I’ll start with the diving. Diving at lighthouse reef was splendid! We completed 18 dives over our one week stay with Huracan. We were grateful we were able to do that many, as we were informed Tuesday night that Wednesday would be a no dive day. We made a stink about that since we had originally booked for 11 days, and the departure of the one captain Wednesday would have also left us not diving Saturday, which was completely unacceptable. On Thursday, the captain who had been scheduled to leave ended up acting as dive master, as the other dive master had sinus issues and couldn’t clear his ears. We would have had 3 no dive days out of 11 if we hadn’t pushed.
The reefs were splendid, primarily wall diving. I absolutely loved the shallow safety stops on many of the dives, and I could have spent days at the top of aquarium, as it was stunning. The reef was beautiful, but I did notice a lack of biodiversity. Compared to Bonaire, we didn’t see a ton of fish. Angel fish and parrot fish were few and far between. We rarely saw any schools of fish. In Bonaire we’d watch the “Blue tang” clan roll through, seemingly in the thousands, and once we got caught in a Boga bait ball which was truly magnificent. Lighthouse reef did have reef sharks, but I don’t think they quite compare. Spotted Eagle rays were seen swimming by the docks multiple times. It seems like if you want the large marine life, then this is the place to find it.
The Blue Hole was different. I was narced out of my mind, so I don’t recall it in all that much detail, but it was at was a cool experience. It was amazing to be the only divers there. When we were headed back to the boat, the bubbles were coming up over the ledge from the other divers that had just went down. That itself made for a cool visual effect. It was awesome to not have to leave at 5:30 am to get there.
My overall impression was that the dive team is awesome, with Louis being one of the most knowledgeable people we’ve ever dove with. Santi was okay. I let our first experience influence my views on him. Our first dive, he wanted us all to do a weight check, as is usual. For some reason, he entered the water before my husband, the last of our group. He told me to descend, then He immediately descended, and started swimming away, leading the group away. I was watching my husband, of course, and he was signaling that he needed more weight. He was still on the surface. I had to chase down the DM so he could go back and give him weight. He was completely unaware of who had descended and who hadn’t. That’s why we have buddies, thankfully, but for the first dive, I just don’t think that should have happened. The next time he told me to descend without my husband, I refused. Other than that, we mostly went without incident. He didn’t do a great job keeping an eye on air and deco time after the first few days. There was another dive where I swam down to another diver because I realized my watch was reading 12 minutes left, and he had been lower than me the whole dive. His was at 1 minute. I know it’s the responsibility of the diver to watch that, but I also think dive masters should check in, especially the day after the blue hole. We do a lot of independent diving (Bonaire)so I’m not sure if I have too high of expectations down there. I’m personally a mother hen while diving, so maybe I just expect that of others.
As for the lodging, here’s my TripAdvisor review:
In short: if you go during similar conditions as we did (late May) you can expect an uncomfortably hot, buggy stay with food that is not gourmet, mosquito nets that don’t work, and a shortage of a breeze, either from the sea or from fans. You can also expect superb diving. The accommodations, especially for the price, were lacking.
Here’s the long story, with tips sprinkled in:
As we were greeted by the smiling faces of the Huracan team, it was like a breath of fresh air after a long day of travel. We stepped off the dock onto the white sand beach, palm trees swaying around, and thought “this is paradise.” As we were lead along the walkway, that sense of euphoria masked the lack of breeze coming that far back. The first impression of the lodge is an impressive one. Beautiful Belizean hardwoods abound, and a hammock swings invitingly along the long hall leading to the rooms. We sat through a thirty minute intro briefing, and are then were taken to our rooms. While it is hot and muggy, 95 degrees with 90% humidity, you don’t quite notice it those first few hours, but it does catch up with you eventually.
The first night, the guests descended upon the manager to ask about more fans for our rooms. We were the lucky first to ask, so we were blessed with an additional small box fan, but the other guests weren’t so lucky. One stand up fan per room. We noticed another guest immediately ask the manager for bleach, as their compost toilet was overwhelmingly smelly. As second guest noted that their own compost toilet woke them at 2am each morning with a putrid odor. As temperatures rose, this only got worse, and with the smothering heat, the initial illusions of paradise quickly wore off. The one thing in abundance on the island were mosquitoes. Bring bug spray, but don’t count on it working. We were still covered in bites. The mosquito nets were useless, as they didn’t actually close. The dining area was not fully screened, so the mosquitoes were especially bad at meal time. The back door didn’t have a screen door; and needed to be left open for some small amount of breeze, as there are no fans in the large sitting area, also letting mosquitoes in.
At first glance, the decor was lovely. Lovely throw pillows and curtains in the room to separate the bathroom, and also on the shower. It was a beach chic theme that works beautifully for the surroundings. Unfortunately, when you look a bit closer, there are many cracks in the lovely facade. The shower curtain was filthy. Bed linens had holes in it. My pillowcase shifted one night, revealing a disgusting pillow beneath my head. Two pillowcases interlapping would have fixed that. Our bed was not made until four days in, then it was made for two days in a row.
Don’t expect hot water. It is very dependent on the room. We figured out, on the last day, that our shower only was hot if the adjoining room was also running the shower. We were the first room on the right. The water was frigid for the duration of our trip, with the exception of that fluke the last day.
It’s a “Barefoot” lodge- but staff was often wearing flip flops. It’s a great concept, but you need rugs and such, especially at the foot of the bed to make it work. The floor was always covered in sand, making us eventually crawl into a sandy bed, since the floors were not swept for our four days. One day, the foot rinse bucket had hardly any water, and tons of sand, so our feet actually got sandier using it. We mentioned something, three times over three hours of people coming and got my with sandy feet, and finally it was replenished. There were no rugs at the entrances, which compounded the issue, save for a small 4”x8” strip of outdoor mat.
Food: we are not picky eaters by any means, but with the very high price tag that Huracan commands along with their claims of “gourmet dining,” we had fairly high expectations, and the food ended up being hit or miss. We ate conch pasta, conch skewers, conch fritters, and conch ceviche. I generally like conch fritters, but having conch as a main protein source on a dish is just terrible. It is horribly chewy and the skewers and pasta were the only meals that we didn’t eat in full. Actually, one other pasta dish where I found what I suspect was a pantry moth larvae in my food was also off-putting.
They did go out of their way to make the two birthdays in the current group of guests very special, including beautiful birthday cakes. This was a very special touch.
We also loved the group dining experience, and we made friends and had great laughs, so PLEASE don’t change that!
If you are coming in the summer months, prepare for a very uncomfortable stay. The breeze does not reach the lodge, as it is set far back into the jungle. If you are lucky enough to get a light rain to cool things down on the island, the mosquitoes become even more aggressive.
We were told that they try to deal with the mosquitoes, but instead of relying on insecticides, they need to actually screen the place and provide true mosquito nets.
There were so many little things that could have been done to enhance the experience. Multiple mornings we had to ask for plates, and utensils, etc. We had to ask for ice water with every meal. I will say, though, a new assistant chef came in mid week and these things significantly improved with her attentions. It’s possible the manager has a bit too much on her plate to also serve as the waitress, so this extra staff was a welcome addition to the service level.
As for the diving, it was incredible! We did the Blue Hole and also spent three days at Half Moon Caye. We were constantly encountering reef sharks, turtles, along with stunning coral formations and fish.
There were a couple of small issues with the diving, which I will address in a direct review of the dive opp, but all in all it was a five star dive experience. Louis was fantastic, and Santi and Carlos rounded out the dive team nicely.
One bright light: when cut our trip down from 11 days to 7, they were accommodating of this change, and we appreciated that. We were just too uncomfortable with the heat and the mosquitoes to complete the stay.
To the management, there are two small things that could go a long ways towards enhancing the experience of Huracan: an abundance of fans and functional mosquito nets. A lodge cannot thrive on superb diving alone. If these small tweaks were made, we’d definitely be interested in returning.
The reefs were splendid, primarily wall diving. I absolutely loved the shallow safety stops on many of the dives, and I could have spent days at the top of aquarium, as it was stunning. The reef was beautiful, but I did notice a lack of biodiversity. Compared to Bonaire, we didn’t see a ton of fish. Angel fish and parrot fish were few and far between. We rarely saw any schools of fish. In Bonaire we’d watch the “Blue tang” clan roll through, seemingly in the thousands, and once we got caught in a Boga bait ball which was truly magnificent. Lighthouse reef did have reef sharks, but I don’t think they quite compare. Spotted Eagle rays were seen swimming by the docks multiple times. It seems like if you want the large marine life, then this is the place to find it.
The Blue Hole was different. I was narced out of my mind, so I don’t recall it in all that much detail, but it was at was a cool experience. It was amazing to be the only divers there. When we were headed back to the boat, the bubbles were coming up over the ledge from the other divers that had just went down. That itself made for a cool visual effect. It was awesome to not have to leave at 5:30 am to get there.
My overall impression was that the dive team is awesome, with Louis being one of the most knowledgeable people we’ve ever dove with. Santi was okay. I let our first experience influence my views on him. Our first dive, he wanted us all to do a weight check, as is usual. For some reason, he entered the water before my husband, the last of our group. He told me to descend, then He immediately descended, and started swimming away, leading the group away. I was watching my husband, of course, and he was signaling that he needed more weight. He was still on the surface. I had to chase down the DM so he could go back and give him weight. He was completely unaware of who had descended and who hadn’t. That’s why we have buddies, thankfully, but for the first dive, I just don’t think that should have happened. The next time he told me to descend without my husband, I refused. Other than that, we mostly went without incident. He didn’t do a great job keeping an eye on air and deco time after the first few days. There was another dive where I swam down to another diver because I realized my watch was reading 12 minutes left, and he had been lower than me the whole dive. His was at 1 minute. I know it’s the responsibility of the diver to watch that, but I also think dive masters should check in, especially the day after the blue hole. We do a lot of independent diving (Bonaire)so I’m not sure if I have too high of expectations down there. I’m personally a mother hen while diving, so maybe I just expect that of others.
As for the lodging, here’s my TripAdvisor review:
In short: if you go during similar conditions as we did (late May) you can expect an uncomfortably hot, buggy stay with food that is not gourmet, mosquito nets that don’t work, and a shortage of a breeze, either from the sea or from fans. You can also expect superb diving. The accommodations, especially for the price, were lacking.
Here’s the long story, with tips sprinkled in:
As we were greeted by the smiling faces of the Huracan team, it was like a breath of fresh air after a long day of travel. We stepped off the dock onto the white sand beach, palm trees swaying around, and thought “this is paradise.” As we were lead along the walkway, that sense of euphoria masked the lack of breeze coming that far back. The first impression of the lodge is an impressive one. Beautiful Belizean hardwoods abound, and a hammock swings invitingly along the long hall leading to the rooms. We sat through a thirty minute intro briefing, and are then were taken to our rooms. While it is hot and muggy, 95 degrees with 90% humidity, you don’t quite notice it those first few hours, but it does catch up with you eventually.
The first night, the guests descended upon the manager to ask about more fans for our rooms. We were the lucky first to ask, so we were blessed with an additional small box fan, but the other guests weren’t so lucky. One stand up fan per room. We noticed another guest immediately ask the manager for bleach, as their compost toilet was overwhelmingly smelly. As second guest noted that their own compost toilet woke them at 2am each morning with a putrid odor. As temperatures rose, this only got worse, and with the smothering heat, the initial illusions of paradise quickly wore off. The one thing in abundance on the island were mosquitoes. Bring bug spray, but don’t count on it working. We were still covered in bites. The mosquito nets were useless, as they didn’t actually close. The dining area was not fully screened, so the mosquitoes were especially bad at meal time. The back door didn’t have a screen door; and needed to be left open for some small amount of breeze, as there are no fans in the large sitting area, also letting mosquitoes in.
At first glance, the decor was lovely. Lovely throw pillows and curtains in the room to separate the bathroom, and also on the shower. It was a beach chic theme that works beautifully for the surroundings. Unfortunately, when you look a bit closer, there are many cracks in the lovely facade. The shower curtain was filthy. Bed linens had holes in it. My pillowcase shifted one night, revealing a disgusting pillow beneath my head. Two pillowcases interlapping would have fixed that. Our bed was not made until four days in, then it was made for two days in a row.
Don’t expect hot water. It is very dependent on the room. We figured out, on the last day, that our shower only was hot if the adjoining room was also running the shower. We were the first room on the right. The water was frigid for the duration of our trip, with the exception of that fluke the last day.
It’s a “Barefoot” lodge- but staff was often wearing flip flops. It’s a great concept, but you need rugs and such, especially at the foot of the bed to make it work. The floor was always covered in sand, making us eventually crawl into a sandy bed, since the floors were not swept for our four days. One day, the foot rinse bucket had hardly any water, and tons of sand, so our feet actually got sandier using it. We mentioned something, three times over three hours of people coming and got my with sandy feet, and finally it was replenished. There were no rugs at the entrances, which compounded the issue, save for a small 4”x8” strip of outdoor mat.
Food: we are not picky eaters by any means, but with the very high price tag that Huracan commands along with their claims of “gourmet dining,” we had fairly high expectations, and the food ended up being hit or miss. We ate conch pasta, conch skewers, conch fritters, and conch ceviche. I generally like conch fritters, but having conch as a main protein source on a dish is just terrible. It is horribly chewy and the skewers and pasta were the only meals that we didn’t eat in full. Actually, one other pasta dish where I found what I suspect was a pantry moth larvae in my food was also off-putting.
They did go out of their way to make the two birthdays in the current group of guests very special, including beautiful birthday cakes. This was a very special touch.
We also loved the group dining experience, and we made friends and had great laughs, so PLEASE don’t change that!
If you are coming in the summer months, prepare for a very uncomfortable stay. The breeze does not reach the lodge, as it is set far back into the jungle. If you are lucky enough to get a light rain to cool things down on the island, the mosquitoes become even more aggressive.
We were told that they try to deal with the mosquitoes, but instead of relying on insecticides, they need to actually screen the place and provide true mosquito nets.
There were so many little things that could have been done to enhance the experience. Multiple mornings we had to ask for plates, and utensils, etc. We had to ask for ice water with every meal. I will say, though, a new assistant chef came in mid week and these things significantly improved with her attentions. It’s possible the manager has a bit too much on her plate to also serve as the waitress, so this extra staff was a welcome addition to the service level.
As for the diving, it was incredible! We did the Blue Hole and also spent three days at Half Moon Caye. We were constantly encountering reef sharks, turtles, along with stunning coral formations and fish.
There were a couple of small issues with the diving, which I will address in a direct review of the dive opp, but all in all it was a five star dive experience. Louis was fantastic, and Santi and Carlos rounded out the dive team nicely.
One bright light: when cut our trip down from 11 days to 7, they were accommodating of this change, and we appreciated that. We were just too uncomfortable with the heat and the mosquitoes to complete the stay.
To the management, there are two small things that could go a long ways towards enhancing the experience of Huracan: an abundance of fans and functional mosquito nets. A lodge cannot thrive on superb diving alone. If these small tweaks were made, we’d definitely be interested in returning.
