Blackbird Caye Resort, Turneffe Atoll, Belize C.A. (6/10/00 - 6/17/00)
Author: Jeffrey & Julie

First let me preface this dive report with the fact that my wife and I are newbie divers and we find everything wonderful and amazing!!

On the way:

The flights from Denver to Houston, and Houston to Belize City were uneventful. Since we had used Priceline for tickets, we decided to fly out on Friday to ensure that we arrived before the boat left on Saturday afternoon. We spent the night in the Belize Princess hotel, which is next to the marina where the Blackbird boat docks. Saturday we went into Belize City to bum around. Our cab driver defined the area where we should stick to, (the crime rate is high in Belize City) and checked back with us every hour or so until we were ready to return to the hotel. He also gave us a short cab tour of the sites to see and explained their history.

Back at the dock, we meet Jennifer, the resort manager, and the rest of the guests. Beer and pop was provided for the 75 minute boat ride to Blackbird Caye.

The resort:

BBC consists of a main dining/meeting area, 10 individual cabañas (about 10 feet from the Caribe), a triplex, and a bungalow (great for families). All buildings had A/C, mosquito netting around the beds, hot/cold showers, and two double, two queen, or a king size bed. The cabañas were spacious (18 by 18) with couch and chairs, small table, and a hammock on the front porch. The dining hall was large with couches and chairs, an area with books and games, a TV for playback of videos, and of course, a bar. Breakfast (at 7:00) and lunch (at 1:00) were buffet style with plenty of food (after the first day or two when they figured out we had some teenage boys in the group). Dinner was served and you had a choice of either surf (fresh caught, conch, snapper, etc) or turf (pork roast, beef roast, chicken…etc). The food was excellent! Water is desalinated, safe and tasty in all areas except the toilet bowls. Each room had a small cooler that was kept full of ice and water. The rooms were cleaned daily and the beds turned down during dinner.

Diving:

Most dive sites were no more than 10 or 15 minutes from the dock. There is a 5-mile stretch of reef that runs in front of BBC. There was an 8:00, 11:00, and a 3:00 dive (except on Blue Hole day) and one night dive (weather dependant). A couple of dives were cancelled due to either weather (had a huge thunderstorm before one of the 11:00 dives) or lack of interest (everybody was napping), but as long as one diver wanted to go out, they would take you. There were also snorkel trips at the same times, so you could opt out of a dive and go snorkel instead. Most of the guests were divers/snorkelers, but a fishing trip could be booked if you were interested. Most dives were drift dives on either a wall or between coral heads. Water temperatures were between 80 (my wife's computer) and 84 (my computer) degrees. We used 1-mill microprenes the whole week, some used shorties, while others juts used suits and a shirt. (There was a group of nudists coming the week after us (called Buff Divers) that dived au-natural, prompting the usual jokes…watch out for barracudas….I see the water is colder today…don't swim too close to the reef…etc)

Weather:

The weather during our week (06/10-06/17) was not ideal. We had a constant wind that blew the whole week. This was really a catch-22. The wind kept the bug problem (mosquitoes and doctor flies) at a minimum, but the seas were rougher and the visibility was not as good as it could have been. Our boat captain would check two or thee different sites before deciding on which one had the best visibility. Visibility averaged between 30 feet to over 100 feet, depending on the location. The constant wind also precluded the need (in our case) for using the A/C in the cabaña. We would open all of the shutters and the room would stay cool and comfortable. Another couple who had stayed at BBC in September 99, said the weather was less windy, the seas were flat as glass, and the bugs were viscous. We only needed to use bug spray during one calm morning, but I would HIGHLY recommend bring a high concentration DEET bug spray with you.

The Dives:

Since my wife and I are newbies, we opted out of some of the more difficult dives (or napped during the afternoon dives), but here is a synopsis of some of the dive we did do.

Fish Life: The running joke all week was…What fish did you see on the dive?….All of them! Through the 12 dives we did (max of 17 possible), the following were encountered: spotted eagle ray, barracudas (one was 3.5 ft), angel fish (many varieties), parrot fish (many varieties), jacks, snappers (many varieties), sergeant majors, wrasse (many varieties), rock beauties, butterfly fish, damselfish, blue chromis, trunkfish, moray eels (couple of varieties), blue tangs, doctor fish, flying fish (on the Blue Hole trip), grunts, graysby, basslets, puffers, gobies, file fish, turtles, flounders, lobster, banded coral shrimp, lettuce leaf slug…….In many cases, there were large schools …

Coral/Sponges: Huge barrel sponge, tube sponge (brilliant colors), sea fans, huge brain coral, black coral, fire coral, stag horn, elk horn, anemones,... too many to remember……..

Noted dives:

All of the dives were great (is there such a thing as a bad dive?), but a couple dives will be remembered for a long time..

At the Blue Hole, my wife and I decided that we didn't want to do the deep dive (130 ft) into the Blue Hole, so we decided to snorkel around the reef. The reef in some places is merely inches below the water surface, so it wasn't necessary to get deep to see some excellent coral and fish. Later that day, the dives at Halfmoon Bay (Halfmoon Caye, LightHouse Atoll), and at the Aquarium (Light House Atoll) were superb! The visibility was over 70+ feet. You truly felt like you were in somebody's aquarium, the only thing missing was the deep sea diver with the sunken chest! This was a very shallow dive and you could stay under for extended periods.

At Turtle Bay (a BBC site), one diver found a cleaning station with couple of cleaner shrimp and we each took turns having our nails done. This was a first for my wife and me…Our dive monster (as Bart referred to himself) also found a baby flounder that we all settled onto the sandy bottom to watch.

At the Coliseum, Bart found a lettuce leaf slug and brought my wife (the photographer) over to see it. At one point, an almost endless 'river' of blue tangs came swimming by…no more than four or five fishes wide, but the line continued for several minutes

In Conclusion:

My wife and I had a wonderful time at BBC. The entire group of people was great and we made many friends. Everybody knew that we were inexperienced and went out of his or her way to show us stuff and provide any assistance if we needed it. Bart, our dive master, went out of his way locating new things for us (it was all new!). The windy weather did make for some interesting recoveries after dives…but reduced the bug problem. In our extensive dive history (30 to date…20 or 30 more and maybe we'll move up from newbie to novice divers), this has been the best. The staff was very attentive to our needs and desires. One complaint was with the quantity of food. One family had a couple of teenage boys with them, and if you didn't get in line quickly enough, there wasn't anything left!! This was resolved after a couple of days. Another complaint, although not by us, was the quality of rental equipment. Some people had problems with leaking 1st and 2nd stages, consoles didn't have compasses, and saw one BCD that leaked. Make sure you bring your own equipment or possible rent it in Belize City. Some of the more experienced divers felt like they were chaperoned too much compared to other resorts.

Would we go back? Absolutely, but since this is only our third dive trip, it may be a couple of years…or maybe not!

Jeffrey & Julie jeffrey@omega-sw.com

Blackbird Caye Resort www.blackbirdresort.com

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