Belize, Thailand, Fakarava, Grand Cayman: Undercurrent 03/2026

Belize, Thailand, Fakarava, Grand Cayman

big egos, big prices, big winds

from the March, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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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

"The captain said that the winds were even worse in November and December."

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...

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