We stayed at Blackbird for a week and would definitely go back if they offer a good deal again. I'm pretty sure that out of all of the Turneffe resorts they are still the only one to offer three dives a day which was important to us. Not cheap but they do sometimes offer 50% off the second diver package deals. Our private bungalow for the week, clean simple and ten steps from the water.
That's a sweet looking cabana!
Turneffe Island Resort has two two-tank days, three three-tank days and one four-tank day at your option. If I remember right, their schedule is as follows:
Saturday - main guest transfer day with guests and staff leaving early in the morning and arriving late in the afternoon so no dives even if you stayed behind on the island
Sunday - a "checkout" dive in the morning and one dive in the afternoon
Monday - two dives in the morning and one dive in the afternoon
Tuesday - Blue Hole day, two dives in the morning and one dive in the afternoon
Wednesday - possible guest transfer day with the guests who stay doing two dives in the morning and one dive in the afternoon
Thursday - two dives in the morning, one dive in the afternoon and a night dive. The first time we stayed there, if you elected to do the night dive then you had to skip one of the day dives. Last time, they had dropped that silly rule and you could do all four dives, although I think I had to pay extra for it
Friday - two dives in the morning
I think the Monday afternoon dive was also considered an "add-on" dive and had to pay extra for it.
I don't consider TIR to be a "five-star" resort but it's certainly not cheap either. One thing I really liked about it is that you won't be spending money on transportation, food or anything else other than alcohol and tips while you're there. So since you've paid for the stay in advance, there's no whopping bill waiting for you when it's time to go home.
As far as bang for the buck, diving with Splash in Placencia is a very good deal. I stayed at Dianni's Guest House in a little cabana (no ocean view) for $50 a night during the low season. I didn't have a car, but Splash runs a shuttle van so I caught a ride there and back each day. Placencia has a number of places to eat and drink, ranging from spendy to cheap, as well as a great gelato shop, lol. Most days were two tanks, split by lunch on a caye, but there were some three-tank days as well. I saw all the usual suspects, turtles, sharks, rays, dolphins and the like, numerous times. Only the elusive Whale Shark failed to show but there's always next time.
