Hello there, I just joined this board and this is my first post, but I couldn't resist replying to this thread. My wife and I dove Turneffe Atoll, including the Elbow, in March 2006 and we have stayed on and dove Glover's Reef in April 2006 and again March 2007. To answer some of your questions, the diving at Turneffe and Glover's is very similar, but I would have to say we thought Glover's Reef was marginally better. More reef fish, more pelagics and very healthy corals and sponges. The Elbow at Turneffe is a great dive, but also somewhat hit and miss for seeing large pelagics, you may or may not get lucky on one dive there. At Glover's we saw Eagle Rays, Loggerhead, Hawksbill and Green turtles, a couple of sharks, the largest Green Moray we have ever seen anywhere, plenty of large Grouper and more smaller reef fish than you could believe! We actually got bored with the Parrotfish and Angel fish after a few dives, they were so plentiful. Vis. was generally in the 100-120' range. Glover's is mainly wall diving, the atoll is at the edge of the continental shelf and the wall slopes down to 3000', but you don't need to go that deep! You will see 95% of everything between 40 and 70'. In fairness to Turneffe, we only did 7 dives in two days there, but we spent a week at Glover's, so there was more opportunity to see more. As another poster noted, diving at both atolls is much better than the barrier reef around San Pedro. We did two dives off San Pedro in 2006 and were not much impressed.
On accomodations, we have not stayed at Blackbird Caye so no comment there, but I agree with the other posters that it is more upscale than accomodation at Glover's, unless you opt for Isla Marisol on Southwest Caye. Accomodation on Long Caye, which is the Slickrock island, is rustic but comfortable. Gilligan's Island with scuba tanks and cold Bellikin's is a very good description. The dive op on Long Caye is called Off the Wall, it is a separate business from Slickrock that focuses only on diving, but they also offer very similar accomodations to divers at prices lower than Slickrock, with the diving included. Food is excellent and it is a well run operation with a good safety record. We have stayed there twice and done over 20 dives with them, highly recommended. Here's their website:
Off The Wall Dive Center Island Resort, Long Caye, Glover's Reef Atoll, Belize. Dive, snorkel and fish in paradise!
If you are thinking of going to Glover's for diving, seriously consider staying at Off the Wall instead of Slickrock, you will spend significantly less $$! Have a great trip, you will enjoy Belize either way. We are headed back in mid-March, to Lighthouse Reef this time, to complete our tour of the Belize atolls!
Mike