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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
What is Hol Chan?
A Belize marine reserve (1987) at a cut (chan) in the reef off Ambergris Caye, often paired with Shark Ray Alley. A textbook managed snorkel park.
Palancar?
A Cozumel reef complex of walls and gardens, drifted on the Yucatan current. Marine-park rules and a 1996 grounding history sit under the fame.
Bloody Bay Wall?
A Little Cayman wall that starts in shallow water and drops into deep blue, a Caribbean wall-teaching site.
Why is Bonaire different?
A 1979 marine park, a shore-tag system, and a no-anchor culture that made the island an etiquette laboratory.
Kittiwake?
A US Navy submarine-rescue ship sunk in 2011 off Grand Cayman as an artificial reef, shallower and more planned than a war grave.
Shore islands want tabis and a tag. Drift islands want a SMB. Sleeves replace a lot of cream on pale shallows.
A lionfish spear is a licensed, argued tool, not a holiday souvenir.
Core kit
- Park tag / wristband — Bonaire and others list this as kit.
- Mask that seals — Hire after the brief if needed.
- SMB on drift boats — Cozumel, Cayman walls.
- Rash top — Sun on a wall.
- Tabis (Bonaire) — Entries.
- Card and log — Boats check them.
Optional
- Nitrox — Common on wall weeks.
- Pointer — Sand and wreck, not coral.
- Lionfish tools (licensed) — A local regulation, not a default.
- Compact housing — Cruise-cabin reality.
Care
- Rinse salt and sunscreen films — Skirts leak.
- Keep the tag visible — Rangers ask.
- No shells in the suitcase — Park law.
- Rinse Bonaire entry grit — It is volcanic-adjacent and sharp.
Budget bands
- Hol Chan day — Park fee, mask.
- Bonaire week — Tag, rental truck, shore kit.
- Cayman / Cozumel boat week — The ticket is the cost.
- Skip — A feeding bag.
Spend on the tag and the morning boat. The wall is already the product.