BELIZE is incredible and I am dying to go back........

[snurktaylor]

We just got back from an 8 day stay in San Pedro Belize. I have to say that I had the time of my life and am already online looking to book our next trip back there. We stayed at Ramons, where I simply adored everything. Our room was adorable, the bar fun, the people amazingly friendly, an everyone so very helpful. Pedro the security guy even got me a coconut from high up in the tree to eat b/c I happened to mention that I had never had "real" coconut from the tree before I asked for a coffee pot in my room for the night before our Blue Hole trip to be in our room. I picked it up only to find that security had also left me iced milk, cups, sugar,and other all amenities in our room knowing we were going on our trip the next morning....talk about being caring. The Purple Parrot drinks in their bar seemed to agree with my taste buds as well. The entire staff went abnormally out of their way to befriend us and knew us on a first name basis from day 1. I literally felt like I was leaving new found buddies when we had to return home.

We did 8 local dives with Ramons...we dove with Crazy Andy and Luis...who are amazing. Luis (our DM) literally showed us 6 nurse sharks, 2 spotted eagle rays, a moray eel, and 2 baracuda on our first dive alone. I mentioned after a couple days that I wanted to try a deeper dive and we found a nice cave swim thru at Cypress Tunnel that he remembered for our next trip. They were attentive, fun, knew every hole and tunnel to show up marine life and we tipped them quite accordingly

I had the phenomenal pleasure of diving once with Peter of ProTech and his top notch op. He found time to answer all of my questions even after shop closing hours and made me feel like he heartfelt wanted me to enjoy my vacation. God knows he had probably already been asked the same questions 100000 times in the day alone LOL He personally took my husband and myself to my first official deep dive and had me write my name backwards on a slate to see how I was doing...might I brag that I didn't write it too crooked. I was so proud of this feat that I took about 3 pics of my depth gauge pegged past 150ft and our dive computer showing our actual depth. He kept an eagle's watch on us and made it a massively incredible experience that I will cherish forever. I still owe him at least a dinner and a few drinks at BCs which will be easy to do since I am already working on booking our return trip. If anyone wants to be dealt with my people who care and are darned good at what they do....go see Peter and Anna at ProTech to book stuff as she is also tops!

I dove the Blue Hole with Amigos Del Mar....our DMs were Mike, Enrique, Juan, and Willito. I went into this dive expecting nothing as so many people have called it a throw away dive........boy do I disagree and am so so grateful I went for the plunge. Even with my dramamine, I am not a big boat person. Having said that, the 2.5 hour each way boat ride was WONDERFUL. We had a great group and chatted with our DMs the entire way. The Blue Hole was a unique experience that I will never forget. Heck, even our pics are great. There were tons of sharks, the crystal formations were something quite unusual to us, and there is an odd feeling of awe when you are near the wall looking down that "abyss" of nothingness. Alot of people seem to complain about the quickness in which they want divers to descend, but considering the dive and that some people are air guzzlers, it has to be done to make sure eveyone gets their diving experience in. I LOVED IT! The next 2 dives at Half Moon Caye and The Aquarium were probably the most amazing dives at Belize that I encountered. The tube sponges and corral were enormous, the walls had sheer plunges and looked amazing, abundance of fish, rays, eels, the sheer colors were incredible. The Boobie sancutary was a pretty place for lunch as well. The trip is one I feel everyone should experience...with dramamine for the boat! They fed us, entertained us, and most importantly knew where to point to show us all marine life the atoll had to offer. I especially adored Mike's ability on the boat to amuse me and make the time pass.

The food was great (but incredibly expensive compared to what I expected), the nightlife was fun after we found out where to go by day 2 (were kinda boring with nightlife so we only went out a few times in the evening to "party"), the people were amazingly friendly and fun, and leaving was sheer misery. Some good restaurants were Jambel Jerk Pit, Ali Babbas, Blue Water Grill, El Patio, Carumbas, and The Park for REALLY cheap, yummy local food. If you need good strong cappucinnos, cheap US phone calls, and internet access, go to Caribbean Connections.......to have fun at night go to the TackleBox, BCs, or for a more local taste, try Wet Willies or the Jaguar Paw.

I swear I could go on for a thousand more hours, so please if anyone wants to know anything feel free to ask as I am so so so more than willing to share. I LOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Ramons and would never ever stay anywhere else. For the Blue Hole I would only go with Amigos and for local or specialized diving I would only go to Ramons Dive op or ProTech. I have pix of everything anyone wants to see...thanks for reading my blubbering, but I AM TRYING TO RE-LIVE MY TRIP BY WRITING IT OUT FOR YOU GUYS!!!!

Thanks for reading and go to BELIZE,
Jacqueline

Some great local dives:
Boca Ciega, Hol Chan Reserve, Cypress Tunnels, Boca Chiga, Esmeralda, Ramons Canyons (I think our guys named this one for us LOL), Amigos Wreck, Hol Chan Cut, Tres Cocos.

 

[kent_1848]

I love San Pedro, I just don't have enough vacation time to get to everywhere I want to go. We probably won't get back to San Pedro until at least 2008

 

[occrider]

Glad you had a good time. If you ever make it back, maginify your experience by heading inland and doing some non-dive activities ... there's plenty to do there besides diving.

 

[SStrecker]

Ramon's is a great place and rather fun (with it's kitchy decor) but I recommend eating elsewhere (in terms of price and flavor).

 

[ladaniel]

Thanks for the report! My husband, 14 yr old son, mother-in-law and uncle and aunt leave on July 3 for 12 days on Ambregris Caye. We can't wait. So glad to read about the different dive shops and will probably use both. Just the three of us dive, husband, son and myself. We are staying in a condo and are not big party people. We are usually are wiped out after a day of diving and sun. Good to see someone give information on resturants that are reasonable. We will eat most meals at condo but will eat out some. Can't do the deep stuff because we do not think it is wise for our son and we dive together. Once he is older we will let him go deeper and we will also. My husband sometimes will go deeper and hook up with the DM while I stay higher with our son. I do not yet have a great desire to go too deep. If I have any more questions I will PM you for more advice. Feel free to send any other information you may think I would like to have. Lou Anne Daniel

 

[snurktaylor]

Occrider...I swear we had every intention of seeing the Mayan ruins, Lamanai, and cave tubing, BUT we so fell in love with the warm water diving that we nixed all other trips to dive and even paid for one in advance.....like I said we loved the diving

SStrecker...I agree! We incldued breakfast in our plan b/c it was convenient to eat at the hotel befor diving at their op, but other than a late dnack/dinner at the bar, we always ate in town. The food was not bad, but it was nothing to call home about in terms of flavor and variety. The night we had food there, they were doing their nighttime BBQ and it smelled divine!

Ladaniel...listen to SStrecker...eat in town for later meals b/c the food is ALOT better and not quite as overpriced. Breakfast we pre-paid for convenience ad I am a really ugly evil person withoutmy morning caffeine fix so it worked out well! Go see other land excursions which will be easier for you to do since you also have non-diving people with you and let me know what I missed Don't bother with the golf carts...waste of money as everything is close in town, look around b/f you say yes to a taxi driver that is offering to pick you up, as you'll see that "town" and the eateries are within blocks of one another, walk back on the beach instead of streets at night...it is beautiful and faster without the crazy golf cart traffic. Most important, have a fabulous time!!!!!

Kent---you and me both, I want to be back quite frankly NOWWWW

 

[Jcsgt]

Thanks for the trip report. Do you have any pics to share?