Belize, any advice ?

[vladimir]

I will second the suggestions to do a liveaboard or stay at Turneffe Island Resort. The better diving is out on the atolls, so you'll want to spare yourself the long boat rides (or mediocre diving) from the mainland.

 

[islanddream]

We are headed to Belizefor the first time in July and staying at The Seven Seas Resort on Ambergris Caye. We're staying there because we did a timeshare exchange thru RCI. After doing research on ScubaBoard and Trip Advisor, I decide to dive with Reef Adventures. Cap'n Ron has been very responsive to my emails, we got a great dive package, and he's given me much information about the diving. We might take a long boat ride out to one of the atolls....haven't decided yet....but will check it out after arriving. I think several of the scuba shops gather up their clients and put them all on one boat so as to make the trip affordable. Probably won't do the Blue Hole since it seems to be over-priced and underrated.

 

[peterbj7]

As others have said, we can't make suggestions until we know a bit more about what you want -your priorities and preferences - and what you want to pay. For a "blind" first visit I'd probably pick Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) and dive with one of the many operations here. My personal preference would be Island Divers in San Pedro, but the other operations mentioned here are also excellent. Most operations here are very good, but they have different styles and what works well for one person may not be so good for another.

More information please. In particular, would you call yourselves experienced (and current) divers, or would you still appreciate some handholding. Do you regard your buddy as there to help you if necessary, or as someone you'll have to look out for and be prepared to help?

 

[vladimir]

Probably won't do the Blue Hole since it seems to be over-priced and underrated.

ScubaBoarders like to talk the Blue Hole down...kind of a "been there, done that, no big deal" thing, it seems. The best reason not to do the Blue Hole is because it might not be safe, especially on an AL80 tank. A properly trained and equipped diver should definitely check it out—it is cool and unique. I'd compare it to Jellyfish Lake in Palau in that respect: definitely worth seeing if you're in he neighborhood, but no need to do it twice. The trip to the Blue Hole usually includes dives on Lighthouse Reef, which are quite nice.

 

[Doubler]

Depends are you going on vacation or a dive vacation? I state this because on the land based "vacation" you will usually get 2 maybe 3 dives a day and pay extra for a night dive if you have enough people interested. You have to break your gear down after each dive and carry it ashore each night. You may have a choice of restaurants and other establishments. On a "dive vacation" I would pick a liveaboard. Set gear up when you get aboard and break it down at the end of the week. Offered five dives a day including a night dive even if you are the only one that wants to go and all meals except Friday night. Price is a wash. At first glance liveaboards appear to cost a little more but if you were to pay for five dives a day including a night dive everyday, a land resort would be the same or maybe a little more for the week. If you decide land based skip the Blue Hole. It is not worth the hour plus boat ride for a skip dive to 130 in a dark cold hole with very limited vis, I'd skip it on a liveaboard also but that is just me.

 

[Downing]

This thread is started to head towards another "To Blue Hole Or Not To Blue Hole" debate. We had a long and spirited one here a couple of years ago with what I thought to be very valid points on both sides.

In other words, I wouldn't be too quick to rule it out or in without giving it a lot of thought first. If nothing else, the other diving in the area which you would do on the same trip regardless of whether you're based in AC, one of the atoll resorts, a liveaboard or even as far south as Placencia, is universally agreed upon to be fantastic.

 

[electrix]

We just finished our first live aboard a couple of weeks ago on the Belize Aggressor III I don't know how it could have been better, wake up have breakfast go diving comeback have a snack and then go diving come back have lunch then go diving come back have a snack then go diving come back have dinner then go diving come back have hot chocolate relax with a keg of Belikin or wine, then sleep wake up repeat. Great food hot showers on the dive platform and a hot towel waiting for you and the diving was great.

 

[peterbj7]

My best liveaboards have had up to 7 dives a day. In fact, one I did at Tiran in the Red Sea had 7 dives every day, with the first 3 or 4 being extremely deep (the crowd was pretty technical and experienced).

In shore based diving as we do it in Belize, you don't have to do anything other than turn up and dive. Your gear is assembled on the boat for you, tanks are changed for you, and at the end of the day the gear is stripped down and rinsed before being stored at the dive shop. Nonetheless, I wouldn't recommend people do more than 4 dives in any day, and 2 or 3 on several of them.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

I agree. We've stayed on Ambergris Caye and Glovers Atoll. Very different experiences. Ambergris had more life and bars & restaurants, Glovers was better diving.

Think about going to Placencia. We dive Glovers regularly from Placencia plus barrier reef and Blue Hole plus have a lot of great restaurants and bars plus plus close by access to lots of inland adventures (zipline, river tubing, Maya ruins, Cockscomb Wildlife Santuary (largest Jaugar preserve on this planet), jungle hiking ,etc. Get the best of Abergris and Glovers plus more!!!
Regards
Ralph

 

[ronscuba]

Belize liveaboard is the best diving I have done in the Caribbean.