LBR
Registered
Belize Trip Report:
We just returned from a diving trip in Belize and had a great time. We stayed on Caye Caulker, a small island about an hour from Belize City.
No cars are permitted on the island, so a few residents putter around on golf carts. Nice mellow vibe here and no harassment for tourist business or time-shares.
Good food too, I'd recommend Amor Y Cafe for breakfast and Rasta Pasta for lunch/dinner (although the service is glacially slow here!).
We stayed at Treetops hotel and had a nice private balcony overlooking the ocean.
Day 1 and Day 2 dives were done with Frenchies. Their website has been down for a while so I wasn't sure if they were still in business but we wandered
down to the end of the island and found their shop. We had also considered diving with Belize Diving Services, but they booked up on day1.
Frenchies took us out at 9:30 am to Ho Chan National Reserve. We went with 10 divers and the DM dove with us in 2 separate groups of 5.
The vis was around 80 feet and we saw a sea turtle, spotted ray, and lots of fish. During the surface interval they took us snorkeling at Shark Ray alley where we swam with Nurse sharks and rays. I believe they were
attracted by the chum dumped from other boats in the area, so it wasn't a truly natural experience, but interesting never less.
The water temp was warm enough to wear a shorty and I was comfortable, but my wife said she would have preferred a full wetsuit.
We did two dives on Day 1, one to 70ft and the second to 60ft. The first was an anchored dive and the second was a drift dive.
The dive masters did a good job of briefing us and pointing out interesting sea life.
Day 2 we had hoped to dive Turneffe Atolls with Frenchies, but they were unable to sign up enough folks. We ended up
doing a local dive with them to Chapel Canyons. For these dives, it was just my wife and I with two Dive Masters (Alex and Michelle), so that was nice.
Alex has been diving in Belize for years and is a very funny guy. He brought a small portable radio and amused us with trivia on the obscure hits of the 70's during our surface breaks.
We squeezed through narrow canyons of coral for the first dive and then did a drift dive for the second. I would say this
area is very similar to Ho Chan and in my mind features much cheaper and less crowded diving. No other divers were seen in the area.
Day3 we switched operators and dove with Paradise Down. They had larger boats and more "professional" feel then Frenchies.
We went out to Turneffe and did three dives, one anchored and two drift dives. It was a large group of around 12 divers and we all dove in one large group
with two divemasters. The vis was 40 feet and the black coral walls were a treat to see. Large schools of fish here as well as lobster, trumpet fish, and a puffer fish. There were a couple of pockets of cold water we swam through but most of the
time the water temp was comfortable. They gave us a decent lunch and soft drinks during our second break and always had free water on board.
I would recommend both dive operators we used on this trip, but I preferred to smaller groups that Frenchies takes out. My wife and I are new to diving and felt very comfortable and safe with both operators.
We did not dive the famous Blue Hole but talked to a guy who did it with Paradise Down and said it was spectacular. He also seemed to think that Paradise Down went to better locations in the Ho Chan reserve than other operators.
We just returned from a diving trip in Belize and had a great time. We stayed on Caye Caulker, a small island about an hour from Belize City.
No cars are permitted on the island, so a few residents putter around on golf carts. Nice mellow vibe here and no harassment for tourist business or time-shares.
Good food too, I'd recommend Amor Y Cafe for breakfast and Rasta Pasta for lunch/dinner (although the service is glacially slow here!).
We stayed at Treetops hotel and had a nice private balcony overlooking the ocean.
Day 1 and Day 2 dives were done with Frenchies. Their website has been down for a while so I wasn't sure if they were still in business but we wandered
down to the end of the island and found their shop. We had also considered diving with Belize Diving Services, but they booked up on day1.
Frenchies took us out at 9:30 am to Ho Chan National Reserve. We went with 10 divers and the DM dove with us in 2 separate groups of 5.
The vis was around 80 feet and we saw a sea turtle, spotted ray, and lots of fish. During the surface interval they took us snorkeling at Shark Ray alley where we swam with Nurse sharks and rays. I believe they were
attracted by the chum dumped from other boats in the area, so it wasn't a truly natural experience, but interesting never less.
The water temp was warm enough to wear a shorty and I was comfortable, but my wife said she would have preferred a full wetsuit.
We did two dives on Day 1, one to 70ft and the second to 60ft. The first was an anchored dive and the second was a drift dive.
The dive masters did a good job of briefing us and pointing out interesting sea life.
Day 2 we had hoped to dive Turneffe Atolls with Frenchies, but they were unable to sign up enough folks. We ended up
doing a local dive with them to Chapel Canyons. For these dives, it was just my wife and I with two Dive Masters (Alex and Michelle), so that was nice.
Alex has been diving in Belize for years and is a very funny guy. He brought a small portable radio and amused us with trivia on the obscure hits of the 70's during our surface breaks.
We squeezed through narrow canyons of coral for the first dive and then did a drift dive for the second. I would say this
area is very similar to Ho Chan and in my mind features much cheaper and less crowded diving. No other divers were seen in the area.
Day3 we switched operators and dove with Paradise Down. They had larger boats and more "professional" feel then Frenchies.
We went out to Turneffe and did three dives, one anchored and two drift dives. It was a large group of around 12 divers and we all dove in one large group
with two divemasters. The vis was 40 feet and the black coral walls were a treat to see. Large schools of fish here as well as lobster, trumpet fish, and a puffer fish. There were a couple of pockets of cold water we swam through but most of the
time the water temp was comfortable. They gave us a decent lunch and soft drinks during our second break and always had free water on board.
I would recommend both dive operators we used on this trip, but I preferred to smaller groups that Frenchies takes out. My wife and I are new to diving and felt very comfortable and safe with both operators.
We did not dive the famous Blue Hole but talked to a guy who did it with Paradise Down and said it was spectacular. He also seemed to think that Paradise Down went to better locations in the Ho Chan reserve than other operators.
