Utila vs Belize or other ideas?

Hi there,
I am new to the board and looking forward to do some diving in in the Caribbean. I did all my dives in the Red Sea, Maldives, Thailand and Malysia. So therefore I am absolutely inexperienced about the Caribbean Dive spots. I want to see mainly big fishes (Sharks, Manta, Whaleshark etc.) and also good visibility is surely on of my topics. Trough this board I read all about the spots near Utila and Belize and the Liveaboards of Aggressor and PH. What would you recommend me to do?

Thanks in advance for all posts from you. Wish you good dives and lots of fun.

Swiss Icebear:

Hi there,
I am new to the board and looking forward to do some diving in in the Caribbean. I did all my dives in the Red Sea, Maldives, Thailand and Malysia. So therefore I am absolutely inexperienced about the Caribbean Dive spots. I want to see mainly big fishes (Sharks, Manta, Whaleshark etc.) and also good visibility is surely on of my topics. Trough this board I read all about the spots near Utila and Belize and the Liveaboards of Aggressor and PH. What would you recommend me to do?

Thanks in advance for all posts from you. Wish you good dives and lots of fun.

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The Caribbean has big animals but you aren't guaranteed to see them as often as in Pacific. Sharks can be seen year-round in Bahamas and Turks & Caicos liveaboards. Belize liveaboards see them regularly but not in as big numbers. Utila liveaboard has a whaleshark season (March-May I think) where you might see one as they are there in the area during that timeframe, but no guarantees. I have never seen a manta in Caribbean, I have seen reports where they have been sighted but very very rarely.

BUT all that said, diving in the Caribbean is great, just different from what you have experienced before. Visibility is waaay better in the Caribbean in most locations, especially those visited by liveaboards (Bahamas, Belize, Turks & Caicos have water like glass). Any of those 3 locations would probably guarantee you some big animals (sharks, turtles, dolphins). I have done 2 liveaboard trips to Bahamas outer islands on the Nekton and we saw sharks and turtles every day, and got to play with wild dolphins one day on the Cay Sal Bank trip. I have heard fabulous things about both the Belize and Turks & Caicos liveaboard trips. I would recommend ANY of those 3 locations for you.
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my video from Nekton trip in 2006 (my first time with my video rig):


my video from Nekton trip 2008:
[vimeo]983961[/vimeo]

robin

Hi Robint
Thank you very much for your reply. The clips are great! I will thinking about changing plans.

Icebear,
Robin is 100% correct. I make my plans to these places based on ease of travel and likely hood that my gear will show up on the same plane. Coming from Switzerland my order of priority would be Bahamas (Closer and should be able to get on a transatlantic flight with bigger cargo holds), Belize ( Fly into Miami then 737 to Belize) Utila, never been there and here is the reason, from my understanding you fly into Roatan and then have to take a puddle jumper which is weight restricted. Your baggage may show up the next day. But any of these places is great. One not mentioned was Androus Island, pristine reef, sharks, Blue Hole dives both fresh and saltwater. Downside: no live-aboard, stay at Small Hope Bay Resort, take a ferry from Nassau, Bahamas and there is NOTHING to do on this island but dive, no nightlife and no great restaurants.

robint:

Visibility is waaay better in the Caribbean in most locations, especially those visited by liveaboards (Bahamas, Belize, Turks & Caicos have water like glass). Any of those 3 locations would probably guarantee you some big animals (sharks, turtles, dolphins).
robin

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I'm not sure about the accuracy of the information above. What is meant by "most locations". I've been to Fiji, Indonesia, Micronesia and Tahiti and found visibility to be equal or better than Belize and Turks and Caicos. Obviously it all depends on where you go, the weather, the time of year and a dozen other factors. I've been to Belize 3 times on liveaboards and saw maybe 4 turtles and 8 sharks in total during my 3 visits. Again, it all depends. I would hardly " probably guarantee" anyone would see those things. In my two visits to Turks and Caicos (1 liveaboard and one land based), I did see lots of sharks on virtually every dive but I still wouldn't "probably guarantee" sightings. In the caribbean, I've seen dolphins in the distance many times but have never been lucky enough to be in the water with them.

I personally would dive the pacific everytime if I had the time and money. I always recommend the pacific to others if they can afford the time and money. My reading and study seems to indicate that the diversity of coral and fish is much higher in the pacific. The chances of seeing the things the original poster wanted to see are more likely at many locations in the Pacific.

I personally have seen more large animals in the Pacific in two or three weeks than I've seen in the 60 or 70 weeks I've spent in the Atlantic and Caribbean. I love Utila and recommend it for training and even regular diving because it's cheap. It's a great value. Yes, they have whale sharks and I was lucky enough to see "ONE". They are there during certain times of the year but sightings are relatively rare even then. You cannot dive with them - only snorkel.

Anyone wanting good vis and great chance of seeing large animals combined should look to the pacific in my opinion. (never been to South America however). Diving in the Atlantic and Caribbean is fun and worth while as long as your expectations are set correctly.

If you want to see big animals (mantas and whalesharks pretty much every day of the week) try diving in Tofo in Mozambique.

Thank you very much for all your inputs. I stick with Honduras and focus Roatan right now. But a short trip to Belize isn't going out of my mind. I saw Portofino just a few miles out of San Pedro and wonder if somebody is giving me a quick learning about the resort and mostly the waters out there. Thanks for any further informations...