Heading to Belize May 5 - 13, 2012

[garydemos]

Hi All,
I'm fairly new to the forum and have been reading a lot of the posts lately to learn more about diving. I was lucky enough to get my first 6 ocean dives in at Grand Cayman a couple weeks ago, and my next trip (due to my youngest daughter's destination wedding) is to Belize. I have booked the first 3 nights at Paradise Villas by San Pedro and would like to dive on Sunday the 6th. Is it possible to get 4 dives in with any of the dive shops there? I will be going solo on this day.

After that we head inland and do some ruins and jungle hikes and then head to Hopkins a couple days before the wedding at Hopkins (Jeanies Jungle by the Sea). I would also like to get some dives in on Friday May 11th - I have the whole day for diving and there will be about 5 of us. Any recommendations for dive shops and whatever else would be greatly appreciated.

Also - should i book the dives as far in advance as possible?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Steve Egner]

Hi All,
After that we head inland and do some ruins and jungle hikes and then head to Hopkins a couple days before the wedding at Hopkins (Jeanies Jungle by the Sea). I would also like to get some dives in on Friday May 11th - I have the whole day for diving and there will be about 5 of us. Any recommendations for dive shops and whatever else would be greatly appreciated.

Also - should i book the dives as far in advance as possible?

Thanks,
Gary

Well, when you get to Hopkins, slip off for a few dives with Hopkins Divers, out of the Hamanasi Resort. No one will notice you're missing... : )

They're located just South of the village, and run a very safe and professional operation, with two large, comfortable boats. Dive options include the barrier reef, Glover's Reef, Blue Hole, Lighthouse, and more. Ask about the Lionfish hunting option, and give my regards to DM's Terrill, Sam, and Elvis while you're there. Drop in to Hamanasi's main office, and sign up for whatever days you have available. Calling ahead might be a good plan too. The Dive Shop manager, Toby Truelove, posts on this forum, so scheduling should be pretty simple.

I posted reviews of Hopkins Divers and our experience in the village... they're all on the second page of this forum: Belize Diving, parts 2 & 3, Hopkins, etc.

Have a wonderful trip,

Steve

 

[peterbj7]

Assuming they have other divers, your best choice near Paradise Villas is Reef Adventures. Others quite close include Chuck 'n Robbies to the north, and Ecologic and Amigos del Mar to the south. But I'd try Reef Adventures first.

 

[garydemos]

Thanks Steve and Peter for the info. I think I'll book a 4-tank dive with Reef Adventures - I found their site and nice ratings on TravelAdvisor. I'll look into Hopkins Divers as well and tell them you said hey Steve.

 

[AWMIII]

Thanks Steve and Peter for the info. I think I'll book a 4-tank dive with Reef Adventures - I found their site and nice ratings on TravelAdvisor. I'll look into Hopkins Divers as well and tell them you said hey Steve.

4 Tanks in a day off San Pedro would be tough without nitrox. Almost every dive is at least 60ft unless you go to Hol Chan and that woudl get old after the second dive there.

 

[garydemos]

Hmmm - I was hoping to get some 40 - 60ft dives in - especially since my daughter and her husband will be with me and this will be their first dive after certification. That's nearly my situation as well - my only ocean experience is Grand Cayman where I did 6 dives.

 

[AWMIII]

Hmmm - I was hoping to get some 40 - 60ft dives in - especially since my daughter and her husband will be with me and this will be their first dive after certification. That's nearly my situation as well - my only ocean experience is Grand Cayman where I did 6 dives.

40-60 is totally doable. Here is the issue. 60ft for 45 minutes and an hour SI gives you 50ft for 44 minutes NDC. At that point, you are pretty saturated. I don't have my tables or computer in the office, but another dive to 50ft is going to be really short even after an hour of SI. That is all on air. You could probably do two morning dives and a night dive at Hol Chan.

All of the diving with the exception of Hol Chan is outside of the reef. I would need to look at my log book to see the shallowest dive that we have done there, but i think it was right around 50ft and it was only one spot. Maybe Tuffy? I recall that there was a lot of surge at that depth. My point is that on air it is really hard to do more than 2 dives a day off of AC due to the depth. If you are newly certified, let the dive shop know and they will start with easy dives. I would almost bet they take you to Hol Chan to evaluate your skills. Most of the dives outside of the reef are done as drift dives where you are picked up at the end of the dive. The only tough part about this is that you will do your safety stop in space rather than on a rope. That is not a big deal, but I have done some as a deco stop where our bouyancy was important. That only happend a couple time when stretching a second dive of the day.

A 60ft dive is kind of the norm.

 

[garydemos]

Truly appreciate the info AWM. I will do some more research on this and talk with Capt. Don at Reef Adventures. I did 4 dives in one day at Grand Cayman. The first one went down to 110'. The second to 60'. After lunch, did another down to 80' and then the 4th at around 50'. I really didn't pay much attention and just trusted the DM. Believe me - after reading up on this forum I have completly reconsidered my non-chalaunt attitude and am going to take much more personal responsibility for future dives.

 

[AWMIII]

Truly appreciate the info AWM. I will do some more research on this and talk with Capt. Don at Reef Adventures. I did 4 dives in one day at Grand Cayman. The first one went down to 110'. The second to 60'. After lunch, did another down to 80' and then the 4th at around 50'. I really didn't pay much attention and just trusted the DM. Believe me - after reading up on this forum I have completly reconsidered my non-chalaunt attitude and am going to take much more personal responsibility for future dives.

Either get a computer or rent one. Short of that use the tables. There is a reason that AC is one of the few places with a chamber. The dives there do not tend to be multi-level. They are not that deep, but on repetitive dives on air, you can get into deco/trouble pretty easily. If you really want to do 4 dives there get nitrox training. The dives off of AC are right in the sweet spot for nitrox.

 

[diverrex]

Either get a computer or rent one. Short of that use the tables. There is a reason that AC is one of the few places with a chamber. The dives there do not tend to be multi-level. They are not that deep, but on repetitive dives on air, you can get into deco/trouble pretty easily. If you really want to do 4 dives there get nitrox training. The dives off of AC are right in the sweet spot for nitrox.

Funny, we went on our first trip to Belize after certification and it was all the multi-level dives we did that convinced me that I needed a computer because tables just didn't measure the dives we were doing.