Glovers Atoll Resort vs. Huracan

[danhool34]

I'm having a hell of a time trying to decide between these two resorts. From what I understand, the diving is comparable between Glovers and Lighthouse (where Huracan is located), only you can't do Blue Hole from Glovers.
Glovers is very cheap, but how will that affect the quality of my stay? The reviews of this place are ridiculously mixed. It seems like people either love it or hate it.
Huracan has all positive reviews, and it's not as pricey as some of the other resorts out there (besides Glovers).
My girlfriend and I are in our mid 20s, and I'm a bit concerned that Huracan caters to an older crowd. But I don't want to be held hostage (literally, according to some reviews) on Glovers and ruin my entire trip.
Any advice?
P.S. Gaz, I want to thank you for getting back to me with some helpful info last week.

 

[Gaz]

Hey No Problem

Which resort are you reffering to on Glovers that is getting mixed reviews ???? based on you saying it is cheap I am thinking that you are reffering to the Camp site at Glovers which for all but the real campers who dont want any comforts I would advise against it. Your girl is not gonna like it, one bit, they have only outside loo's which are holes in the ground, its rough dude.
I personally love it like that for a few days, but for a nice romantic holiday for the 2 of you, LOL I dont think so, that is unless you want to break up with her if thats the case taking her there should do it.

Dont get me wrong its a great place for the right person, but I would never send a client there but would go myself because I know exactly what to expect it cheap the diving is fantastic and thats me all over LOL.

The Resort on Glovers which is more than livable is Isla Marisol which is not cheap but you have to say you get what you pay for and I have not heard any negative on Isla Marisol and much more like what I think you are looking for.

Unfortunatley one of the down sides of a remote resort is you are stuck with whoever is staying there during the same time, just like a liveabord, your stuck with them.

As for Huracan being catering to an older crowd I find that the older folks are the ones that generally have the money to stay at these more expensive resorts and liveaboards, and youngsters are few and far between and tend to head to Ambergris or Caulker where there are more alternatives to just diving such as clubs bars etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if you need any help booking I am more than happy to assist

Gaz

 

[Hank49]

Gaz is right about Marisol. I was there two weeks ago with my buddy and son. The one amazing thing about that little caye is there are NO sand flies at all. Not sure how they accomplished that but it's nice.
It is a small island though and it's pretty much dive, eat, sleep, dive etc etc. Which is great for some.

 

[danhool34]

Thanks again for the good advice. And ya, I was talking about that Glovers Atoll "Resort" that resembles more of a campground, but I guess you get what you pay for.

I did contact Marisol and they offered me some packages and even said that they could get out to Blue Hole. Hank, did you make it all the way up there on your trip? Isn't that like 3 or 4 hours away? Definitely not a deal breaker for me, but just curious.

My biggest concern with Glovers is actually the family that runs it. I've heard some horror stories about them, but others say they love them. The gf enjoys camping, so the facilities shouldn't be too much of an issue. The other concern is gear quality and air quality at such a remote and cheap place.

 

[HenrikBP]

A series of unfortunate compounding events made our stay at Isla Marisol *a lot* less fun that it could/should have been. This review was written by one of my travel/dive fellows:

Isla Marisol Resort (Glovers Reef Atoll, Belize) - Hotel Reviews - TripAdvisor

It reflects well my feelings about the trip and leaves out a couple of other unfortunate things that happened:

- DM rinsing regs without the dust cap installed. I was on the dock and saw it happen and stopped him after the first one, but given how my 1st stage filter went from white to brown during that trip, I have to wonder if it had happened before.

- crew smoking weed behind the fill shed - while filling - before the rather long boat trip to Gladden Spit. I generally don't care how people "indulge", but "indulging" has no place before boating/diving. Of course Nitrox, which during the week had been "Geezer Gas" was now renamed "Ganja Gas"

- I didn't particularly care for the manager "entertaining" us with mocking stories about guests from the previous week. I imagine that stories about our group are now on his regular repertoire.

Edit: re-reading my post I realize it sounds like a "bitch fest". So I wanted to add, that I really wanted to like Marisol - the diving certainly was there, although we missed a lot of it. I believe we did our best to keep management informed and tried to work things out. But it simply didn't happen for us. Had we not been there on a week where the resort was fully booked, and during a time when days were cloudy and with no wind (= generator power only), and during a time when they were obviously having staff issues - well then it could have been a great trip. Unfortunately for us it wasn't.

Henrik

 

[Hank49]

Thto Blue Hole. Hank, did you make it all the way up there on your trip? Isn't that like 3 or 4 hours away? Definitely not a deal breaker for me, but just curious.
My biggest concern with Glovers is actually the family that runs it.

I've been to the Blue Hole but went there from San Pedro. It would be a pretty rough ride from Glovers on most tradewind days because you'd be beating into the wind on the way there.

Regarding the family that runs Glovers: are you referring to Marisol? If so I can tell you that they're one of the oldest families in Belize. They run a lot of different businesses here. One of the owners of the island is my dentist and spearing buddy. Great guy.

 

[danhool34]

No, not the Marisol people. Henrik's post is the first bad thing I've heard about that place.

I believe the Lamont family owns and runs this island called Glovers Atoll Resort, which is probably close to Marisol, but very different in terms of price and quality.

 

[flareside]

I'm having a hell of a time trying to decide between these two resorts. From what I understand, the diving is comparable between Glovers and Lighthouse (where Huracan is located), only you can't do Blue Hole from Glovers.
Glovers is very cheap, but how will that affect the quality of my stay? The reviews of this place are ridiculously mixed. It seems like people either love it or hate it.
Huracan has all positive reviews, and it's not as pricey as some of the other resorts out there (besides Glovers).
My girlfriend and I are in our mid 20s, and I'm a bit concerned that Huracan caters to an older crowd. But I don't want to be held hostage (literally, according to some reviews) on Glovers and ruin my entire trip.
Any advice?
P.S. Gaz, I want to thank you for getting back to me with some helpful info last week.

I've just returned from a week at Huracan and really didn't see any reason to believe that they cater to the older crowd. It probably appears that way as older people are the ones most likely to write reviews in places like tripadvisor. The couple that runs runs it, I'm guessing he's in his mid 40's and she is mid 30's (so unless you consider mid 30's as "older people"...). Truly, it is keyed most to people who don't need to be entertained as it's not so much a resort but a lodge on a relatively isolated island. While the accommodations were nice and more than comfortable and the food was excellent this place doesn't really offer much more than really good diving and serious relaxation. They do have a TV but in the week we were there, nobody ever felt the desire to turn it on.

The diving was excellent and was also extremely close with most boat rides only lasting a few minutes and surface intervals were generally spent on land because it was so close. The longest ride was to the blue hole which was about 20 minutes each way. The week we were there, there was only one other couple which meant 4 on the dive boat plus divemaster (and skipper) which is something anyone who has ever been on the big resort "cattle boat" can really appreciate.

Having stayed there, I can see why the reviews are so positive and no doubt at some point we will go back. Also the bugs weren't as bad as some of the reviewers have commented but maybe we just got lucky or hit it at the right time of year as there was no morning spraying going on and the mosquitos were easily kept at bay with repellant.

 

[danhool34]

We've decided to go with Huracan. Thanks for all the great advice. I absolutely cannot wait to get there. I'm sure that work is going to be incredibly slow and tedious for the next month...

flareside, how was the snorkeling from the island? Can you just go out from the beach or do you have to go by kayak or boat?

 

[danhool34]

Also, did you guys bring your own alcohol?