Belize, Thailand, Fakarava, Grand Cayman

I really appreciate receiving and reading reports from our members, not only for the information, but for the entertainment. Here are a few I think are certainly worth your time.

If you want to destroy a good dive program and chase away divers, then Belize's Blackbird Caye resort seems to be on track, as one of our readers observed. It has always been a favorite of divers, with comfortable cabins, good meals, and tropical grounds -- not to mention the diving. Susan Norton, an experienced diver from Tiburon, CA, visited in February, and now I wonder why any experienced diver would go there. "There were no deep dives -- told to restrict to 60 feet. A real disappointment with dive times. There is a sign on the shop door that says dives are 45 minutes plus a safety stop. And on top of it, divers are required to dive in a group and come up together, even for mooring dives. I was often on board showing less than a 45-minute dive . . . Blue Hole dives are restricted to people with Advanced Open Water dives, no matter what your experience . . . Would I go back? Probably not . . . just too restrictive." www.blackbirdresort.com

Divers traveling to the Caribbean from November through February don't really think about tropical winter weather, but it happens; for example, this year, Cozumel had many days of wind, rain, and chill from storms coming from the U.S. Winter winds often keep the Cayman Aggressor from traveling to Little Cayman or the Brac, which are on the itinerary. In January, John Morgan (Surprise, AZ), who has made 1000 dives, says, "One thing I've learned about winter diving in the Caribbean is that it tends to be very windy. This has happened to me in the Bahamas and on this trip in the Caymans. The captain said that the winds were even worse in November and December. The Cayman Aggressor could not even use their normal docking location. We could not get to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac. We spent the whole week at Grand Cayman, not really a bad thing, with plenty of excellent dive sites, including some excellent wreck dives . . . The Cayman Aggressor is one of the oldest in the fleet. The hallway and rooms on the lower deck are not tall-people-friendly. Despite my best efforts, I must have hit the ceiling smoke detectors dozens of times. The meals were excellent, and the dive operations were very efficient. www.aggressor.com

"One day, while moored to a shallow water site not far from the beach, we were hit by a submarine. That's right, a yellow tourist submarine scraped our hull. While there were no divers in the water, the captain was not pleased. She got on the phone, and within minutes, a Cayman Coast Guard vessel showed up. The sub had a trailing boat and sent a diver to free the sub, which caught on our mooring. We were left with some fairly deep scars on the hull near the stern . . . It kind of looked like a monster with a big claw, scraped the hull."

I'm sure the submarine's insurance company has heard about this. And the sub was in another tiff just a few days before, this time with Shaggy's Personalised Diving, leading to a criminal complaint filed by Andrey Alexeenko, the manager of the Down Under Submarines. He claimed that Shaggy Thomson forced the submarine to abort the dive with customers on board by cutting the communications cable that connects the submarine to the buoy on the surface. Alexeenko said it cost over $3,000 to get the cable repaired.

Shaggy says it was all the sub's fault and has video to prove it. He told Cayman Compass, "I thought he was going to sink my boat . . . when I saw him approaching and starting to submerge, I waved him off because I had divers in the water . . . Next thing I see, the submarine is passing less than 10 feet under my vessel, and then the cable that connects to the submarine and drags behind it, got tangled up in my engine and my boat is being pulled along by the submarine. I was concerned for the safety of my boat and customers, so I didn't hesitate. I wasn't going to allow my boat to be dragged underwater by a 62-foot submarine that weighs over 60 tons, so I cut the cable."

Makes one wonder: just who is piloting that sub?

Richelieu Rock, about 25 miles off the west coast of Thailand, is often rated among the top dive sites in the world; for sure, it's Thailand's best. The Thai Aggressor took Peter Neubauer (San Diego) there in January. "The crew was fantastic, as was the dive operation and guides. Food was very good and plentiful. Similan Islands diving was interesting with large granite boulders and extensive and healthy coral reefs. Richelieu Rock was fabulous. I've been diving for quite a while (1000 dives), and this spot was just incredible. Beautiful soft corals and some big schools of fish that just suddenly swam by. Lots of macro as well. Visibility can change quickly due to currents, and the water is very green." Here is a short video of the trip: https://bit.ly/4b6N6tL

Now here's a trip most of us could not afford, but if Palau's Four Seasons Explorer isn't the world's most luxurious liveaboard, it's the most expensive, with double cabin price with taxes, running about $4500 a day, double occupancy, So Eric Sternbach (Calabasas, CA) splurged for a bucket list trip and says, "We had very high expectations and Four Seasons managed to exceed them in every way. The accommodations and food were exceptional. During our four days on board, there were typically only 8-12 guests and 20-25 crew members. We were the only Americans; most guests were from Europe, and four were from Japan. The average age appeared to be in the 30s to early 40s (I wish I could have afforded a trip like this when I was that age). The liveaboard operates like a floating hotel, and guests can stay as many nights as they choose. Diving was outstanding. The tender and scuba boat were the most comfortable we have ever used. Each carried four-to-six divers, two dive guides, and a videographer who shared a nightly highlight reel with the group. After dives, we were served snacks on china plates, with tea or coffee. Dives lasted 45-50 minutes on Nitrox. Depth generally ranged from 60-80 feet, and there was rarely a reason to go deeper. Snorkeling trips were offered at the same time as the dives. Daily cultural excursions included a phenomenal tour of Peleliu, the site of one of the most harrowing battles of WWII, bird-watching with a local birder, and a visit to a Palauan Bai house with a cultural ceremony; there were paddleboards, kayaks, beach activities, and daily sunrise yoga. At the end of the trip, everyone received a USB drive with all of the daily videos." www.fourseasons.com/explorerpalau

Now, for three days at twenty percent of the price of the Explorer ($489), you can join Paragon driving for a caravan drive from Tucson to the Sea of Cortez and San Carlos, Mexico. Dean C., who lives in Colorado Springs, CO, joined the caravan in February for five or so hours to San Carlos. "Other than getting car insurance for Mexico, the trip was hassle-free, and an audiobook made the drive pass quickly enough. Paragon provided two trip leaders who did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and were our DMs. They also led the caravan and organized dinners.

"San Carlos is in a stunning Sonoran Desert location on a large, lazy bay of the Sea of Cortez, a wonderfully relaxed town with just enough amenities. Diving is easy on the large, stable boat that has a head. We had fewer than 10 divers, but the boat has a capacity of over 30. The sites are a 10-15 minute ride (or 1.5-2 hours to San Pedro Island, a protected area and famous for its seals, turtles, schools of fish, and occasional large critters like dolphins and sharks, but we didn't make it there since we had insufficient divers). Some sites were loaded with small fish, nudis and, allegedly, seahorses. A couple of sea lions joined us for one dive, frolicking beasts that mocked our lack of grace and speed by spinning around us with a playful look on their faces. A school of barracuda lazily turned circles around us on another dive. The topography was mostly sand and boulders with some corals. hiding places for octopus and lobster. Several wrecks have been added by the government in a small bay. Cruising through the interior of the latest, Cabo Corrientes, was a treat since it is rare to be inside a wreck that was so pristine with no silt or gunk. However, I preferred the Santos, which was sunk several years ago and torn in half by a storm, providing easy access to its bowels, and has better habitat. There was an abundance of fish, eels, rays, etc., taking full advantage of the nooks and crannies and the growth covering the hull. The bottom on most dives was 40-50 feet, but down to 75 feet at some wrecks. Water was about 65°F, which also warms through the fall." www.divesancarlos.com

Last year, our travel writer wrote good things about North Fakarava, and Margie Eliason (Marysville, WA), who has made three trips to South Fakarava, says of all three resorts, "We enjoyed Raimita the best. And the dive operation, Enata, was the worst. It started with our request to analyze the Nitrox in our tanks. We were told 'nope,' the mixture was 36 percent and that was it. In retrospect, I now kind of doubt that they had an analyzer. The dive briefing was done by Necko, the French certified divemaster, which was primarily, 'Don't go below or in front of me'. As the two of us use a Scubapro Air II instead of an octopus regulator, I spoke up and mentioned that if someone should need to share with us, they will get our regular regs, and we'll take the Air II. Necko immediately chastised me with 'If anyone needs to get air, they will get it from me and no one else!' Really!

"Both of us being divers with over 40 years of experience, we are used to setting up and taking responsibility for our own equipment. After gearing up, I opened both tanks. Apparently, the captain comes around and turns on the air. I stopped him on mine, telling him it was already open, but I didn't notice that he had already checked my wife's, and instead of opening the valve, he closed it and then cracked it open about a half turn. As most of us know, the protocol for not fully opening a tank valve disappeared with better valve design a couple of decades ago. She had good air flow at the surface, but as we descended, it got harder. At 94 feet, she showed me her gauge, which was bouncing with each breath. I've had this problem before, but before I could open the valve, the flow cut off completely. She grabbed my Air II. I opened the valve, checked her reg, which was now operating properly, and put her reg back in her mouth. Necko noticed us sharing air and came charging over from 50 feet away, elbowed me out of the way (which I allowed since she was now breathing fine, although quite shaken up. She wanted to surface. Necko wouldn't allow it, and she seemed calm enough after several breaths to continue the dive. Upon surfacing, he asked what happened, and I explained it. He showed no concern for how she was doing. This dive operation consistently shorted us on the intervals, normally making them 50 minutes instead of an hour, which messed with the computers. We did several dives with them, just looking out for ourselves. Necko then came by and told us he didn't want to speak English anymore, so we'd get no dive briefings." www.enatafakaravadiving.com

Clueless as the divemaster, I wonder if he went home complaining he didn't get tipped?

Ben Davison