Have any of you been diving from Placencia lately? Was the reef damaged by the last hurricane? Thanks!

We dove the reef from Placencia. The area that we dove was around Gladden Split, Laughing Bird Caye and the Sapodilla Cayes on the southern end of the reef.

We did notice coral damage, most specificaly with soft coral around Gladden in water depths above 40'. Below 40' damage was minimal or non evident.

Laughing Bird has some coral formations on the south east side but it is mostly patch coral in 60-70 feet of water.

By far the best that we found was the Sapodilla Cayes. The water in this area quickly drops off too verey deep mater makiing for fabtastic wall dives outside the reef. OLD storm damage was noted in shallower areas but was not from the latest hurricane as it did not reach this far south.

Biggest problem with the Sapodilla cayes is that it is a long ride. We went with Serenade Guest House and stayed on their private island for 3 days of diving....much better than going back and forth each day and we had a chance for toe nigh dives as well....LOVE THOSE NIGHT DIVES...THE REEFS REALLY COME ALIVE.

Thanks for the info! Was there any good diving close to placencia or was it all trips out to the cayes?

I am not aware of any diving close in to Placencia. You gotta go about 25 miles out, as far as I know. To get to reef or anything special. You'll see some stuff (the occasional barracuda or turtle) right off shore, but nothing too great; mostly sea grass. The folks who would really know is the dive shop at Roberts' Grove. They dive a lot; that's their biz. Or call/e-mail any of the dive shops in Placencia. MOst folks got to Laughing Bird Caye from Placencia, or stay at the overnight places like Serenade, Ranguana Caye or closer off Dangriga, Tobacco Caye.

Hi Diveron

No, there is no diving to speak of close in to Placencia...it is really necessary to get out to the reef for the best action, the boat ride can be an hour + each way.

Being diehard divers we elected to stay at a location as close to the reef as possible to be able to get in lots of dive time without all the boat ride BS. Thats when we came up with serende island resort.....www.belizecayes.com.

The have a small well equipped dive shop right on top of the reef...really nice (not the Ritz) but warm, friendly, comfortable private island.

Hope you have a good trip. They are in the low season right now, best times are Dec-April.