We want you to have the most enjoyable dive experience here in Belize, home to the second-largest reef system in the world. At Splash, we pride ourselves on being one of the stewards of the beautiful marine habitat nature has given us. We hope to maintain this environment for future generations to enjoy and we ask for your help by following these guidelines.
KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM THE CORAL
Corals are colonies of living animals and simply touching them can kill them. Keep yourself a short distance from them and be aware of where your feet, fins and hands are. Never ever stand on the coral.
KEEP A RESPECTABLE DISTANCE FROM ALL MARINE LIFE
Don’t chase or touch marine life as it can cause stress and touching or handling may remove protective coatings of fish, mammals, invertebrates, and other species.
DON’T FEED THE FISH
Feeding fish changes fish behavior and they don’t need us to feed them. They have their natural food sources on the reef that are symbiotic with marine life on the reef. Feeding lionfish to nurse sharks and moray eels is practiced by some dive shops but not by Splash. We bring the lionfish back so that the guest who do lionfish safaris with us can enjoy them for dinner. This invasive species is having a significant negative impact on the reef and marine life.
DISPOSE OF WASTE IN BINS ON THE BOAT AND DOCK
Marine pollution can seriously impact marine life and our trash does not belong in the sea. Nothing should be thrown overboard, even if it is organic.
PERFECT YOUR BUOYANCY SKILLS
Buoyancy skills are vital to avoid making contact with any part of the marine environment other than water. Breath control and correct weighting are important to master buoyancy skills.
PERFECT YOUR FINNING TECHNIQUES
Proper finning techniques are critical when close to the reef, including backward swimming. The flutter kick is the most common kick but the frog kick is better when close to the bottom as it is less likely to stir up sediment. This video on YouTube offers a quick lesson on how to do the frog kick:
Backward swimming is also important for backing away from the reef after coming in close to look into a hole or to check out a micro-critter. This video shows the technique for backward swimming: