Download Grok and ask the AI engine "Tell me everything you know about the owner of Dive Haven Belize". See how many times "Scubaboard" gets quoted in the criticism. I'm not the only one trashing this place, Scubaboard should have known better.
Next
I always enjoy the conversation. Don't make assumptions about my preferences. I certainly don't like banal and judgmental people like yourself. The weather didn't affect our diving as much as the lack of fuel. I hung out with the people who ran the boats at night, not the ones blowing smoke up your butthole.
I could also not care less about where you've dove for more money. We're not 8 year olds here, we can certainly understand it cost more to dive in different places. For example, we probably could have been the best resort at the south end of the Atoll for the same money.
Honestly, I'm not going to care if Dennis and Roxanne miss me. What they should worry about is why this trip was so hard to fill up. And how's the feedback going to affect future trips. Will they simply delete bad feedback and move on?
Honestly, it was terrible, but I thank God I did not bring my kids on this one. Thankfully no one did.
So hands up who would go back for the same deal?
I will be writing my review of Dive Haven, Google, anywhere I can. I'll call it 50/50 fault, and I'll wait to hear about the travel agency. I do prefer something different from a lot of people here. I want comfort, and FOOD, as a priority as well. I shouldn't have to suffer. We'll go elsewhere, and had already planned on it. I'd do Belize in a heartbeat again, it was the best diving of the 3 trips with Scubaboard I've been on. Because it was isolated.
I speak my mind, and I believe in taking responsibility for your mistakes. I made a mistake by not doing my own research before the trip. I did put some of my faith in the reputation of the past trips I'd taken with Scubaboard. I think on any trip I take, it's more about just getting on the boat with responsible divers, who not only share the same depth of passion about the sport, but are just as concerned about safety as you are. That's probably better served by a smaller group for me and Gail.
When you're on a boat and you meet the owner Hakim on the boat ride out, the experience his week of rationed hell, then you're the last people on the Atoll and you meet him again. He offers you help out with your bags to the airstrip (about another 100 ft, but we'd had barely any food for a week) and this shows up. I was just happy to get out of this hell hole. Gail almost wanted to get into the earth mover, we were that tired.
I speak my mind, and I believe in taking responsibility for your mistakes. I made a mistake by not doing my own research before the trip. I did put some of my faith in the reputation of the past trips I'd taken with Scubaboard. I think on any trip I take, it's more about just getting on the boat with responsible divers, who not only share the same depth of passion about the sport, but are just as concerned about safety as you are. That's probably better served by a smaller group for me and Gail.
When you're on a boat and you meet the owner Hakim on the boat ride out, the experience his week of rationed hell, then you're the last people on the Atoll and you meet him again. He offers you help out with your bags to the airstrip (about another 100 ft, but we'd had barely any food for a week) and this shows up. I was just happy to get out of this hell hole. Gail almost wanted to get into the earth mover, we were that tired.
Emma also contracted COVID. Most likely from the airport on her way out, although Saturday on the boat/bus over is a possibility (but the timing is a bit tight). She tested positive on Monday. (She masked on the planes, but not in the airport, and was largely outside during the entire week). She is on medication that wipes out her immune system, so she catches things easily. Lynn and I both tested negative.
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