Aggressor liveaboard or Itza/Huracan?

[Ayisha]

I think this is another area where SB opinions are not representative of the real world.

This is probably because the people posting about their experience at the Blue Hole on SB have "been there, done that", and the ones who are really excited to do it haven't done it before.

The Blue Hole can be a hit or miss depending on what life you happen to come across, but for us (in 2006) it was definitely a hit. We saw much larger reef sharks in the BH than we saw elsewhere in Belize, as well as huge lemon sharks, one bull shark, and lots of massive grouper. Afterwords for me, it was a bucket list "been there, done that" dive that I wouldn't go out of my way for and wasn't planning on doing again, but if we go there, I would still happily do the dive.

I only did Turneffe by the elbow, and it was fantastic at that time, along with around Lighthouse. We were very disappointed with Ambergris Caye except that far south in and around the Marine Park was somewhat decent.

 

[KeithG]

This is probably because the people posting about their experience at the Blue Hole on SB have "been there, done that", and the ones who are really excited to do it haven't done it before.

The Blue Hole can be a hit or miss depending on what life you happen to come across, but for us (in 2006) it was definitely a hit. We saw much larger reef sharks in the BH than we saw elsewhere in Belize, as well as huge lemon sharks, one bull shark, and lots of massive grouper. Afterwords for me, it was a bucket list "been there, done that" dive that I wouldn't go out of my way for and wasn't planning on doing again, but if we go there, I would still happily do the dive.

I only did Turneffe by the elbow, and it was fantastic at that time, along with around Lighthouse. We were very disappointed with Ambergris Caye except that far south in and around the Marine Park was somewhat decent.

Did you the BH as a day boat or a LOB?

I have heard very different reviews between the 2 services. The story I was told was all about chumming.

 

[Ayisha]

Did you the BH as a day boat or a LOB?

I have heard very different reviews between the 2 services. The story I was told was all about chumming.

I did it with a day boat and there was no chumming.

 

[KeithG]

I did it with a day boat and there was no chumming.

I have been told that the "other side" of the BH gets lots of sharks. Due to the chumming. I have not been over there, I do not know what the day boats do on the BH dive. The LOBs rarely see any wild life in the BH.

In my experience the day boats chum like crazy on their other dives at Half Moon caye. It is painful to watch from the top deck. On our last trip a few weeks ago it was like watching old ladies feed pigeons in the park. Mulitple divers on multiple different boats had food that they were giving to the fish. I felt like I was back in MoBay. I find it hard to believe they reserve this behaviour just for Half Moon.

Basically zero respect for diving in a protected park.

 

[KeithG]

P.S. On 1 dive my LOB chummed and I was pissed. I told the captain. I have not seen it happen again. It may have!

 

[Downing]

I've done the BH three times, all with Turneffe Island Lodge/Resort, and never saw any chumming.

But from the behavior of the sharks at the hole's lip where we gathered before and after doing the hole itself, they were circling around us waiting for a handout. It was obvious to me that someone(s) was doing it. Not cool.

 

[Ayisha]

I have been told that the "other side" of the BH gets lots of sharks. Due to the chumming. I have not been over there, I do not know what the day boats do on the BH dive. The LOBs rarely see any wild life in the BH.

In my experience the day boats chum like crazy on their other dives at Half Moon caye. It is painful to watch from the top deck. On our last trip a few weeks ago it was like watching old ladies feed pigeons in the park. Mulitple divers on multiple different boats had food that they were giving to the fish. I felt like I was back in MoBay. I find it hard to believe they reserve this behaviour just for Half Moon.

Basically zero respect for diving in a protected park.

When we went to the Blue Hole, the sharks were just hovering and were looking like they just wanted to sleep. They kept an eye on us but just stayed pretty motionless most of the time. It would have been great for photographers except that it was extremely silty. There was no swimming round and round, no darting by the lemon sharks, and definitely no agitated behaviour, like I've seen with sharks used to being baited.

On one dive off Ambergris Caye, they released bananas to attract fish. That was the only feeding I saw.

Remember I went in January 2006 though and haven't been back. From the people that I knew that went around that time frame, they had about a 50/50 chance of seeing sharks in the BH at that time. Turneffe by the elbow and Lighthouse were pristine then and full of big pelagics, better IMHO than Cozumel in the early 2000's before the most devastating hurricanes. There were no direct flights from Toronto, and it was an off the beaten path destination at that time. I've been hearing that most people haven't seen big life in the BH in the last 5 or so years, Turneffe's worse ever since they put resorts on it, and Ambergris Caye is even worse than it was. I'm glad that I went when I did, and I fear that when I go next April, I will be disappointed and my only hope is when I visit Glover's for one day before our liveaboard.