What are your favorites dives in Belize?

[ScubaSloan]

I am planning on going to Belize in the begining of May (Caye Caulker) and was wondering what people's favorite dives were? I have three days to dive in Caye Caulker. I was thinking Lighthouse/Blue Hole day 1, Turneffe Islands Elbow day 2 and Hol Chan day 3. Then heading south to Placencia in hopes to catch a glimpse of some whale sharks one day and then Glover's Atoll the next day. Thoughts? Anyone's favorite dive I am missing?

 

[peterbj7]

The BH and Elbow days are long days away from Caye Caulker, virtually 12 hours each. You'll be doing your deepest dive of the trip as the very first. And after those two days you won't want a 30ft dive at Hol Chan on the third day.

Depending on how current you'll be when you arrive, I wouldn't bother with Hol Chan. I'd do two days of relatively local diving outside the barrier reef, and that will be where they take you rather than sites you select, and maybe the BH trip on day three.

It'll take you at least half a day to get to Placencia from Caye Caulker, and to get any serious chance of seeing whale sharks you need to allow two days. Similarly, to get to Glovers will take most of a day (to get back will take most of another day). And after Lighthouse you'll find Glovers a bit of a disappointment.

You're trying to cram way too much into a short trip. I'd probably stay the whole time on Caye Caulker and dive from there. BDS is your best bet.

 

[Ayisha]

Have you already booked on Caye Caulker? Or are you open to staying closer to where you want to dive?

 

[GatorCT]

Hi Peter,

We're down on AC the first week in March. I hadn't even considered there might be a chance at catching a glimpse of whale sharks. That'd be really cool, but I'm really not willing to devote the entire week searching for them. Where are they this time of year?

I've also been watching the threads concerning the recent spotting of Lionfish. If I see a boatload of spearguns on our trip, I'm going to have invest in full body armor.


Thanks,
Peter

The BH and Elbow days are long days away from Caye Caulker, virtually 12 hours each. You'll be doing your deepest dive of the trip as the very first. And after those two days you won't want a 30ft dive at Hol Chan on the third day.

Depending on how current you'll be when you arrive, I wouldn't bother with Hol Chan. I'd do two days of relatively local diving outside the barrier reef, and that will be where they take you rather than sites you select, and maybe the BH trip on day three.

It'll take you at least half a day to get to Placencia from Caye Caulker, and to get any serious chance of seeing whale sharks you need to allow two days. Similarly, to get to Glovers will take most of a day (to get back will take most of another day). And after Lighthouse you'll find Glovers a bit of a disappointment.

You're trying to cram way too much into a short trip. I'd probably stay the whole time on Caye Caulker and dive from there. BDS is your best bet.

 

[ScubaSloan]

12 hours away or a 12 hour day? Frenchie's website says leave at 6 am and return at 4 pm. Most of my local diving around North Carolina is similarly a full day so that is alright with me. Any suggestions for dives closer to Caye Caulker to suggest Hol Chan? Why no love for Hol Chan?

 

[peterbj7]

12 hours away or a 12 hour day? Frenchie's website says leave at 6 am and return at 4 pm. Most of my local diving around North Carolina is similarly a full day so that is alright with me. Any suggestions for dives closer to Caye Caulker to suggest Hol Chan? Why no love for Hol Chan?

What's the difference between "12 hours away" and "a 12 hour day"? What matters is that your boat journey each way will be 2-3 hours, largely dependent on sea state, and it can be a fairly unpleasant time.

As to whether it's 10 or 12 hours, that depends largely on the weather and how long you're permitted to explore Half Moon Caye. The range of "length of day" that I've experienced is from 9 hours to 13.5 hours, and that's without anything specific going wrong.

The fashion now is to whisk you away from HMC far too quickly, whereas in the past I used to get 2 hours + on the island. There's a lot to see there, not just the booby birds but also the fossil-strewn south shore, and the first thing you'll do when you land is pay US$40 for the privilege.

Nothing wrong with Hol Chan. It's just that it's a very shallow dive inside the reef and if done wants to be early in your trip, not after two days of atoll diving. It can make a good night dive, but as with all night dives you want to have dived it in daylight first.

As I said, you are unlikely to get much choice in where the boat goes, unless you want to charter the whole boat for yourself. You'll be taken wherever the staff think you and your companions will have the best experience that day (it is also weather dependent). Also depends on everyone's experience levels and how many are contributing to the fuel bill. From Caye Caulker you're likely either to go north to the sites off Ambergris Caye, or south to places like Sergeant's Caye. There's little directly off CC itself to detain you.

 

[peterbj7]

Hi Peter,

We're down on AC the first week in March. I hadn't even considered there might be a chance at catching a glimpse of whale sharks. That'd be really cool, but I'm really not willing to devote the entire week searching for them. Where are they this time of year?

I've also been watching the threads concerning the recent spotting of Lionfish. If I see a boatload of spearguns on our trip, I'm going to have invest in full body armor.

Thanks,
Peter

I don't know when the full moon in March is, but to stand the best chance you need to be out within 3 days either side of it. The best months are generally regarded as March-May, and the best location Gladden Spit. There is absolutely no guarantee of seeing one - that depends on luck and the skill and experience of the boat captain, and you want to choose your operator carefully. In Placencia I'd use Brian Young at Seahorse, the folks at Hamanasi (Hopkins) have had a good hit rate in the past but after some staff changes I don't know now how they'd perform, and Travis at Thatch Caye (a private island resort off Dangriga with a more comfortable ride down to GS) also seems to have the knack.

As to lion fish, I've seen them lots of times in the Red Sea where they aren't an ecological threat. I think I saw one on Turneffe a few weeks ago but can't be sure, but there seems little doubt that they ARE in Belize. As they have few natural predators here we can expect them to spread very quickly. Sadly the best predator here is the grouper, which people hunt for food.

I hope you'll never see a spear gun on or even from a dive boat in Belize. It's illegal to use them with scuba, and I know no operator who would allow one even on the boat - I certainly wouldn't. And if the boat pulls up to a site where there are people with them in the water I'd expect it to move pdq. IMO there should be no fishing of any sort in areas where people dive. Divers after all like to see fish.

 

[Hank49]

I've also been watching the threads concerning the recent spotting of Lionfish. If I see a boatload of spearguns on our trip, I'm going to have invest in full body armor.

You don't have to worry about boatloads of spearguns. I was half joking on that thread, although I would like to see working divemasters to carry a Hawaiian sling though. Kill every lionfish they see...and keep them from using annoying tank bangers.
I was in the water for 4 hours yesterday and didn't see any lionfish.

 

[peterbj7]

Hank - I'm expecting to be at TCR from about this Thursday for a few days. You free?

 

[GatorCT]

Peter and Hank (aka the LionFish Terminator),
Thanks for the info on the Lionfish. I don't know if I'd be much good at help Hank rid Belize of them. They're interesting to look at, and I just hope the Grouper develop an appetite for them, before they do much damage to the local ecology.
Peter

As to lion fish, I've seen them lots of times in the Red Sea where they aren't an ecological threat. I think I saw one on Turneffe a few weeks ago but can't be sure, but there seems little doubt that they ARE in Belize. As they have few natural predators here we can expect them to spread very quickly. Sadly the best predator here is the grouper, which people hunt for food.

I hope you'll never see a spear gun on or even from a dive boat in Belize. It's illegal to use them with scuba, and I know no operator who would allow one even on the boat - I certainly wouldn't. And if the boat pulls up to a site where there are people with them in the water I'd expect it to move pdq. IMO there should be no fishing of any sort in areas where people dive. Divers after all like to see fish.

You don't have to worry about boatloads of spearguns. I was half joking on that thread, although I would like to see working divemasters to carry a Hawaiian sling though. Kill every lionfish they see...and keep them from using annoying tank bangers.
I was in the water for 4 hours yesterday and didn't see any lionfish.