DiverDun
Contributor
My wife did a review of Blackbird Caye Resort resort on Trip Advisor so I thought I would put a copy here since we used SB for much of our homework and found only limited info here.
Diving services. Outstanding. The principle Dive Master, Cardinal, is among the best DMs we have ever had over our many years of diving in the Caribbean. He was extremely safety conscious and courteous, and he explained all dives extremely well, catering to the needs of all divers. He has a sincere desire to preserve the reef and to ensure that everyone had a good time while diving safely. Eli and Emric were great DMs as well, although we didn't spend as much time with Emric. Thanks SO much to Eli for saving our diving vacation by changing our first stages of our regulators - we have noted to never leave home without the DIN/yoke converters again!
The dive shop looked after all of our dive gear other then on the very first dive where they wanted to ensure all divers could put their own gear together and had tested it for themselves. On each dive we were allowed 50 minutes, and then did our safety stop making each dive close to one hour. Because each dive spot was usually only a few minutes boat ride away from the resort we were able to come back to the resort between dives, which was outstanding. On the dives we saw lots of sea life including turtles, large fish such as groupers, sting and eagle rays, many moray eels out of the hiding areas, and a nurse shark. The night dive was wonderful on which we were able to see an octopus, several toad fish, crab as well as a variety of other night life.
Our room was extremely clean and maid service was provided twice per day. We had a duplex unit and would ask for the same again. We never heard the guests in the other half.
The menu was superb. We often find that we overeat or eat all of the wrong things when we travel, but the food at Blackbird was always so healthy and so delicious that we ate without guilt and always had plenty of variety. It was great to have the healthy choices, and it was just another example of the thought that goes into the well-run organization of the resort.
Breakfast and lunch were buffet style with a good variety to chose from along with fresh fruits and juices.
There was always a choice of two entrees for dinner or you could have a combination of both choices. Snacks were provided between meals at 10 am and at happy hour at 5 pm.
The manager, Paul, has only been at Blackbird for a few weeks, yet his energy and sincerity made everyone feel very welcome and relaxed.
I think the thing that impressed us the most was the tremendous attitude at the resort. The resort is very small with only about 18 rooms in total, and the staff were all extremely friendly. The atmosphere was perfect for allowing all of the guests to quickly get to know each other as well as the front line staff, resulting in a quick bond forming between everyone.
My only complaint is that I wish the Blue Hole trip was included in the Dive Package. It is very expensive, $240 each so we chose not to do it, although all who went loved it. The blue hole dive itself was not the main attraction but more the two other dives of the day as well as the visit to the bird sanctuary.
A few final points: We did not experience any mosquitoes. Each room has its own small safe; we felt very secure on the resort and never felt that we needed to have locked doors or use the safe provided for our electronics/camera gear. There are many kayaks available so that no one was ever left waiting for the opportunity to take a trip out to the nearby reef to snorkel or to just enjoy the area.
All in all, we had an excellent stay at Blackbird Caye Resort.
Diving services. Outstanding. The principle Dive Master, Cardinal, is among the best DMs we have ever had over our many years of diving in the Caribbean. He was extremely safety conscious and courteous, and he explained all dives extremely well, catering to the needs of all divers. He has a sincere desire to preserve the reef and to ensure that everyone had a good time while diving safely. Eli and Emric were great DMs as well, although we didn't spend as much time with Emric. Thanks SO much to Eli for saving our diving vacation by changing our first stages of our regulators - we have noted to never leave home without the DIN/yoke converters again!
The dive shop looked after all of our dive gear other then on the very first dive where they wanted to ensure all divers could put their own gear together and had tested it for themselves. On each dive we were allowed 50 minutes, and then did our safety stop making each dive close to one hour. Because each dive spot was usually only a few minutes boat ride away from the resort we were able to come back to the resort between dives, which was outstanding. On the dives we saw lots of sea life including turtles, large fish such as groupers, sting and eagle rays, many moray eels out of the hiding areas, and a nurse shark. The night dive was wonderful on which we were able to see an octopus, several toad fish, crab as well as a variety of other night life.
Our room was extremely clean and maid service was provided twice per day. We had a duplex unit and would ask for the same again. We never heard the guests in the other half.
The menu was superb. We often find that we overeat or eat all of the wrong things when we travel, but the food at Blackbird was always so healthy and so delicious that we ate without guilt and always had plenty of variety. It was great to have the healthy choices, and it was just another example of the thought that goes into the well-run organization of the resort.
Breakfast and lunch were buffet style with a good variety to chose from along with fresh fruits and juices.
There was always a choice of two entrees for dinner or you could have a combination of both choices. Snacks were provided between meals at 10 am and at happy hour at 5 pm.
The manager, Paul, has only been at Blackbird for a few weeks, yet his energy and sincerity made everyone feel very welcome and relaxed.
I think the thing that impressed us the most was the tremendous attitude at the resort. The resort is very small with only about 18 rooms in total, and the staff were all extremely friendly. The atmosphere was perfect for allowing all of the guests to quickly get to know each other as well as the front line staff, resulting in a quick bond forming between everyone.
My only complaint is that I wish the Blue Hole trip was included in the Dive Package. It is very expensive, $240 each so we chose not to do it, although all who went loved it. The blue hole dive itself was not the main attraction but more the two other dives of the day as well as the visit to the bird sanctuary.
A few final points: We did not experience any mosquitoes. Each room has its own small safe; we felt very secure on the resort and never felt that we needed to have locked doors or use the safe provided for our electronics/camera gear. There are many kayaks available so that no one was ever left waiting for the opportunity to take a trip out to the nearby reef to snorkel or to just enjoy the area.
All in all, we had an excellent stay at Blackbird Caye Resort.
