Which Atoll is the best to dive at?

[sakology]

I am heading to Belize in a month and trying to figure where to dive. I was thinking of staying at one of the atolls but can't seem to figure out which one would give the best diving. Thanks. (Of course if someone thinks its not a great idea I am up for options)

 

[peterbj7]

In my humble opinion Lighthouse is the best overall, followed by Glover's (and then of course Turneffe). I haven't stayed on the atolls so I can't say where or if I would want to stay there. Once you're out there in south Lighthouse, south Turneffe or Glover's they're not far apart so it would be easy to dive all three, given boat facilities.

 

[sakology]

Thank you, I was thinking of staying in Placenia but I didn't really like the idea of a 1-2 hour boat ride to the dive sites every day. One day I wouldn't mind a longer ride but every day? Once again if this seems like I am missing something please let me know.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Most dive trips out of Placencia have boat rides much less than 1 to 2 hours unless you are going to one of the atolls. You can have check out boat ride distances and duration on our website Belize Scuba Diving Packages, Snorkeling & Whale sharks|Splash Dive Center|Placencia Belize.
One trip that is not on our website is our "grand slam". We leave Placencia at 06:00 am and have breakfast on the dive boat while heading for Southwater Caye for a reef dive, then during the surface interval, snack while we go to Elbow at Turneffe, then lunch on the boat while we go to The Aquarium at Lighthouse. Stay overnight at a resort on a caye, then dive the Blue Hole before breakfast (which is great as there is no one there at that time and we usually are finishing out dive when the boats start arriving from San Pedro), then back to the caye for breakfast and then dive Turneffe and Southwater again on the way back to Placencia.
You should also check out website for whale shark dates.

 

[sakology]

I arrive on March 28th and was hoping to catch the end of the shark migration to Gladden Spit but was told that I would probably miss them because they are not going to be there in march but in april/may. I am trying to reorganize the trip based on this but your grand slam trip sounds very interesting.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Yes, you just miss whale shark time. Dates are below and you are better to delay until April than to come earlier is March.
March 16th - March 26th
April 15th - April 25th
May 14th - May 24th
June 13th - June 23rd
You can contact Patty at patricia@splashbelize.com if you want to book whale shark diving and/or the grand slam or otherin April or May or other diving or inland tours. Splash works with a number of hotels and resorts ranging from luxury to economy. Some of these are listed on the website.

 

[Downing]

I know everyone raves about the Elbow and rightfully so, but for my money the single best dive site in Belize has been The Aquarium. Always a fantastic dive and easy to understand how it got its name.

 

[peterbj7]

I can't disagree with that. The Aquarium in good conditions can be a magical dive, shallow with enormous numbers of brightly coloured fish and other critters. I have however dived it when conditions were less than stellar and then it wasn't that great.

For me the best dive in that area, probably the best dive I know anywhere in Belize, is Half Moon Caye Wall. A most superb wall dive along a near-vertical wall of corals and sponges, with the open sea a deep blue. I spend a lot of my time on that dive looking out into the blue for sights of mantas, spotted eagle rays, large sharks and turtles. Again, I have done the dive in cloudy murky conditions and it is still a good dive.

 

[sakology]

So what I am getting is that the best diving may be had near lighthouse reef? The half moon caye, and aquarium being in short boating distance if staying on lighthouse reef?

Though from what I am reading am I to take that the only shore diving on the atolls is to be had at Glovers Atoll?

thank you for all the info

 

[peterbj7]

Half Moon caye and The Aquarium are sites on the wall surrounding Lighthouse Atoll. The only place you can stay nowadays on Lighthouse is Long Caye (not to be confused with the Long Caye at Glover's, or any other Long Caye) and those sites are a very short boat ride away. None is shore-diveable though - although they're not far off-shore, the dive sites are on the outside of the reef and by definition the island is inside. If you ever do crawl over a coral reef you'll only do it once.

I'm not sure about Glover's. I don't believe there's shore diving there, but someone else will be better placed to answer. I've certainly not done it.