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Fishing and Diving for the Blue Reef Adventure Feeling done with the rat race and wanting to follow her passions instead, she made a drastic life change and traveled for over a year during which time she spent three months in the South Pacific working as a Dive Instructor in Fiji.
By SHAYLENE TODD Contributing Feature Writer The Placencia Breeze shaylenetodd@gmail.com
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s with most Placencia days lately, it was the perfect time for a boat trip with serene, calm waters and a bright, summer sunlight. I had been picked up by Blue Reef Adventures in the very early morning and boarded the deep sea fishing and diving experts’ 38-foot Luhr, which boasted twin outboard engines, two 20foot outriggers and eight trolling rods. One of the newest tour operators to join the Placencia Chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association were taking me on an epic hunt for marlin and tuna, but of course as it tends to go around here, a lot more magic was awaiting me. We were captained by Roland Alford, an expert Belizean fisherman and joined by his wife and first mate, Polly Alford, who is also co-owner and Dive Master at Blue Reef Adventures. Originally from the technology sector in London, Polly discovered her love of diving in Roatan, Honduras in the late 1990s.
Naturally, she eventually made her way to Belize, the home of the largest living Barrier Reef in the world, where in 2003 she founded and headquartered ReefCI, a non-profit conservation foundation. Upon arriving, Roland came highly recommended as her boat captain, but he quickly became her “right hand man” … and more. As Polly so eloquently told me, after five years of working together, “our passion for the ocean became our passion for each other”. The couple were married on the stunning beaches of Hunting Caye in Belize’s Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve in 2010. Together, they founded Blue Reef Adventures based in Placencia Village and began hosting day and week-charters for a unique all-in-one diving and fishing experience. They’re now joined on their charters by Roland’s two sons, Byron and Anderson. The boys have been fishing all their lives and are just as quick and precise in their trade as their father. Happy tunes sang from the boat speakers. I enjoyed classics such as Tina Turner ’s “Simply the best,” Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” and Hot Chocolate’s “You sexy thing” along with the
(Left to Right) Sharing a mutual love for the sea, happy couple, Roland and Polly Alford run Blue Reef Adventures. Together, they offer private charters to guests for an all-in-one fishing and diving experience. Ralph Golberg, a first-time visitor to Belize from Salt Lake City, Utah, reels in a catch using one of the eight rods perched aboard the fully outfitted Mad Marlin. Roland's sons, Byron and Anderson, who are as good as fishing as their father, join in on the adventure. (PHOTOS: SHAYLENE TODD)
typical Belizean caye trip fare of breakfast burrito and fresh fruit to start the day and a stewed chicken lunch accompanied by yellow rice and coleslaw for when the second wave of hunger hit. The ice cold Belikins and Fantas flowed freely. I learned that watching for birds settling on the surface of the sea is a telltale sign of tuna underneath, as we trolled within the general use zone of the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve where just the day prior, they’d spotted a whale shark and a sperm whale! Suddenly, and what would be the first of many times, there was a whirring sound and random shouts of “FISH ON!” Everyone moved at once. The Blue Reef team instructed me to sit in the chair at the back and start reeling in the line while each of them efficiently reeled in everything else. The neon green high visibility line made it easy to track my progress, and it wasn’t long before
they’d gaffed a rather large barracuda hooked to my line, and I felt like a fishing pro. There was a grand moment for my victory pic and then immediate shouts of “Lines back in!”... and so the day progressed!
are outfitted for diving. We were three divers onboard with one goal in mind: spearing some Lionfish! The deceptively beautiful menaces to our reef are the only fish you can legally spear while wearing a tank here in Belize, and you’re encouraged One of the unique things to kill as many as possible! about Blue Reef Adventures Non-indigenous to the area is that they are equally as and without any known natequipped to give you a great See BLUE REEF ADVENTURE on fishing experience as they page 28.
Polly Alford strikes and collects a lionfish during a dive. As a passionate advocate for reef conservation, Polly published a lionfish cookbook to build more awareness on the need to eliminate the exotic and menacing fish from the Atlantic. (PHOTO: SHAYLENE TODD)
