Belize Diving - Worth it?

[AllanHarr]

My wife and I have dove most of the Caribbean... Cozumel, Caymans, Bahamsas. We're looking for some new adventures. Does anyone have any opinion regarding Belize? Good diving? Moderate diving? Favorite hotel??

Thanks!

 

[peterbj7]

An awful lot of people seem to think it is. You've posted in the "Belize" sub-forum - why don't you scan the other threads here? If you're a wreck diving addict you'll be disappointed here; ditto if you like cold water diving.

As to "favourite hotel", that is so subjective it's unanswerable. If you want a cheap but still good diving holiday why don't you look at the current offer from Pedro's Hotel - Cheap Hotel San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize - pay for a week's diving and your hotel is free.

If you want to pay more, you'll need to discriminate between the different areas of diving offered here. You'll find a lot of info even in just threads from the past two weeks.

 

[Hank49]

What do you consider "good diving"?

 

[Downing]

It was a trip to Cozumel that sparked my interest in Belize. I've been to Mexico a number of times, mostly on the Pacific side, but when we were in Cozumel a few years agao I realized I could reach another country just by flying a couple hundred more miles.

I love Mexico, most of it anyway, but it's going to be a while before I return there instead of continuing south to Belize. And I doubt I'll ever visit the Pacific side again.

Even though Belize is a small country it's hard to generalize about the place. But there's lots of great diving, good hotels and adventures by the bucket load.

Btw, my definition of "good diving" is warm water, good viz and lots of aquatic life. I find wrecks not that interesting, except for the aquatic life they attract, but the only ones I've dived were intentionally sunk which I think takes some of the fun out of it.

 

[AllanHarr]

Thanks for your feedback. I probably should be just a bit more specific... We want to do some warm water diving, and are big into photography. Loved the drift diving in Coz, but just so many divers there now. I've never dove in Belize so any and all input is appreciated.

 

[peterbj7]

Good U/W photography in three areas here - the barrier reef off the northern cayes, the barrier reef well to the south of Belize in the Southwater Caye Marine Reserve, and the three atolls which probably offer the best photo opportunities. You can stay out on one (one example - Turneffe Island Lodge) or you can stay in more of a center and make day trips (maybe overnight). You should be able to find superb photogenic dives with very few other people in the water with you. What is your preference - to stay in a remote and (relatively) primitive place close to superb diving, or in a more conventional plush resort close to good diving but 2-3 hours boat ride from the best? Do you just want a diving holiday, or would you like to visit the jungle and Mayan ruins for which Belize is equally famous and which are equally photogenic?

Belize is only a small country but it has amazing diversity. Others can help advise, but only you can decide what you want to do. Why don't you study Belize Vacations, Tours, Resorts, News, Hotels, Travels, Flights, Weather, Maps, Real Estate and the mass of information it provides (including the maps section and the photographs taken by Tony Rath amongst others) and then come back with a few more specific questions?

I should have mentioned cost. Belize is not a cheap country compared with its neighbours, and the sky truly is the limit at the top resorts. But there are pretty economical options if you know where to look.

 

[Gaz]

My recommendation is for you to focus your trip to Belize on the Belize Atolls.

You have mentioned all the places you have dove and in my many years of experience taking divers diving in Belize, I dont think Barrier Reef diving will keep you happy based on the nmber of places you have dove.

Ambergris has some great photo ops such as close up Nurse Shark ops or Stingray or even eagle Rays also Hol Chan has some great photo ops but I think the Atolls offer much better opportunities.

The Belize Atolls are superb and certainly some of the very best diving in the Western Hemisphere.

Ideally a Live aboard would be the best option for variety and being able to cover Turneffe islands and Lighthouse Reef but Liveaboards are not for everyone so outside of that option Turneffe Island Lodge or, where I would choose is Isla Marisol on Glovers Reef.

Glovers Reef is superb diving, all Wall diving and very few divers and great photo opportunitys.

Gaz Cooper

 

[craracer]

I was also a big fan of diving in Mexico, that's until I dove Belize and Roatan. We stayed at Turneffe Island and absolutely loved it. Being that it's a small remote island, it's not for everyone.

Most of the dive sites were within 5 minutes of the resort.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

We dive Glover's out of Placencia, but the boat ride is 1-1/2 hours or more. If your only objective is diving, the staying on one of the atolls or cayes or going with a liveaboard is your best option. If you want to be able to do visit some of the other attractions or experience some of the other adventures that Belize offers, you should consider Placencia. About 40% of Belize is covered by protected areas and the majority of these are in the south with Placencia being a good base to visit them from. You can check us out at Splashbelize.com

 

[Downing]

Allan, in case you haven't run across it in one of the threads, a really good guide book is Insight Guide Belize. It's $24 but you can get it cheaper on Amazon. Tons of information, maps and color photos. You'll see what I mean when I say Belize may be a small country but it's incredibly diverse. It's not a dive book but diving is mentioned where applicable.

You can get up to speed on what Belize has to offer pretty quickly.