Nekton-Cayman and Belize

What happened to these trips?

I've done all the trips and those two were by far the best. I heard that the size of the boat was an issue at Bloody bay wall and that the locals kept cutting the mooring lines in Belize. Does anyone think they will ever go back. I'd love to go again and like the Nekton better than the other companies.

I did the Belize itinerary for four seasons and while I am no longer with Nekton I can say the reason for pulling out of Belize was two-fold:

1. Airfare to Belize became cost prohibitive for many guests. It was killing our occupancy rate. It used to be possible to fly to Belize city from Miami for under $300 roundtrip when the itinerary started, but by the time I left the same flights were costing closer to $700.

2. There was significant graft and corruption which made doing business in Belize very expensive. Everyone had their hands out for their cut of the pie. We were required to have a Belizean agent to operate in the country and each year they wanted more and more money. Tour agents that did our ground transportation and land tours kept raising their rates. The price for slip rental (we were only in port on Saturdays) went up significantly every year.

When you combine increased costs for airfare (you get fewer guests) with increased operating costs, it significantly decreases you chances of making a profit.

I was told that one of the reasons for pulling out of Belize had to do with Belize gov't requiring a certain number of boat employees be nationals. It was difficult for Nekton to keep that Belizean ratio on the boat. This I got from the office at Nekton.

I was told that the issue with Caymans was more financial (Cayman Gov't charges the boats huge $$ fees) and that the Bloody Bay Wall rules caused problems. Only a certain number of divers per boat are allowed at BBW by law, so Nekton was having to charter other dive boats to come pick up divers and take them to the sites. The Nekton was having issues with payments to these boats and it got to the point than none of the operators in the area wanted to deal with them anymore. I don't if this is true or not, it came from someone there in Caymans.

I had hoped to do both of these itineraries on the Nekton as it is my favorite liveaboard. I wish they would solve these problems and go back.

robin

robint:

I was told that one of the reasons for pulling out of Belize had to do with Belize gov't requiring a certain number of boat employees be nationals. It was difficult for Nekton to keep that Belizean ratio on the boat. This I got from the office at Nekton.

I was told that the issue with Caymans was more financial (Cayman Gov't charges the boats huge $$ fees) and that the Bloody Bay Wall rules caused problems. Only a certain number of divers per boat are allowed at BBW by law, so Nekton was having to charter other dive boats to come pick up divers and take them to the sites. The Nekton was having issues with payments to these boats and it got to the point than none of the operators in the area wanted to deal with them anymore. I don't if this is true or not, it came from someone there in Caymans.

I had hoped to do both of these itineraries on the Nekton as it is my favorite liveaboard. I wish they would solve these problems and go back.

robin

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Robin is correct, having Belizean crewmembers was also an issue, although not the only one. Prior to 911 we had a crew that had many Belizeans (Tisa, Larry, Arminda, Raul, Malcolm), but after 911 it became more and more difficult to get work visas for the Belizeans when the boat came back to Ft. Lauderdale to do the Bahamas itineraries. That being said, it was possible to get Belizean crew to work for the time the boat was in Belize, but I know for a fact that the high price of airfare to Belize City was a major factor in Nekton's exit from Belize. It led to low occupancy rates which made the itinerary not as profitable as it once was. As a captain of the boat when it was based down there, I can personally attest to how much we had to "pay off" the locals in order to operate down there. Everybody had a hand out, and it seemed like the more we paid out, the more they expected.