Warning: Bad Belize Dive Experience

[nimoh]

For those who asked questions about the length of the dives, etc., I think I understand what happened as the OP described it, and I think some of you may have missed it. This explanation may help if it is correct. If it is not correct, I hope the OP will set me straight.

I have done a trip like the one described twice. You take a very long trip from Ambergris Caye, with the time required depending upon weather. You do a dive at the Blue Hole and then progress to Half Moon Caye, where (in differing orders depending upon the trip), you do another two dives, have a lunch, and visit the excellent bird sanctuary there. Then you take the very long trip back home. This is an all day trip that leaves very early in the morning in order to get back at a reasonable hour.

The OP's trip was intended to follow that plan, but things didn't work out so well. On the way out, they had an engine problem that greatly delayed them. This made it impossible to do the entire normal trip and get back to Ambergris Caye at a reasonable hour. The crew made the decision to cut back on things. They hurried lunch. They skipped the Half Moon Caye landing and the bird sanctuary (for which the divers had paid extra). They shortened the third dive.

If that is what happened, then some explanation was needed, and there definitely should have been a partial refund.

---------- Post Merged at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:28 PM ----------

While we may get tired of people making unwarranted complaints about dive operators, and while many of the complaints are unfounded, we also need to recognize that sometimes there is something to them, and making those concerns public can be a valuable service. We have had a couple of threads on ScubaBoard in recent years about absolutely unacceptable actions by dive operators, and we should be careful about reflexively dismissing them out of hand.

Several years ago the dive shop with which I was working had me lead a trip to Ambergris Caye in Belize. We stayed at a hotel with an on-site dive operator. When we arrived, I met a man who had intended to be on our trip with us but had to come the week before instead because of a scheduling conflict. He told me some horror stories about their week. In one example, they had paid extra for a special all day trip. They arrived at the dock as scheduled in the pre-dawn darkness, only to find that the crew had not arrived. The operator looked around and eventually found replacements. They set out more than an hour late, and it was clear that the DM they now had must have had a rough night. He slept the whole way. Despite setting out so late, they arrived at the special site for which they had paid extra more than a half hour early. (Hmmm.) After their three dives, they headed back. They guy asked for a map of the area, and the DM, not realizing what was happening, gave him one. The guy was savvy enough to be able to look at the map and the surrounding scenery they were passing and tell that they hadn't gone anywhere near the place they had paid for. By the time they got back to the shop (nearly 2 hours early), the DM had admitted that they had gone to another location. Back in the shop, though, they refused to admit it, and they refused to give a refund until the guy threatened to put it on ScubaBoard.

During our trip I saw a couple who had extremely sophisticated camera gear and who had paid extra for a private tour. They got off the boat shouting their dissatisfaction at the DM. I don't know what happened on their trip, but they were saying it was the worst they had ever experienced, and they appeared to be very experienced divers.

Our week was pretty darn bad. I won't bore you with the details, but I wrote out a full report to the shop and said that they should never again use that operator. The shop issued an apology to the people on the trip.

The operator went out of business shortly after that.

So, yes, these threads do come up from time to time, and yes, often charges are unwarranted, but sometimes they are very much warranted, and when they are, the public is well served.

while I agree that many complaints are warranted, and many are unwarranted, it would help if the OP participated in the discussion that follows after starting the thread to address questions that other posters have.

Some things in the OP seem ridiculous (instructed to turn air on after entering the water)
Some things are a bit of a stretch (dive operator is unsafe because they don't use their GPS)
Some things seem to be reasonable complaints (leading OW divers to 132')

 

[paulw]

Well.. The OP was obviously upset when the post was written and some verbiage used like the title was probably not exactly what was intended but I don't see anything wrong with stating one's opinion, some of the concerns stated may seem urgent to some and could be unimportant to others. It seems to me that many times when someone posts a concern they are attacked and basically told the post was unfounded and uncalled for instead of asking questions that could help the OP and the readers and in my opinion these attacks resolve nothing. By the way this isnt the first time I have heard similar concerns about safety on Blue Hole trips.
Just my O2.. rant over

Question for the OP, how were you instructed to enter the water with the air turned off? Was there an indecent leading up to that?

 

[Damselfish]

I used to run non-BH trips out to Lighthouse Atoll, but stopped after a while because I couldn't sell them. The first principle in selling is to have a product that people want, or sometimes can be persuaded to buy anyway.

yeah, I know you've mentioned that. What I'm saying is, most people don't go to Belize having seen advertisements about diving the atolls - like "Dive the frontier - the remote atolls of Belize." (Or something like that, I'm not a marketing person. They go after seeing advertisements with pictures of the BH. So of course that's what they've got in their heads and want to buy.

 

[peterbj7]

Some things in the OP seem ridiculous (instructed to turn air on after entering the water)

Please folks, the OP didn't say this. It's patently ridiculous. What he said (poorly) was that people were instructed to enter the water without checking that their air was on, and that at least in some cases it wasn't.

If any diver doesn't check that his own air is on before jumping in the water then he's a fool and deserves anything that happens to him. It can be that the air is turned off by an over-zealous staff member on the way to the boat exit as happened to me once, but that is easily checked by breathing from your regulator and watching your SPG just before jumping in.

Oh, and where was my air inadvertently turned off at the last moment? Which dreadful operation here in Belize did that to me? It was at the time the most prestigious operation in Key Largo, Florida. Mistakes can happen anywhere.

 

[Mike]

Fellow Divers,
They do offer an underpriced package for 2 tanks for 2 days at $99

That is all you have to know.

People, what do you think is going on when a dive operator operates at rates that you consider to be a 'deal'? You think they are pouring money into routine maintenance on a schedule or stringing maintenance along trying to do as little as they think is needed? You think they are spending what it takes to hire the best employees or are they spending only what it takes to get warm bodies? Consumers are insane if they think businesses can operate on the cheap without effecting, customer service, safety, etc...

 

[nimoh]

Please folks, the OP didn't say this. It's patently ridiculous. What he said (poorly) was that people were instructed to enter the water without checking that their air was on, and that at least in some cases it wasn't.

If any diver doesn't check that his own air is on before jumping in the water then he's a fool and deserves anything that happens to him. It can be that the air is turned off by an over-zealous staff member on the way to the boat exit as happened to me once, but that is easily checked by breathing from your regulator and watching your SPG just before jumping in.

Oh, and where was my air inadvertently turned off at the last moment? Which dreadful operation here in Belize did that to me? It was at the time the most prestigious operation in Key Largo, Florida. Mistakes can happen anywhere.

Well, as quoted from the OP "Instruction to enter water w/ air turned off"

I will continue to take it literally, until the OP offers some clarification.

 

[Hank49]

I haven't dived with many shops here in Belize. I have a boat, compressor and gear. But I will say this.
I came here from Boracay, Philippines where I had done my IDC and IE. I worked for a while doing local dives and day trips, teaching a bit, but had to get a real job growing shrimp again to pay for my kid's college. So, I came to Belize.
Again, my only experience diving with shops was in Philippines, Malaysia and Bali. My 2nd day here, I went diving in San Pedro. And I have to say, I was a little....surprised?...I guess is a good term. It seemed pretty "loosely" run to me. I won't go into a lot of details, but we were much more safety conscious at the shop, as most were there, in Boracay.
Maybe it's because we had strong currents to deal with...and Belize has next to no current on most dives. We "babysat" divers until we could see that they could handle the dives. We wouldn't even take them to the famous Yapak 2 dive until we'd seem them on a couple checkout dives.
I'm sure a dive like the Blue Hole would be treated the same.
In my opinion, being an instructor of sorts...and having worked here for almost 13 years, I think Belize does need to improve the dive ops as a whole. I'm not sure how they can do that. It would take a lot of discussions and organization. But, it's also hard here. Gasoline is now US$6.60 per gallon. More in San Pedro I would guess. But cutting costs by increasing the risk of injury or worse is not good.

 

[peterbj7]

It has been suggested that the dive industry locally being a "closed shop" where non-Belizeans are prohibited from active participation in the water, results in nil exposure to higher standards in other countries and encourages "shoe-string" operations. In short, the Tour Guide system here mainly acts as an employment protection organisation for locally born "professionals". My view is that this is true, but it's not a popular viewpoint here in San Pedro. Hence the obvious remedy, which is to remove the citizenship requirement to become a TG, is not given any serious consideration.

 

[Mike]

Mexico operates basically the same way in regard to laws that keep non-mexicans from being employed as dive masters, yet diving in Cozumel you will find unbelievable dive masters (Mexicans) and many, many dive ops who are first class operations.

 

[USdiver1]

The reality of it is that Belize is the wild west when it comes to the dive tourism industry. There are a very few operators who follow the standard practices of operators in other parts of the world. ...

I still think that some international instructors and dive masters would do a world of good. The fact remains that it is extremely difficult if not impossible for a non-native born diving professional to work 100% legally down there.

Agree on both points. There are under-developed countries (think Honduras) and there are un-developed countries (think Belize). Having spent my fair share of time diving in the southern keys of Belize (Ranguana to Sapodillos) I can indeed testify to the fact that Belize is the Wild West of recreational diving, and that the squeamish need not apply. Safety practices are pretty much up to each operator, and some as the OP pointed out don't seem to have a clue as to what is or is not safe for tourists. If you want to be coddled, go to Grand Cayman, Bonaire, Bahamas or other places that cater to the typical tourist. If life is an adventure and death a distinct possibility, Belize may be for you.

As to the well trained professional foreign instructors versus the locals, well the country belongs to the locals, and they make the rules. There will eventually be a well trained professional local instructor cadre, and then they will have to organize and drive out the incompetent locals as well as the remaining foreigners from their market. It's happened in Grand Cayman, Bonaire; is happening in Bahamas and the Bay Islands; will happen in Thailand and Belize. It just takes time, money and perseverance.