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Central AmericaGet the scoop on where to go, where to stay and who to dive with in this region encompassing countries from Belize, Honduras and the Bay Islands, both coasts of Costa Rica, heading south to Panama.
Please note: The last reply in this thread was more than 19 month(s) ago.
I was in Belieze at the end of January on a cruise with my wife, and didn't have enough time on the island to book my own dives, so I tried the one being sold on the ship.
I didn't have high expectations, since Carnival's dives usually consist of 40 minutes of staring at a dead reef through cloudy water, but since I didn't have much of a choice, I figured even a bad dive is better than no dive.
The dives were with Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection, and I'd like to take this opportunity to give them a big round of applause!
Even though they had a boat full of 20 or so Carnival Cruise Passengers (including myself) they didn't just dump everybody and say "Be back in an hour" like I've seen in a number of other places.
They took the time to make small groups of divers according to their ability and air-hoovering probability so everybody had the best dives possible.
We got to stay under as long as our air held out, and had a great time. The water was crystal clear and the reef was in great shape. Besides pointing out interesting creatures, our DM even took the time to write their names on a dive slate (unfortunately, I don't remember most of the names )
I saw tons of critters including hundreds of brilliant yellow and purple fish (two different kinds), a really cool eel with lots of very sharp teeth and several really large rays, which look like they just escaped form a sci-fi movie.
I can't wait to get back there to dive again (maybe this time I can stay for a week instead of a day).
Keep up the great work guys! You completely blew my expectations out of the water.
I was in Belieze at the end of January on a cruise with my wife, and didn't have enough time on the island to book my own dives, so I tried the one being sold on the ship.
I didn't have high expectations, since Carnival's dives usually consist of 40 minutes of staring at a dead reef through cloudy water, but since I didn't have much of a choice, I figured even a bad dive is better than no dive.
The dives were with Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection, and I'd like to take this opportunity to give them a big round of applause!
Even though they had a boat full of 20 or so Carnival Cruise Passengers (including myself) they didn't just dump everybody and say "Be back in an hour" like I've seen in a number of other places.
They took the time to make small groups of divers according to their ability and air-hoovering probability so everybody had the best dives possible.
We got to stay under as long as our air held out, and had a great time. The water was crystal clear and the reef was in great shape. Besides pointing out interesting creatures, our DM even took the time to write their names on a dive slate (unfortunately, I don't remember most of the names )
I saw tons of critters including hundreds of brilliant yellow and purple fish (two different kinds), a really cool eel with lots of very sharp teeth and several really large rays, which look like they just escaped form a sci-fi movie.
I can't wait to get back there to dive again (maybe this time I can stay for a week instead of a day).
Keep up the great work guys! You completely blew my expectations out of the water.
What a coincidence. I work on the Norwegian Wind and the manager of the Shore Excursions dept. and a diver just went last week to dive with Hugh Parkey's to check them out for future excursions and they had the same response you did. I will relay your feedback to the other guys and we'll probably be using them soon. Glad you enjoyed it!
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"If people were Superior to Animals, they'd take better care of the world." -Winnie the Pooh
"What we must do is encourage a sea change in attitude, one that acknowledges we are a part of the living world, not apart from it." -Sylvia Earle
What a coincidence. I work on the Norwegian Wind and the manager of the Shore Excursions dept. and a diver just went last week to dive with Hugh Parkey's to check them out for future excursions and they had the same response you did. I will relay your feedback to the other guys and we'll probably be using them soon. Glad you enjoyed it!
If he keeps this up, he'll be the biggest employer in the area 8-).
BTW, his rental gear looks like it's about a week old, and is all good stuff.
That isn't the experience that I had with Hugh Parkey, just over a month ago. I must have had the same DM as you with the dive slate, and liked that. We went to Turneffe Atoll and did some nice dives, the reef system is in great shape. We had a very strict multilevel dive, 20 minutes at 60 feet and don't go any deeper, then 20 minutes at 40 feet and then we are doing a safety stop. I showed the DM I had 1/2 a tank of air left and wanted to stay down, and he motioned that everyone needs to go up, and that was for both dives and really thought that it sucked.
We dove with Hugh Parkey back in 2004 while we were in Belize on the Carnival Conquest cruise. We also had a great experience and felt it was worth the money going through the ship. The pickup from the ship was really convenient, the boat was clean and roomy, lunch was great, and the diving was fun and relaxing. We had brought my stepdaughter and friend along on the trip and they had a great time with the DM who showed them all the critters.
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