Hello all! I am shopping around for a BC as well and even asked this same question about the Bella on another site. Here is my two cents.
The latest recommendations from Scuba Diving Magazine seemed to favor the ScubaPro Ladyhawk, so I went to my local LDS to try one on. A lady who worked there was emphatic about buying the ScubaPro Bella over the Ladyhawk. She told me she would NEVER buy the Ladyhawk or one like it because it was a back-inflated BC which would push me face down into the water when I was on the surface. That sounded very unpleasant, so I tried on the Bella. First, I found it surprising heavy and bulky. Packability is important to me as well, and I could see this taking up A LOT of space in my luggage. Moreover, I felt like I was wearing an inner tube! I decided to leave it and try another store.
I was lucky enough to find another store in my area that was run by a woman. She is the owner, an instructor and Dive Master, and she is even roughly my height and size (I am 6 feet, 138 lbs). She gave me invaluable advice about gear that would work for me and even brought up her BC from the store room so I could try it on. It turns out that she wears a Zeagle Zena, which is a back-inflated BC. She completely scoffed at the idea that back-inflated BCs push you face down at the surface and showed me how the design on the Zena would work against that (the weight pockets are low and toward the back). She has been wearing it for 6+ years over hundreds of dives and it still performs brilliantly. I was very happy when I tried it on. It is MUCH lighter and streamlined than the Bella, so I am going to get the Zena.
Long story, short, what works for someone else may not work for you. I would definitely go to some dive shops and try on BCs for yourself. Best of luck!
