Dive Review of Blackbird Resort/Blackbird Caye in
Belize/Blackbird Caye

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Blackbird Resort/Blackbird Caye: "Blackbird Caye", Sep, 2023, by Peter O'Shaughnessy, OH, US ( Sr. Reviewer 8 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 12552 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We had a group of 8 divers that traveled to Blackbird in June, part of our group flew from Cincinnati through Atlanta to Belize. We took the bus to Old Belize and waited till 3:00PM to board the boat, however the boat that normally takes passengers from Old Belize to the resort was not functioning, (had bad injectors in one engine). The trip took almost 3 hours to complete, we waited about 20 minutes on the boat at the dock in the sweltering heat while supplies were loaded then unloaded before we pushed off. This was a long hot uncomfortable trip to the island; the boat was not fixed by the time we left Blackbird, so our group decided to take the 15-minute flight back to the airport with extra costs. The big issue was all extras that were added to the invoice at the end of the trip, Drinks at the bar were very expensive, Bottled water was extra, and nitrox was by the tank all of these added up to a big additional expense. We were in rooms 5, 6, 7, and 8, the doors did not seal very well in 6 and 8 so the AC was trying to cool the room but not doing a very good job. The electricity went out for about 15/20 minutes per night. Two of the rooms had issues and the AC stopped working during the week. We reported it to the management, and it was corrected the next day. A great deal of seaweed washes up on the beach each day and the smell of rotting seaweed is bad. The resort staff cleans the beach every day, but it seems like it is a losing battle while the wind is blowing from the east. The buffet breakfast and lunches had a good selection of quality items, while the daily choice of two dinner items for plate service meals was always good, with excellent plate presentation and attentive table-side service. The kitchen and staff did a great job, and the food was plentiful and very good. The winds picked up for the diving on Wednesday, making diving and travel rough but with a silver-lining of only a few bug bites or even a need for applying bug repellent (best practice is still to bring DEET based products while on the Turneffe Atoll). Our group of 8 dove off the Queen Angel with Captain Leo at the helm, who has been at Blackbird on-and-off for 20 plus years. Seasoned Divemaster Elroy was attentive and entertaining. Pointed out lots of stuff on all dives and did a good job of spearing invasive lionfish during the week. The Blue Hole/Half Moon Caye day-trip on the Queen Angel, (which includes an island picnic and bird watching tour), was a bit rough due to the winds from the east which made for a long rough trip. The dive boats will typically return to the resort between dives (unless the winds result in conducting dives to the west side of Turneffe) which occurred for 3 days this week and have a surface interval on the dive boat with no return to BCR between dives. During windy times the dock is switched to an alternate dock on the west side of the island to make for a smoother boat ride to Turneffe’s west side dive sites out of the winds. The short trip to the west side dock is via a covered passenger trailer ride pulled by a tractor. The grounds department even has a tractor-pulled weed harvesting machine to help keep the beach area clean (and with reduced organic odors) when the winds are strong from the east. The reef is still healthy, the sponges and soft corals are spectacular, while Nurse and Reef Sharks remain “on the payroll” from about 20 years of Lionfish spearing. A threesome of Nurse Sharks (“Bubbles, Cuddles & Snuggles”) at a few of the east side dive sites swim with divers and even lay-down in the sand to have their ‘heads scratched’. As our Divemaster stated “If you do not get good photos/videos of sharks, you need a new camera”. Our group saw sharks, turtles, morays, and rays on nearly every dive, including multiple Spotted Eagle Rays and a few extremely large Loggerhead Turtles. On the last dive of the week a pod of dolphins swam under the boat, and everyone was back in the water to interact with them. The Playground and Aquarium dive sites had tremendous schools of Horse-Eye Jacks, Blue Tangs, French Grunts. French and Grey Angels were huge, as were the Queen Triggers, Scrawled and Orange Spotted Filefish, along with Green Morays. Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association, (TASA) is doing an excellent job of monitoring and enforcing the now (since 2012) protected Turneffe Marine Reserve. One evening a week, TASA staff does a presentation at BCR, with a nice rash-guard provided for a non-specified “donation”. This proactive group is very forward thinking and worthy of significant support from the diving community and others.
Websites	Blackbird Resort Blackbird Caye
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Bahamas, Bonaire, Florida Keys, Midwest Quarries, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Great Lakes.
Closest Airport	Philip Goldson	Getting There	Flew Delta from Cincinnati through Atlanta
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp	83-86°F / 28-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Be back on the boat with 500 PSI, follow depth guidance given before each dive.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Blackbird Resort/Blackbird Caye in Belize/Blackbird Caye

Blackbird Resort/Blackbird Caye: "Blackbird Caye", Sep, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Blackbird Resort/Blackbird Caye in
Belize/Blackbird Caye