Sail 'n Dive
Registered
My partner and I spent our March break at TIR this year (I am a college professor ...) and it was lovely experience. Belize City itself is rather underwhelming. But then the fun began -- excellent boat transfer way out to their island, away from the crowds on the other cayes. The island itself is really nicely planned, designed, equipped and staffed. The managers, waitstaff, and dive masters were really friendly and provided exceptional service. It was good to see that the management is integrating local Belizeans into the dive master/junior management ranks. Our private cabana was first class -- gorgeous woodwork, spacious, nicely furnished, very clean bathroom and an outdoor shower in the back that was also spotless and well maintained. Plenty of hot water too, which has been rare on other Caribbean dive trips. The view from our private porch could not be beat, and the staff regularly raked the sand and rearranged ample lounge seating in private little nooks. Meals are served in a single seating, and the food was particularly tasty, healthy, and had some local touches. We were, unfortunately, booked during one of their busiest weeks. There were about 20 of us who came in 2s and 4s, and we were looking for a quiet get-away type trip, with a premium on the snorkeling and diving. But there was another party there as well, a huge extended family group who came to fish, dive, drink, and make a lot of noise. For the most part, this was not that big of a deal, but meals would have been impossible if the management had not split the seatings so that the numerous and rather moderately disciplined kids could eat dinner on their own at 6 pm ; breakfast and lunch sometimes felt like a cattle call, though. We avoided the bar and pool, which were completely taken over by this other crew, which was a pity as they looked great. If you can, avoid peak travel times and you will enjoy this resort all the more. Now for the diving and snorkeling -- one of the best Caribbean trips we have taken (compared to St. Croix, British Virgins, Puerto Rico, Saba, and Roatan ...) The reefs that were about 20 min small boat ride from the dock ranged from very good to quite beautiful. Before this trip, I would have put Saba at the top of the above list for diving. So in comparison to Saba, the only negatives are: smaller grouper and fewer sharks. Otherwise, fairly good medium to small size fish: tarpon, permit, yellow-tail snapper, barracuda, black groupers, angelfish, hogfish, grunts, wrasses, parrotfish, squirrelfish, sargeant majors, butterfly fish, tangs, and so on were present on virtually every dive. Less common, but there if you looked, and got lucky, were the unique Belizean toadfish (ugly but nice to see !), boxfish, cowfish, drumfish, porcupinefish, jawfish , trumpetfish, scorpionfish, peacock flounder, triggerfish, and so on. Nice green moray eels, a few spotted; a few hawksbill turtle, and one shy green turtle; a few rays -- southern sting, and spotted; lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. The coral was in fairly good shape, a little silted-in at a couple of spots, but fairly pristine and no trash, no fishing garbage. On the night dive, also saw an octopus. The high point was the day trip to the Blue Hole/Half Moon Caye -- swam through the famous stalactites and then we were treated to a swim-by on the part of 3 reef sharks. The reefs by Half Moon Caye are the best of the bunch. Do not miss the lunch stop at the island park itself, where the red-footed boobies will bring oohs and aahs from serious birders and amateurs alike. (If you have issues with seasickness, do note that this day trip, and the transfers to and from the island, are in fairly open ocean where the waves are meeting shallow waters: so expect some pretty good 8 - 10 foot waves with short fetch -- and there were unprepared folks who were really green around the gills on board. We ourselves lucked out ... ) Our diving platforms varied from the big boats on the day trip out to the Blue Hole to small launches, and even with the resort being at full capacity, they split us up very nicely, so we were diving in groups of 8 or so. The staff tirelessly switched our gear around between dives with flawless coordination -- no-hassle diving ! I dove Nitrox for a small extra fee. The dive master was wonderful, very knowledgeable, a local diving veteran, who knew where every extraordinary critter could be found and yet ran a tight operation. I think that divers of all experience levels would feel comfortable, although beginners should probably plan on skipping the deep dive at the Blue Hole as the neat stuff is at 130 feet. The drift dives were held in very weak currents, and the viz was usually excellent. I brought my own gear, but the rental stuff that I saw looked new-ish and high quality. A special plus -- my partner snorkels, and instead of just allowing the snorkelers to plop into the water during our dives, as if their needs were rather unimportant, they actually organized custom snorkeling tours, complete with their own boat, captain, and guide. And they saw almost as much stuff as we did ! All round, a great trip, we'd definitely go back.
