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The husband and I are headed to Belize in late August. We may get our open water certification while we are out there if we can get it all organized.
I am wondering if anyone can recommend dive shops in Ambergris based on their experience.
I've done the online searches and checked out all the ones listed on the PADI website. Should I just assume they are all good? I have no idea how to tell.
Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love deeply, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile.
Not everyone who reads SB is looking to learn how best to use their new snorkel. Some are here just hoping to get the chance to tell someone else exactly what they can do with their new snorkel. While others are trying to sell their old snorkel. (gypsyjim)
We used Ecologic Divers for our AOW cert. We enjoyed our time with them. It kind of sucked wasting valuable vaction time reading a manual in our room. You might consider getting certified before you get there or at least doing the class work with an instructor at home followed by a referral.
We dove with Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection a couple of years ago and they were fantastic. They're not on Ambergris but you can stay with them at their lodge (which they didn't have when we dove with them) or in Belize City at the Radisson and they'll come pick you up at the hotel's dock. They were a lot of fun to dive with. No matter who you dive with, I would suggest to get certified before you go.
I got my OW with Glover's Atoll Resort ( http://www.glovers.com.bz/index.html ) and had a great time both getting certified and staying on the island. It's not Ambergris Caye, but it sounds like maybe you don't have your plans made yet so I thought I'd throw it out there. The diving in the Atoll area is pristine, I was completely spoiled.
Amigos del Mar is well-run, professional, and very popular (which also means big and busy). Ecologic is smaller, top drawer, and touts the fact that its staff is salaried and they carry lots of insurance. Patojo's is local, small, yet professional, and you can bargain for your rate per tank if you do enough dives with them. Their instruction is usually by an American lady, can't remember her name right now, but it's very one on one, and she is very attentive to her students. I'll take Patojo's (personal opinion). These ops are all within about 100 yards of each other.
Make sure you have a back-up plan.
Over the last year or so, at least 1 &
maybe 2 Dive Ops were up for sale.
Then removed from market.
Presumably they have been sold.
Also consider getting certified befor going.
This way you can spend even more time in the water.
Have a great trip either way.
I know it's become normal for people to use the web and make all their own travel plans, but I have found that there are many advantages to going through a travel agent that specializes in dive travel. I use South Pacific Island Travel in Seattle WA. (I know the name says South Pacific, but they know the Caribbean, too.) Their number is 1-877-773-4846.
They know things like what operations have been bought/sold lately. Which ones their customers liked/didn't like. Believe me, they definitely keep track of what operations their customers like because that gets them repeat business, too.
Also, a while back, there was talk that regular travel agents couldn't get the kind of prices that the web-travel agencies (i.e. expedia.com) could get. But that is not necessarily true any more. I've found that I get very good prices through the traditional travel agents. I know, because I frequently have expedia or travelocity up on my screen while I am talking to the travel agent.
But what I like best is being able to call someone up and just talk to them about what I want to do and have someone who can make suggestions for me to consider.
(no I have no connection to, or any vested interest in any travel agency)
Amigos Del Mar was very professional, they had bigger boats so better if you are thinking of doing Turneffe or Blue Hole out of Ambergris. For doing closer runs to sites right on the barrier reef Belize Diving Adventures was great. They are a smaller low-key op and Everett and Enes were very friendly.
I dove with Amigos del Mar in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. I didn't take any training with them but I was impressed with their operation. You leave all your gear on the dock so you don't have to sherpa stuff back to the room. They have a night watchman and I had no problems with gear that I left with them. They were very helpful, most courteous and went out of their way to met your requests.
I noticed an earlier post talking about the Blue Hole and Turneffe. Those are all day trips and will cost you extra. In addition, I believe the Blue Hole is about a 130 foot dive. If you are just getting you basic open water certification, it might be prudent to wait a while and sharpen your bouyancy skills before you attempt a dive like that.
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