Have you considered any of those old threads on staying on mainland Belize at Placencia and diving with Splash Divers, IIRC? Granted, it's less convenient in terms of getting to the diving, but a rain forest hike touring Mayan ruins can be sweet - I did that on a cruise ship stop (boat excursion up New River to Lamanai). I saw Mask Temple and Tall Temple (and climbed atop both) and Jaguar Temple and in the rainforest things looked way more interesting than those 'ruin on an open field' photos I've seen of some other places.
My Belize diving was via liveaboard, which is further out.
P.S.: Belize diving is boat diving. Did you consider Curacao as an alternative to Bonaire?
I stayed at Placencia and "dove" with Splash. It was the worst dive trip I ever had - start to finish.
I booked a complete whale shark diving package based on the Splash website - “There’s no higher chance of scuba diving or snorkeling with Whale sharks than with Splash Dive Centers Whale shark day trips and tours in Placencia”. Lies - they haven't seen a whale shark in years.
I communicated extensively with Splash that this was a bucket list trip for me to be in the water with whale sharks. I depended primarily on the owners communication with me. I depended totally on the honesty of the owner – my bad. It was total buswah - an outright lie. The boat had neither GPS nor sonar/fish finder, nor was here any search for birds. We were taken on an hour long, rough water trip to be dumped into the open ocean. The DM’s dive talk said we would drop and the DM would go to 80 feet and we were to maintain 50-60 foot depth until she found a school of fish. Then she would call us down. No sonar, no GPS, no looking for birds – no looking for schools of fish. Random wandering in the open ocean and hoping to see something. Are you kidding me?
Some notable lapses by Splash. I got to Belize City and
couldn’t enter the country. Splash never communicated to me the name or address of where I was staying. Since I booked a package through them I had no idea that I had to have that information to enter the country. I mistakenly assumed they had taken care of everything – not so much. (strike 1)
Fortunately I was directed to an office and I had Splash contact information so they were able to get the necessary information for me to enter the country. Because of the delay I ended up missing 2 flights from Belize City to Placencia. At least I got there eventually.
On my first whale shark dive day they never sent anyone to pick me up. I was supposed to be picked up at 8:15 am. I waited from 8:10 am till 8:30 am. Then I returned to my apartment and emailed them and also contacted them through their website.
I got no reply till 7:30 pm. (strike 2).
All dives are limited to 40 minutes. I have never experienced a dive limit less than an hour any where else. Every dive profile sent us to 70 - 80 feet and then an ascent to the reef edge. There was absolutely no reason to go that deep – there was nothing to see there. I am convinced that the sole reason was to burn gas so divers were low at 40 minutes.
I had asked them to arrainge a trip to some Mayan ruins on a non dive day at extra cost. That trip never materialized.
Finally, I asked (at least three times) for the owner (Patricia) to correct my flight back to Belize City and give me a pick up time so I would not miss my flight home. I had to email Ralph (the husband) to get a proper flight and a pick up time. I was always promised that she would take care of it immediately – and she never did. Finally
I emailed Ralph and got a flight change and a pickup time of 8 am.
No one ever showed to take me to the airport. (strike 3) The owner of where I was staying had to call in a favor from a friend to get me to the airport.
Summary: If you want to dive Belize I’d advise another venue. Placencia, as quaint as it is, is just not a place worth diving from, at least not with Splash. Harsh, hour long travel to and from the sites, little to no fish, relatively poor visibility even in the best conditions, and not even lush coral/sponge growth. Boats that pound you on the trip, the drop into the water, and getting back on the boat.
I truly believe the whale shark claims are totally bogus. Maybe in the distant past, it might have been true. But randomly dropping into open ocean and hoping to find a spawning school of fish and have a whale shark pass by strikes me as having about the same odds as the lottery. Another indication is that the government is said to be going to close the “whale shark zone” for 2-3 years in the hope that it will bring the whale sharks back.
Don’t know whether my experience is because Splash is in trouble or because Patricia is retiring and just doesn’t care any more. She told me that she was turning the business over to her daughter. Some legacy.
Glad I tried. Otherwise I always would have wondered. Would I ever return – not in this lifetime.
