Belize cruise stop; dive/snorkel options?

[Torontonian]

Hi.

My wife and I and cruising on Carnival Miracle and will be at Belize 6am-3pm Aug. 31. I plan to go diving. Wife may go snorkeling. I understand there are only two dive ops at the Belize port.

Hugh Parkey is contracted with Carnival and will pick up (many) divers at the ship (i.e. no need to tender). They are expensive (well, Carnival takes a cut)

The other choice would be Sea Sports at port. But if they don't have min. 4 divers they'll cancel. They are cheaper but not by a lot, especially after adding up gear rental.


Someone suggested one more option. This shop is not at Belize port. But rather they'll wait for you at the pier as you tender in, then take you to take a small plane to fly (1500', so fine for diving after) to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye.
http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/tours.html

I am seriously considering going with this third option with EcoTours. Being able to see the reef system from top and then dive it, sounds quite interesting. For snorkelers, it's quite expensive than others (because of the flight).


If anyone had experience with any of these companies, would love to hear your experience. Thanks a lot.

 

[jesstotheocean]

I went diving with Carnival in March in Belize. I couldn't image going with anyone other than the ship. You are there so little amount of time and If you make your own reservations remember that you have to tender in and that might take/waste time alot of time. It is expensive but well worth the $$, you can book it & pay for it now on carnivals website. We did 2 dives for 50 minutes each and I would pay the same price to do it again. Vis was 100+ ft, we did have a slight jelly problem that day but good thing a had a full suit on.

 

[Torontonian]

Thanks jesstotheocean.

So you went with Hugh Parkey, Carnival's contractor. They indicated they'll take you from the ship to a shop on a private island 10-12min. away to get divers fitted, then 40-50min ride to the dive site. Did you go to Truneffe island for your dives? Can you elaborate on the trip and dive experience, including what time did it all end.

It seems like the difference might be between diving at the Truneffe or near Ambergris Caye (including Ho Chan reserve).

Thanks a lot.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I HIGHLY suggest going with Hugh Parkey/Carnival in this specific case for one reason. Time. If you go with another op and something happens like a break down and you are late to get back, then you will have to pay to fly to the next stop. Carnival will not wait for you unless you have booked through them. I have worked on ships and have seen people get left behind. My wife and I used them (Hugh Parkey) while on a Carnival ship in Belize and this dive trip takes almost the entire time in port. It's a long trip to the dive sites. Don't mess around at this port. We tendered to the port and Hugh Parkey will drop you off at the ship from the dive boat once the dives are done. It may have changed, but that's how it was when we did it. They also didn't take us to Turneffe.

That said, I NEVER use the ship's op, unless I have to, because they tend to be cattle boats. Hugh Parkey is a cattle boat but I will say that it was one of the better I have used. They will break up the groups into experience levels. The boat we were on was big, new and had plenty of room. It was a nice experience but it was more expensive than the other ports and I imagine that's due to the extra travel time to the sites. If we did this again, we would skip the diving at Belize and do the cave tubing. The diving wasn't any better than at Cayman, Coz, or Roatan. Actually I would rank it as last compared to the other three in this case. Of course dive sites and conditions will vary dramatically. Have fun!

 

[Web Monkey]

Hi.

My wife and I and cruising on Carnival Miracle and will be at Belize 6am-3pm Aug. 31. I plan to go diving. Wife may go snorkeling. I understand there are only two dive ops at the Belize port.

Hugh Parkey is contracted with Carnival and will pick up (many) divers at the ship (i.e. no need to tender). They are expensive (well, Carnival takes a cut)

Hugh Parkey is a first class operation all the way. They're as good or better than any operator I've used in the US or the Carribean, with the exception of Blue XT Sea, which really isn't a fair comparison, since we had our own boat .

Although initially, you'll look at the boat and go "Oh Oh - Cattle Boat!", once you get out on the open water, you'll appreciate it's size, since it's a long ride to the the dive sites.

Once there, they'll split you up into small groups, grouped by "hoovering ability" with a DM, so the only place that has a lot of people is the boat, and the chances of having your dive cut short by a group member are reduced.

Terry

 

[Torontonian]

Thanks for all the info. I also got some more info directly from the tour ops.

Hugh Parkey has good reputation. They were responsive to my email queries. Going with them saves the tender time to Belize. But they do go a bit of a way. (10-12min to their dive shop to fit divers, then 40-50min to Turneff). They drop divers back at the ship only, no option to go to Belize. Because I also want to see Belize, it means having to tender in. They only have 63 or 80' tanks, no mixed air. Some people mentioned the long ride to Turneff was uncomfortable, but that's the "price to pay" to get to Turneff.

Ecotours arranges with Maya air's first flight 7:30am, to fly over the barrier reef. This is why you'll be able to see the actual reef before diving it. (other flights are directly to San Pedro, and sees the reef system to the east) Of course they provide transportion to airport, to the dive shop Aqua Dives on San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. The dive finishes just after noon. The snorkelers finish earlier. A little time to see/shop at San Pedro before the 1pm flight back to Belize, and they take you back to cruise terminal. This is a trip my wife and I can get to San Pedro together. She can go on the snorkel trip and see where we flew over while I go diving. They also have nitrox and 100' tank, which I like. Ecotours and Aqua were both responsive to my email queries.

Ecotours needs 3 divers or snorkelers for their (respective) trip, but had not had to cancel due to not enough people. Their dive package price includes gear rental, whereas the same price to Carnival (for Hugh Parkey) does not include rental.

If it's just me diving, both choices are good. The email responsiveness certainly good first impressions. It gives me confidence that both should provide good trips. Since I also have my wife (my dear wife), I'm leaning toward the Ecotours option. We get to see Belize by sea, air, and a little land time in Belize city.

 

[Jcsgt]

Thanks jesstotheocean.

So you went with Hugh Parkey, Carnival's contractor. They indicated they'll take you from the ship to a shop on a private island 10-12min. away to get divers fitted, then 40-50min ride to the dive site. Did you go to Truneffe island for your dives? Can you elaborate on the trip and dive experience, including what time did it all end.

It seems like the difference might be between diving at the Truneffe or near Ambergris Caye (including Ho Chan reserve).

Thanks a lot.

We did this, last December, with Carnival/Hugh Parkey. It was so convenient to have them pick us up, right off the ship.

We stopped at their little island/shop, got kitted up and headed out for Turneffe. The diving was outstanding, especially the wall. Our DM pointed out numerous noteworthy critters and even wrote down their names on a slate so we knew what we were looking at.

For me and my buddy, it was well worth the extra bucks for this excursion.