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What area of Belize offers the best dive sites? North end, south end...cayes...which cayes?? Thanks.
The Atolls are by far the best . Day trips from the cayes are how a lot of folks get there. The few hotels on the cayes are not in towns and isolated, but some prefer that.
I like a little night life and a choice of restaurants that staying on the atolls wont allow.
The atolls are the best diving, as Bubba said.
The north is more...I forget the term used...cut and groove? Ridges with canyons and sandy bottoms in between. And in the north you have the advantage of the reef being in view of your hotel, plus the night life.
The south is more like the atolls as far as more wall diving. Placencia is the only place with any night life but it's a long ride out to the reef to dive every day. Like 20 miles.
Other options in the south are smaller cayes with resorts. Tobacco Caye, Southwater Caye, Thatch Caye. Thatch is really nice because it's close to the mainland (20 minute boat ride) and day trips to rivers and Mayan ruins. But it's also within 2 miles of the barrier reef and really nice diving. However, the only night life there is the bar and the coatamundies...which is fine by me.
Do both...north and party and south to relax and enjoy other parts of the country.
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so I sez' to the DM, as I peered over the side of the boat while strapping on my bp wing and over sized beer can, "but...don't we need current to drift dive"?
'Spur and Grove'
Its a way the reef grows using erosion to its advantage.
sorry, sometimes its hard to turn off the instructor thing. :-) CORAL REEFS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT
From Thatch Caye, we do all three atolls and Gladden's Spit for the whale sharks in March, April, and May. Our reef here is wall diving for most of our dives and we have great fish and coral life. My personal favorite spots for diving are Lighthouse Reef, the South Water Caye walls, and Glover's Reef.
If you are looking for a total package i would look at Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker. You can dive the Barrier Reef, Canyon style spur and groove formations. And the take a day excursion for a 3 tank dive to the Blue hole, then 2 great wall dives. Both Cayes have more going on in the terms of food and night life with Ambergris having more selection as it is larger.
Most dives on the reef are drift dives without current. you descend at 45' and then swim to your depth profile going east to the end of the reef, then you turn north or south and follow the edge until it is time to do your safety stop, Where by you will work your way back to shallower water to surface and the boat will pick you up. Each dive site has different marine life to see, you will not be disappointed.
All that being said on a rating scale the barrier reef is 7.5 and the atoll is 9.0 Which ever way you go we have great diving.
Just loved Ambergris Caye...lots of good dives to be seen off the island...We enjoyed Blue Hole but getting out to Lighthouse reef for a meal and some land exploration was awesome too.
There is some "nighlife" in Ambergris which consists of a few bars and the Jaguar club but overall its just a fun, laid-back island with great natural beauty and very amicable people.
Although I'm based on Ambergris Caye I just visited Thatch Caye in the mid-south and was very impressed. Wonderful wall diving including all three atolls nearby - see my separate report.
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Protech Belize Dive Centre
(now at Spindrift Hotel, San Pedro)
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