tejasdiver
Contributor
Booked my first trip to belize in Feb, now to decide Ambergris or Caye Caulker ??
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scubasaurus94
Contributor
Hi there. While I've never been to Caye Caulker, I can highly recommend Ambergris. There are a lot of good restaurants there, including a strip of restaurants that are all along a nice beach, easily walkable. There are also restaurants and other shops in town, and they're fun to explore. Which resorts are you considering?
driftwood
Contributor
The diving will be better at Ambergirs. They still do a lot of fishing off Caulker.
We just got back from a vacation in October and here are some of the lessons learned.
First, buy a 5 gallon jug of water. The deposit is $12.5 US but you get that back. Saves you a lot of money by filling your own bottles.
Two, most of the really neat stuff is on the top of the reefs, not deep in the canyons.
Three, no one on the island seems to be able to get decent beef. Get used to chicken and fish for protein.
Four, a snorkel tour of Hol Chan is worth the time. Seems to be used mostly as a training area for divers, but I would have liked to explore the area.
Five, stay as close to the center of town as possible. We stayed at Paradise Villas and liked it. Right on the ocean, easy walking distance to most of San Pedro and decently priced. Note that there are two different property management companies when you do a search, both are good.
Six, we did most of our dives with Ecologic. I will not use that shop again. Island Divers has a better operation.
Seven, the one restaurant we visited multiple times was Waraguma on Middle Street. Really good food at a nontourist price.
Eight, resist the temptation to rent a golf cart to see the rest of the island. Pretty much a waste of time.
Hope you have as good a time as we did!
Edit
Nine, we used Tropic Air to get from Belize City to San Pedro. Found out that the copilot's seat was open to passengers, grab it if you can. Also, keep close tabs on your luggage tickets, they really do check them when you retrieve your bags. Great operation and I highly recommend them.
We just got back from a vacation in October and here are some of the lessons learned.
First, buy a 5 gallon jug of water. The deposit is $12.5 US but you get that back. Saves you a lot of money by filling your own bottles.
Two, most of the really neat stuff is on the top of the reefs, not deep in the canyons.
Three, no one on the island seems to be able to get decent beef. Get used to chicken and fish for protein.
Four, a snorkel tour of Hol Chan is worth the time. Seems to be used mostly as a training area for divers, but I would have liked to explore the area.
Five, stay as close to the center of town as possible. We stayed at Paradise Villas and liked it. Right on the ocean, easy walking distance to most of San Pedro and decently priced. Note that there are two different property management companies when you do a search, both are good.
Six, we did most of our dives with Ecologic. I will not use that shop again. Island Divers has a better operation.
Seven, the one restaurant we visited multiple times was Waraguma on Middle Street. Really good food at a nontourist price.
Eight, resist the temptation to rent a golf cart to see the rest of the island. Pretty much a waste of time.
Hope you have as good a time as we did!
Edit
Nine, we used Tropic Air to get from Belize City to San Pedro. Found out that the copilot's seat was open to passengers, grab it if you can. Also, keep close tabs on your luggage tickets, they really do check them when you retrieve your bags. Great operation and I highly recommend them.
I went to caye caulker and totally loved it, it is more a relaxed type deal, no real roads, lotts of reggae, great parties.
If you're going solely for diving the I quess Ambergris but if the time out of the water is a big consideration too then I would defintately head towards Caye Caulker, I went there is a backpacker on my own with dive gear and straight away made a bunch of friends and had a wild time as well as some exceptional diving, I can not wait to get back there one day!!
If you're going solely for diving the I quess Ambergris but if the time out of the water is a big consideration too then I would defintately head towards Caye Caulker, I went there is a backpacker on my own with dive gear and straight away made a bunch of friends and had a wild time as well as some exceptional diving, I can not wait to get back there one day!!
OP
tejasdiver
Contributor
I am pretty happy with two dives a day, and maybe a day off from diving. Seems like lodging is cheaper on Caye Caulker, but the cost of diving is less on Ambergris, so I guess it would work out to about the same.
I like smaller hotels, maybe something with a little kitchenette.
I like smaller hotels, maybe something with a little kitchenette.
scubasaurus94
Contributor
Agreed!
I just returned from Ambergris Caye and the diving was awsome. You can not go wrong using Amigos Delmar they did a super job of taking care of our diving needs.
Downing
Contributor
Both?
Assuming you're just here for a week (most people are) then pick one but don't try to go to both. From here you'd get excellent local diving on the northern part of the Barrier Reef, from Caye Caulker you would come up here some of the time and go south to places like Sergeant's Caye the rest of the time, with much longer boat trips than from here. Trips to Lighthouse and Turneffe Atolls would be shorter and cheaper from Caye Caulker. It's a myth that it's cheaper to stay on and dive from Caye Caulker though - there are cheap places on Ambergris Caye as well.
If you're here for two weeks of diving then I might try to do one week up here and the other in the Southwater Caye Marine reserve. From here you could take excursions to the two northern atolls and from the SWCMR area you could cover Glover's.
If you're here for two weeks of diving then I might try to do one week up here and the other in the Southwater Caye Marine reserve. From here you could take excursions to the two northern atolls and from the SWCMR area you could cover Glover's.
OP
tejasdiver
Contributor
I will only be staying a week, I found some pretty good rates at Hotel Del Rio on Ambergris. Says they are located near San Pedro River? Since I have never been to the island, not sure if that is somewhat close to town?
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