Dive Review of
Glover's Atoll Resort in
Belize/Glover's Reef Atoll

 Belize, Bonaire, Cozumel, Cook Islands, Hawaii, California, Washington,
British Columbia, Michigan, Florida 

Dive Conditions

The dives were completely at our discretion.  

There are no boat facilities because the typical boat ride is 5-10 minutes.
However, it would be nice if they had a fresh water bucket on the boat.
They were sensitive to handling the camera.

The shore facilities are limited because the dive resort is a
"roughing it" resort. There is no electricity in your
accomodations, but they will recharge digital cameras in the main lodge.
They do have a laptop computer which may work with your (digital) camera.
The computer does not have a CD burner.  

Overall Rating

This is a great resort for someone trying to get to the atolls on the
cheap. The land based accomodations are a mix of primitive and amazing.
Primitive is no running water or electricity in your accomodations  - you
can even camp if you really want to go cheap. Toilets are pit toilets
although they are clean and not a problem to use and there are many of
them. Amazing is having a thatched roof bungalow over the water with the
lagoon stretching to the horizon and the waves breaking on the reef a
hundred yards away. Kerosene stoves and dishes are provided in each
bungalow for your cooking needs. The cost is around $100USD/person for
camping for a week or $210USD/person for a bungalow for a week. This
includes the round trip boat ride from Sittee River to the atoll. There are
sand flies so bring DEET repellent or stay in the wind. You can eat meals
at the main lodge, but they are pricey ($12USD for breakfast, $9USD lunch,
and $15USD dinner). Bringing your own groceries (and you have to bring your
own liquor) is the way to go. You can buy fresh water on the atoll - they
usually sell rain water but you can get bottled water. Other fresh water
(non potable) is limited to well water which is less than desirable but
will do the trick if you need it - we didn't shower the week we were out
but instead washed up in the lagoon.

The diving was great. There are two main reasons why I loved it so much.

First, there was complete diving freedom. We were taken to dive sites,
given a quick briefing, and then did the dive ourselves. We could dive our
own profile for as long or as short as we wanted. Almost all the dives were
wall dives on the outside atoll reef. When we visited usually the only
divers were me and my buddy and our usual profile was max 80' for 60-90
minutes. Most dives were not stationary - the boat would drop us off and
pick us up further down the wall. While this was great for experienced
divers, I do not think it would be wise for new divers. When we dove with
new(er) divers, there was a dive leader in the water who dove with them.

The second reason the diving was great was the conditions: amazing coral
and the warm water. The reefs had great soft and hard corals. Big brain
coral formations and huge tube and barrel sponges. Absoluting amazing with
very little if any bleaching or dead coral. The water was 84F which was
completely comfortable with just swim trunks and a tshirt and there was no
thermocline at depth. There was not an abundance of marine life although
that could be a seasonal and/or dive site variation. One or two dive sites
did have a lot more fish schools. We definitely saw marine life - nurse
sharks, turtles, dolphins, barracuda, crevally, and the usual parrot fishes
and other coral dwellers. There just wasn't the abundance to compare with
the otherwise amazing corals.

The boat dives were around $3750USD and $425USD for 12 dives. Otherwise I
believe they were between $30USD and $40USD. The cost varies depending on
whether or not you needed to rent gear.

Although we didn't do it, you can shore dive or kayak dive. Kayaks are
$175USD for a week. They will fit two people. Shore diving is $14USD for a
filled tank. Having done many boat dives, next time I would do primarily
kayak diving.

There is also great fishing and snorkeling in the lagoon. You can get
lobster when they are in season (some other travelers got some when we were
there).

Summary: great diving in an amazing location as long as you don't mind
"roughing it" topside. 

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