question on renting equipment in Belize

[bowyorang]

My family and I are going on a mission trip in a week to Belize but we are going a couple days early to enjoy the islands and a scuba trip.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how the rental equipment is there? We will more than likely be diving with Belize Diving Services. I do have my own equipment and I'm considering taking it but the cost would be about the same considering the cost of an additional check bag. I would then have to worry with hauling it along on the mission trip for the next week all for one day of diving. Thoughts?
Also, my 13yr old son who has been padi certified for a couple years now will be diving with me and since he is only a junior diver, the dive service suggested that I hire an instructor to dive with us for between $200-$300 since he can't go below 40' without one. They said the only thing he could do otherwise is stay above everyone else on the wall dives and wouldn't be able to do any reef dives. Thoughts?
Thanks for any input you can offer!

 

[DeputyDan]

We did not go to Ho Chan which I understand is shallower but every dive we did while staying on Ambergris Caye was at least 65 feet deep.
May have been the fact that everyone was experienced.... don't know about that!

 

[Jim-SAR]

You say that you're wanting to enjoy the islands and a scuba trip. Which island are you going to?

I just came back from a week on Ambergris Caye, and the diving along the barrier reef there is excellent. We used Action Divers for our diving, and had a great experience with them. You can contact them here (info@actiondiversbelize.com). My nieces/nephews used their rental gear and everything was in good shape and we didn't have any issues at all. Here's a link to my review on our trip. We had dives from easy 25' reefs to 120' reef canyons, depending on whether the dives were inside/outside of the barrier reef.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/be...res-ambergris-caye-my-review-endorsement.html

When I read your comment about Belize Diving Services wanting $200-$300 for a Divemaster/Instructor, that threw up a HUGE red flag to me. Charging to have a DM/Inst with you on a dive is rediculous, especially when they "should" know that a 13 year old does NOT require a dive professional.

A PADI Junior OWD, 12-14 years old, is only required to be with a OWD Certified Adult. If the Junior OWD is under 13 years old, then they have to dive with either a OWD Certified Parent, or a Dive Professional (DM, INST, etc).

Action Divers had a Divemaster (Blinky) in the water with us on each dive, or Roberto (Owner) would join us. They showed us where to find/see the interesting stuff. We paid for the dive trips, but we never paid for a DM to be with us, nor was a payment ever requested, even though we had four newly certified divers (12-15 years old) that were experiencing their first dives after getting their certification. Roberto/Blinky cared for the kids just as we did.

No matter what operator you decide to use, you owe it to yourself to contact some other shops and compare. I think Belize Diving Services is trying to score some money off of you. If you feel like your son needs a refresher course, then that would cost some, but not $200 or above. In the Florida Keys, a half day refresher class including rental gear and the instructor, is only $75 (Rainbow Reef). Also, you'll need to verify if the cost is given in US Dollars, or Belizian, since the USD price is half of the BZD price.

Good Luck! :cool2:

Oh yeah, W.P.S. !!!

 

[bowyorang]

Thanks Jim. I will check them out and send an email. I had heard before that a junior open water couldn't go more than 40' which is why I contacted them and they said it was correct. I'm sure the group would have a dive master with them but they said I would have to hire one just for ourselves in order for us to go as deep as the main group, otherwise we would only be able to go to the atoll sites and stay less than the 40'.
I'm going to contact the other dive service as well. Thanks for the tip!
We will be staying on Ceye Caulker.

 

[diversteve]

Try Frenchies also. They're the other shop on Caye Caulker. Frenchies Diving, Caye Caulker, Belize