Dive Review of Itza Lodge in
Belize/Long Caye

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Itza Lodge: "Great Diving despite weather", Jan, 2020, by eric williamson, MT, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11400 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Long Caye is an hour and a half boat ride from Belize City. The ride can be a bit wet, but the captain is capable. We rode in a boat owned by Itza Lodge. Itza Lodge has about 20 rooms, but only 3-6 guests while we were there. They could do more to make it more attractive and keep guests more contented. It definitely has the location in its favor. There are over 24 dive sites along both sides of the island. It is only a 10 minute boat ride to Half Moon Caye National Park, and 20 minutes to the Blue Hole. We had wind out of the East during our entire 10 day stay. It had very little effect on the quality of dives, however. We dove the wall on the West side of Long Caye. We were offered 3 dives a day, but only did 2. We dove Half Moon Caye just once because of its exposure to the wind. That dive was not any better than the dives on West side of Long Caye. Elvis is the lodge manager, gear buyer, dive master, fishing guide. Itza had a staff of 8 even though at times there were only 3 guests. Elvis was doing double duty guiding a scuba trip, returning to the lodge, then right back out to snorkel. He has more divemasters available but the second one was sick 3 days.His personality is alot of bluster and baloney, but he is a capable, attentive dive master. The rental gear seems quite good, although there were some hiccups. The weight in my wife’s integrated BCD fell out at 60 feet, but Elvis got to her as she began to rise and held on to her for the rest of the dive. When I discovered my depth gauge didn’t work, he loaned me a computer. The dive boats are fine, with good ladders. We removed weights, BCD and fins before climbing into the boat. As a result of divers spearing lionfish and then feeding to sharks and other fish, Elvis has discovered that thumping the point of a spear against coral calls in sharks. I was thrilled but a bit uneasy when they kept coming straight at us, only swerving at about 8 feet! We saw many species of grouper, snapper, and jacks, lots of barracuda, a fair number of lobster, and green and spotted morays. Several green ones were out hunting. One popped out of the coral within a foot of Elvis’s face! Numbers of reef fish were variable, but at times they were plentiful and diverse. We saw grouper that were close to 300 lb. Also wahoo on a few occasions. I might not be a good judge of reef health, but it seems to be good by present Carribean standards. The sponges are certainly impressive: lots of colour; some with diameter of 3 feet, and 4 feet tall. I have a report from our previous stay at Itza Lodge in January of 2018. We dove with Hurrican Divers that time, who are still there, but since Itza has changed owners there is less collaboration. That trip we enjoyed some nicer days, but the diving was about equal. A chief reason why we returned was for our friend who can only snorkel now due to health reasons. I feel it is an excellent choice for that combination of interests. Flats fishing is also available, wind permitting.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Chinchorro Banks, Belize, Honduras Bay Islands, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Alaska, GBR, Tasmania, Ningaloo, Bali
Closest Airport	Belize City	Getting There	Direct flights from Chicago or Houston on United; then 1.5 hour by boat.
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-81°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	70-110 Ft/ 21-34 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	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 Itza Lodge in Belize/Long Caye

Itza Lodge: "Great Diving despite weather", Jan, 2020,

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 Itza Lodge in
Belize/Long Caye