Sapadilla Cays Marine Reserve
Reef Conservation International Ltd. (ReefCI) 2006

by Edward Haynes

INTRODUCTION
When I returned to the UK in December 2004 after two weeks diving with ReefCI, see my report at http://www.bsactravelclub.co.uk/reports/belize2.htm, I pledged to return. On Sunday 28th May 2006 I arrived back in Punta Gouda, Belize ready for another diving holiday in the Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve. Polly, the owner of ReefCI, met me at the airport and took me back to the 'big house' as it's known, where I was introduced to her staff. Craig, the scientist and Drew the PADI Dive instructor. I was the only ReefCI guest for the first two weeks, Earthwatch, an American organisation, had contracted ReefCI to provide diving support. During my third, and last week, I was joined by five Californians (the Hamilton family).

Unlike my earlier trip report this one will cover the company, the Cay, Staff, the diving & science, marine creatures, travelling to/from Punta Gouda and finally my overall opinion.

REEF CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL (REEFCI)
ReefCI is a British company operating as a non-public body in Belize. Much of the research undertaken is done on behalf of Belizean Government departments or agencies. The company has agreed specific targets, which holiday divers, like myself, are encouraged to get involved it.

On the boat returning to Punta Gouda at the end of my 3rd week Craig demanded USD25 per person per week for diving the Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve. It was quite clear that if we didn't pay ReefCI would abandon us in Punta Gouda, which meant we all had to draw out additional cash from the bank. To top this off no receipt way provided. Both the Hamilton family and myself felt this was a scam by Craig and Drew, but felt we had little choice but to pay-up and sort it out through the courts in the UK and the US.

Post Trip Note: I have since spoken to Polly who confirmed the fee is genuine, but agreed that it should have been made clear at the beginning of the holiday not the end. She also agreed to include it in the pre-departure pack. And to mail the pack to all future customers, not rely on them accessing it via the Web. She offered to reimburse me, but having confirmed it was a genuine fee I declined.

FRANK'S CAY

Frank's Cay is right on the Atlantic Barrier Reef, which marks the edge of the continental shelf; the drop-off goes down to about 2000m. The Cay was nearly cut in two by hurricane Mitch, in October, 1998, with the larger part containing the resort. The smaller part of the Cay has turtle nesting beaches and therefore no buildings. The Cay owners built the resort, which was partly destroyed by hurricane Mitch. There are three cabaņas, the main building (housing the kitchen and bar), Polly's hut, the staff house, diving locker and generator hut. In addition there is an area designated for those who want to save money and camp. ReefCI are the sole users of the Cay, though there are visits daily from yachts, the Coastguard and Fisheries.

When departing from Frank's Cay at the end of week 3, Craig stated he wanted USD25.00 per week from all the guests. This was phrased such that ReefCI would not provide any services to us back on land, if we didn't pay. The feeling I get was this was a money making scam by Craig and Drew as it would cost more to stay in a hotel and eat than pay-up. Later, back in the UK, I learned from Polly that it was a genuine fee. However, there was no mention of it on the ReefCI Website, under costs. She did offer to refund the money, but I declined the offer suggesting she updates the costs page of the Website.

Like most places in Belize, Frank's Cay has its share of sand flies and to a lesser extent mosquitoes.

STAFF
The Founder
Polly Wood, the owner, was only around for the first week and as the normal cook was on holiday she did the cooking etc.

Scientist
Craig, the scientist, an oceanographer, specialising in salinity, and has been working for ReefCI for about 15 months. Strangely, for someone working for a diving conservation organisation Craig prefers not to dive.

Dive Guide/Instructor
Drew, the PADI Dive Instructor/Dive Guide, joined ReefCI about the same time as Craig; this is his first job since qualifying as an instructor. Drew's lack of enthusiasm for diving was very noticeable, as it appeared a chore for him to go diving.

None of the ReefCI staff have dived in the UK and the concept of buddy diving was not fully understood. Once Polly left for the UK (after my 1st week), Craig and Drew only wanted to watch TV; lectures (on conservation and the science projects) lasted a maximum of 10 minutes and many of my dives were cut short so as Drew didn't miss World Cup matches.

Boat Captain
Roland, the boat Captain, started work as the Sun came up (so I could do a dive before breakfast) and often finishing well after Sundown (enabling night dives to be done). Many days he had his lunch on-the-go especially during the weeks 1 and 2 when either Earthwatch or ReefCI were out diving.

Cook Molly is ReefCI's resident cook and lives on the Cay for 4 weeks at a time. The food she made was excellent, and there was plenty, for those wanting to loss weight - forget it. Mary covered the 2nd week, as Molly was ill. The food was good, but not in Molly's league.

Cay Caretaker
Edgar is the Cay caretaker/odd job man, like Molly he lives on the Cay for 4 weeks at a time. A very quiet person, but hard working; I had a lot of time for him.

DIVING & SCIENCE
ReefCI has a 30 ft skiff that is used for diving, Roland was first class in handling the boat in all weathers. No site was more than a 20 minute ride away from the Cay. GPS co-ordinates were used to find the right spot for both research and pleasure diving.

Visibility ranged from 10 to 30 meters and it was rarely quiet with the Parrot fish chomping away at the coral all the time. However, near the end of one early morning dive there was a new sound - like a boat, but not moving - when we looked up (from 10m) we could see the rain. I stopped about 6 inches below the surface not wanting to get wet; by the rain. On the boat ride back to the Frank's Cay I wore my mask and snorkel as the rain felt like needles piercing the skin when the boat was at full speed.

Pleasure dives usually involved Drew leading us along a per-determined route. Only once did I get to specify the type of dive I wanted, slowly coming straight up the wall from 40m to the top of the drop-off at 15m. The rest of the dive time was spend de-gassing at 10-12m on the fore reef.

Research dives involved conch tagging, lobster surveys, Fish Identification (ID), coral ID and invertebrate ID.

Conch tagging: There where two areas were conch were tagged, one was the stadium (a large rectangular sand patch at 30m) and a cut through the reef (at 15-18m) between Hunting and Lime Cays. Having found a conch the first thing was to check it was live and not the home of a hermit crab. Next we would see whether is had been tagged in 2005, if so the serial number was recorded. For an untagged conch a record was made of the location, depth, overall length, width of the spire, the thickness of the lip and of cause the serial number of the tag placed around the spire.

Lobster Survey: Lobster surveys are undertaken to establish the male-female concentration and basic measurements of each specimen found (overall size, size of abdomen, whether male-female, if female whether eggs are being carried). Craig had developed a specialist tool, called a Lobmolester, which he used to gently coax them out of their holes to be measured.

Reefcheck Survey - Fish ID: During the one Reefcheck survey I was involved in during my 3 weeks the following fish were recorded, if seen: Parrot Fish (over 20cm), Grouper (over 30cm), Nassau Grouper (an endangers species), Grunts, Snapper, Angelfish, Butterfly Fish and Eels.

Reefcheck Survey - Invertebrate ID: The particular animals of interest were the Pencil Urchin, D Urchin, Banded Shrimp, Lobster and Flamingo Tongue.

Marine Creatures
Other beasties, which were not part of any survey, I came across during my 37 dives were Spanish Lobster, , Spider Crab, Spotted Eel, Mora Eel, Nurse Shark, Reef Shark, Spotted Ray, Barracuda (8ft long) and a Spotted Ray. Earthwatch spent time with a Whale Shark after one of their dives. During one of the night-dives we were entertained to a light show by the 'string-of-pearls', this only happens 2-3 days after full moon - and has to be seen.

TRAVELLING
On Saturday 27th May, 2006, I flew with Continental from Glasgow to Houston via Newark, the following day I took their morning flight to Belize, Once through customs and immigration I flew down to Punta Gouda with Tropic Air. I could have used Mayan Airways to get to Punta Gouda for the same price, but their flight was 3 hours later. Polly meet me at the airstrip and took me to the 'big house'. An uneventful journey apart from Continental not transferring my bags at Houston, however, they did arrive at my stop-over hotel at 10:30pm.

On the day I left (Saturday 17th June) I walked to the Seafront Hotel for a good US style breakfast, pancakes and all, prior to leaving. Drew organised the taxi to the airstrip and expected me to pay for it, then take him back to Polly's house where he and Craig were staying. I left Punta Gouda at 11:45 looking forward to the journey home. I was totally unaware of the delays I was about to experience - Oh the joy of travelling. By 15:00 I had bought my presents and checked-in for the flight back to Houston. Following numerous delay announcements some US passengers rang home to learn a Tornado had gone through Houston airport. The airline staff kept telling us wee would be leaving in half an hour, but the plane didn't arrive until 22:00. Belize International shuts down at 16:00, so there was little food and water for the 150 passengers. We finally left Belize at 23:00 after the Captain got permission from Continental to exceed his flying hours.

The Continental staff at Houston were unhelpful and once our bags were off-loaded went home. I got onto the 6 am flight to Newark where I had a 9 hour wait for the next flight to Glasgow. I finally arrived home at 10:30 Monday morning.

OPINION
A diving holiday with ReefCI is an experience not like your normal diving holiday. Accommodation in not 5 star; in fact it isn't even 1 star, but it is clean and comfortable. The diving could be better going back to the same site 7 times becomes a bit repetitive. Having the opportunity to conduct survey dives and not diving with the crowd make it worth it. The real question is "Would I go again?" ReefCI are no longer a holiday company, though not quite in Coral Cay's image they are moving that way. I wouldn't go again on my own, if I go.

"This is a diving and snorkelling paradise......spending your time on a remote island in the Caribbean, no other dive boats, choose where you want to go, discover new sites, dive when you want to and....one of the best places in the world to dive." ReefCI Website

* This is a diving and snorkelling paradise - Yes, but you're not going to get waiter service.
* Spending your time on a remote island in the Caribbean - Yes and it is remote about 40 miles from PG.
* No other dive boats - Not quite, there are private, Government and other environment organisation craft around and diving the area.
* Choose where you want to go - No, ReefCI staff dictate where diving will take place.
* Discover new sites - Only if ReefCI want to.
* Dive when you want to - No, I've done 18 dives in a week in the Red Sea, it took 3 weeks with ReefCI to double that.
* One of the best places in the world to dive - Yes, I have to agree there.

Now you've read it you can decide if this is what you want to do with your holiday time.

POST TRIP NOTE
I gave Polly the opportunity to see and comment on my report. Since I was there both Drew and Craig have left ReefCI and a full time Operations Manager has been employed. Polly has said the Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve fee is mentioned in the pre-departure pack, but then I didn't receive one. ReefCI Website is going to be updated to reflect the full costs involved.

Maybe I caught them at a bad time, but the above is the experience I had.

Edward Haynes

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