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Old 17-01-2018, 15:16   #1
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Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

How clear is the Western Caribbean? I assume Mexico is good, but what about points further South down to the canal, is it good diving, like the Bahamas, or not so good?
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Old 17-01-2018, 15:20   #2
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Belize is awesome, especially further from land, and the Honduras Bay islands have amazing diving. Honduras and Nicaragua mainlands are not great, but the Vivorillos, Providencia, and San Andres are great for water clarity as well.
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Old 17-01-2018, 15:49   #3
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

+1 what Benz said. Belize & Honduras have some of the best diving on the planet.

Viz off the Yucatan is generally quite good because the Yucatan current sweeps thru the area. Viz in Cozumel for example can be excellent...and some of the massive reef structures there, like Palancar & Maracaibo are awe inspiring.

Like many places, viz varies a lot based on your proximity to land and recent rainfall. In Belize for example there is a deep "inner channel" that parallels the mainland coast inside the barrier reef. Visibility to the land side of the inner channel is generally not great, but can OK in a few locations sometime. Most of the river run off flows S in the inner channel. So on the other side of the inner channel, between the inner channel and the barrier reef, visibiliy can be pretty good. But if you want the best viz, like floating in air 100' viz, then you need to be outside the barrier reef. This is one of the things that makes the offshore atolls so awesome...they sit in very deep water, swept by a N bound ocean current...crystal clear.

Also great viz and diving in little visited Cayos Cochinos, Honduras.

Good diving and snorkeling with good viz around Providencia/San Andreas and many of the less visited islands/banks in the Nicaraguan banks area like Cayos Albuquerque.

Further S there is good diving and snorkeling in Panama too...with 2 oceans to choose from. On the Carib side there is diving and snorkeling in Bocas del Toro...a few decent sites, but there is better elsewhere in Panama. Diving off Portobelo is popular and dive shops there are packed on the weekends. Excellent snorkeling in the San Blas (diving too, but technically you are not supposed too).

So yes, many sites in the W Carib that are easily as good as or better than the Bahamas.
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Old 17-01-2018, 15:56   #4
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
How clear is the Western Caribbean? I assume Mexico is good, but what about points further South down to the canal, is it good diving, like the Bahamas, or not so good?
If you're at BLM, were you not at Jonesy's talk about sailing from FL to the Dry Tortugas down to Mexico, Belize and to the RD, including the island off of Honduras?

From what he said, the water clarify is awesome!

Of course, if you're looking for other perspectives, I get that. I'm quite confused on some issues.
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Old 17-01-2018, 17:20   #5
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

I don't see the point of sailing to the Dry Tortugas first, then to MX. You might need to spend a week with the Park Service all over your ass. If you sail right down to the reef along Cuba you have no such problems. Also your time getting across the stream is down just an overnight. As for wx planning you need good conditions for crossing the Yucatan Straight about 3 days from leaving Key West. You want seas no more than 1 meter or 3' at about 5-7 sec. Wind is nice.
If one needed to go inside the reef along Cuba for rest, there are several reef openings and anchorages with good GPS info.
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Old 17-01-2018, 17:35   #6
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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If you're at BLM, were you not at Jonesy's talk about sailing from FL to the Dry Tortugas down to Mexico, Belize and to the RD, including the island off of Honduras?



From what he said, the water clarify is awesome!



Of course, if you're looking for other perspectives, I get that. I'm quite confused on some issues.


I was, and didn’t remember what he said about water quality as far as diving was concerned, we will probably take his route, but if the diving wasn’t good anywhere but near Cozumel, then maybe I’d shift back to the Bahamas, cause I want to Dive.
I’ve been to the Dry Tortugas, after a day or two you see all there is to see, cause there isn’t a whole lot. We went right after a storm so vis was carp. The Park Ranger was only testy once saying we were anchored too close to a swimming area so we moved over to near where the Turbine Otters land and they didn’t bother us at all. In fact it was somewhat a pain trying to find out how to pay etc. only person we could find was the guy who ran the store, no Rangers were ever in their office, I don’t know where they went.
There is a wreck you can Dive with a mooring ball, your only supposed to stay moored there for a few hours I think, but the whole time we were there about three days, a big motoryacht was tied to that ball and never moved.
I think we are going to buddy Boat and I think they want to go to the Dry Tortugas, so why not.
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Old 17-01-2018, 17:45   #7
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Did lots of snorkeling in the Windwards and Leewards and other than a few small spots they have nothing to compare with the Western Caribbean, its just superior in every way. We dove in most of the spots mentioned by other posters and I'm in agreement with them. The Bay Islands have the second largest reef in the world if my memory serves me and tons of dive sites. Diving here is really easy, tank fills are around 5 or 6 bucks and your less than 5 minutes in your dink to good dive sites if your in the Westend. We snorkeled twice with whale sharks off Utila and played with the dolphins for close to a half hour about 3 miles offshore, really unforgettable experiences. Having sailed the Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean we much prefer the Western Caribbean. Lots more culture and costs are quite low. Quality of fresh food is far better than the Eastern Caribbean. We almost passed it by which would have been a real big mistake. The Eastern Caribbean is nicer for sailing as you can go back and forth between Islands with relative ease on almost any day of the week. You've made a good choice heading in this direction and leaving your boat in the Rio over the summer is really living easy. Its a great cruisers hangout, your wife will enjoy herself.
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Old 17-01-2018, 17:58   #8
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Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Good and my teak is in a real bad need of some TLC, and I’m not going to do it. I’m good with a multi meter or a wrench, but give me a paint brush and you’ll think children were finger painting, my painting skills, well aren’t skills.
I hope to be able to get it done in the Rio Dulce for a price I can afford.
I got a quote in Stuart Fl., and at first so thought they were pulling my leg, but one look at him, and I knew he wasn’t.
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Old 17-01-2018, 18:02   #9
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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Good and my teak is in a real bad need of some TLC, and I’m not going to do it. I’m good with a multi meter or a wrench, but give me a paint brush and you’ll think children were finger painting, my painting skills, well aren’t skills.
I hope to be able to get it done in the Rio Dulce for a price I can afford.
I got a quote in Stuart Fl., and at first so thought they were pulling my leg, but one look at him, and I knew he wasn’t.
The Rio is a great place for that sort of labor intensive work...the price difference will be dramatic too.
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Old 17-01-2018, 18:03   #10
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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Originally Posted by CaptsWife View Post
If you're at BLM, were you not at Jonesy's talk about sailing from FL to the Dry Tortugas down to Mexico, Belize and to the RD, including the island off of Honduras?

From what he said, the water clarify is awesome!

Of course, if you're looking for other perspectives, I get that. I'm quite confused on some issues.
Was that Jonesy from Niki Wiki?
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Old 17-01-2018, 18:19   #11
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Forget Cozumel, get down to Banco Chinchorro or maybe Xcalak. Cozumel is a cruise ship port. Belize will be where you can start diving any old time you want. I thought Roatan was as good as you could get.
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Old 18-01-2018, 04:51   #12
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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Forget Cozumel, get down to Banco Chinchorro or maybe Xcalak. Cozumel is a cruise ship port. Belize will be where you can start diving any old time you want. I thought Roatan was as good as you could get.
We quit going to Cozumel regularly decades ago when they dynamited a nice little patch reef to build another cruise ship dock. Thats when we discovered Belize.

While the vibe of Cozumel has changed, there is of course still excellent diving there. Went a few years back with a buddy who was completing his check out dives. Way more touristy than it used to be, but the diving and viz were still great.

Agree though that it is not the best place for a cruising boat.
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Old 18-01-2018, 05:00   #13
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

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...The Bay Islands have the second largest reef in the world if my memory serves me and tons of dive sites. ...
Both Belize and the Bay Islands make that claim. Ive never seen the math on how they both arrive at the same conclusion.

Belize is more of a typical barrier reef and extends essentially the entire length of the coast line almost uninterrupted. So my thought is that it has a better claim to the second longest contiguous barrier reef.

I estimated once that if you included the length of the barrier reefs on the atolls that would roughly double the linear distance of reef in Belize....dont think the Bay Islands have enough coast line to equal that.

The upside to such an extensive reef system in Belize is that traffic is really spread out. You can spend days in more remote sections of the reef and never see another boat...except maybe fishermen.

There are of course some crowded popular sites too, but many of those you can visit outside of normal tourist hours or cruise ship days. Some like Hol Chan, require a boat and guide liscenced for the site, but thats rare.

Regardless, great diving in both Belize & Bay Islands.
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Old 18-01-2018, 05:04   #14
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Visability and the wildlife was so good on the outer Belize reefs we had problems initially estimating the depths and distances. This really is one of those places you only want to take memories and leave bubbles.

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Old 18-01-2018, 05:24   #15
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Re: Western Caribbean Water Quality, Visability

Some logistics note on diving in Belize.

There are dive resorts on islands out on the barrier reef and the atolls. This is handy to know if you need an air fill, repair, or even some local advice. All the dive shops in Belize have always been very accomodating in my experience.

When running charters in Belize Ive always used the local shops to take guests diving. Its way less hassle and better politically (for a commercial boat anyway). Ive done the same with friends aboard when cruising too. Even had guests complete refresher/discover SCUBA training with these local shops.

Islands/atolls where you can get an air fill away from the mainland include Southwater Caye, Tobacco Caye, Turneffe, Glovers...not a comprehensive list, but these Ive used regularly.
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