During the period 11-18 June, 2005, Karen and I took a trip to Turneffe Atoll, Belize, to do some serious SCUBA-diving. Turneffe Atoll is a 1 3/4 hour boat ride almost directly East of Belize City, the capitol city of Belize and a port city, as well. We stayed at the Blackbird Caye Resort (BCR), a small resort on the Southeast side of Blackbird Caye. This scuba trip was organized by the Albuquerque SCUBA Company.

Resort personnel picked us up at the always-crowded Belize City Airport and took us to the Belize City Harbour, where the resort boat, Big Bird, awaited us. Once our bags were loaded aboard we started the cruise to the resort. Our group members were not the only the people on the boat; there was also another couple, Buddy & Judy, who had already been to Guatemala earlier in their vacation.

The boat ride seemed quite long, probably because we kept going through little islands groups which always gave us the false impression we were there, but we just kept going. We did finally arrive at the BCR dock and were greeted by Kitty and Kenny, who head up the BCR staff. They were a brother and sister team, two young Chinese persons from Hong Kong, whose parents live in Belize. They gave us a cool drink, a short orientation, and our room assignments. We then made our way to our accommodations, which were air-conditioned (thankfully), unpacked and officially declared our vacation as "started".

The resort schedule was pretty much fixed around three boat dives a day. There is no shore diving. Breakfast is at 7:00 am and the boat leaves at 8:00 am for the first dive. You return after the dive and do your surface interval in your hammock. The boat leaves for the second dive at 11:00 am. You again return after the dive. Lunch is at 1:00 pm. The boat leaves at 3:00 pm for the afternoon dive. On Sunday, there is no afternoon dive; you take a night dive instead. On Tuesday the three dives are taken at Lighthouse Reef, an hours boat ride away. The three Tuesday dives are Blue Hole, Half Moon Caye Wall and Longs Caye Wall. You dock the boat on Half Moon Caye after the second dive and have a barbeque lunch. There is a preserve for Red-footed Boobies and iguanas on the southern tip of Half Moon Caye, which provided a wonderful, albeit smelly, interaction with Red-footed Boobies. I never realized a bird habitat could stink so much! On Friday, the two morning dives are at the Turneffe Atoll Elbow, a Turneffe Atoll signature dive. You return for lunch and your third, and last, afternnon dive. You don't fly until Saturday afternoon so an afternoon dive on Friday is okay. We left BCR early Saturday (7:30 am), which ended up to be good, since the Belize City Airport was a zoo and check-in operations were SLOW (all checked bags are totally unpacked and checked).

As a resort, BCR was good to very good. The mosquitoes and biting flies were bad. The weather was swelteringly hot, but many days were overcast, which kept the temperature down. There were also some nice off-ocean breezes that kept the mosquitoes and the heat from being intolerable. Our bungalows, which were cheerily painted different colors, were very large, but plain and lacked any native decoration and ambiance. They were much like motel rooms. The food was good - served buffet-style for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was a sit-down meal; we were served entrees selected earlier in the day. The resort is isolated with no TV or newspapers - we did have a radio in our room, but the stations we could tune in were limited. The resort does have a bar (don't they all?) with some exotic offerings (Monkey La La, for instance). It was small and, in my opinion, too expensive. Other than diving, BCR does support snorkeling, sea-kayaking and sailing, although their sailboat had been damaged by an earlier guest and hadn't yet been fixed. Night activities include reading and observing the sea crocodile, Jill, which, after years of being fed at the dock, comes there almost every night night. The resort tipping policy was not clear and we, as a group, spent too much time deliberating how we would do it. I so much appreciate the resorts with a "Christmas Fund" tipping policy. Such a policy is easy to figure out and members of the resort staff not in the public eye also get rewarded for their efforts.

Dive operations were okay. Local dive sites were never more than a 10-minute boat ride. We took the cabin cruiser, Big Bird, only to dive Lighthouse Reef and the Elbow. All local dives were done in two, smaller open boats. Our divemaster, Nadia, was excellent. The other divemaster, Elias, was more controlling than Nadia, and upset the divers on his boat. When we were there the resort was only 2/3rds or less full and the boats seemed crowded; I can't imagine how they handle the divers when the resort is full. The dive operation was not high on having lots of dunk tanks (they had only one), so cleaning of equipment was largely up to you, in the dunk tanks you could find and fill. There was a shower on the dock which was very nice after a dive.

The dives site themselves offered a variety of sea life. I saw more Hawksbill Turtles and Spotted Eagle Rays than I have ever seen. Also saw some Spotted Drums, Burrfish, Cowfish, and Scorpionfish - things which aren't seen all the time. Then, of course, there were all the standard reef fishes. The sponges and corals were outstanding! Blue Hole turned out to be much more fun than the last time I dove there. I saw lots of Black Tip Reef Sharks and enjoyed that deep dive more.

BCR is a resort for snorkelers as much as divers, with guided snorkel trips. The snorkelers in our group said the snorkel guide was excellent. All outdoor activities would have a lot more pleasant had we not had to lather up with DEET to ward off the biting insects. All-in-all, I was glad that Karen and I went. As with most resorts I have visited, I would not go there again. In fact, I don't think I would go to Belize again, except maybe for the opportunity of diving with whale sharks.

Here are the photos. There are photos of Blackbird Caye Resort itself and then of the underwater flora and fauna of the Turneffe Atoll/Lighthouse Reef dive sites. Most of the pictures are of sponges and coral, which didn't move when I posed them. Many of the larger, predatory fish didn't care if you took their pictures; however, most of the little reef fish, the colorful ones to which just about everything IS a predator, knew exactly when you had singled them out for a photo and immediately ducked for cover. BTW, click on the thumbnail to see the larger photo. You can navigate through the photos on the thumbnails or the large photo pages, however, you can only navigate back to the "Belize Trip" page or to the other photo page(s) from the thumbnail page.

Photos of Blackbird Caye Resort, Turneffe Atoll, Belize
Photos of Belizean Sea Life