Belize/Roatan Questions

[Scuba Scotty]

Hey Everybody!

I'm going to Belize from Dec 11th - Jan 9th, We're on a pretty tight budget.

Questions:

-Best cheap way to dive a lot in Cayes? (looks like Frenchies off Caye Caulker is a good way to go)

-Best (Favorite) Dive Sites? -secret spots?-
just from research we're interested in
•Blue Hole •Turneffe •Half Moon Caye •Glovers •Hol Chan •Shark Ray Alley

-We have a fair bit of time, is it worth going to Roatan? Fastest/Cheapest way to get there? Do you think it's possible to thumb a ride on a sail boat or other personal craft? Good places to try to do that? (we're really outgoing people)

-We're going to San Ignacio for our inland adventures: any advice (places to say, must see, good eats, etc)?

-Is it worth bringing gear other than Snorkel/mask?

-Romantic ideas (christmas, my GF's b-day, New Years, spontaneous)?

-Favorite things to do in Belize?

-Dive shops and and accommodations (cheap but clean) in Roatan?

-General Advice? (bugs, crime, things to avoid, etc)

THANK YOU SO MUCH
-Scotty

 

[oceancat]

Hi.

I really liked Glovers, but it's not easy to get to--you need to stay out there--you can get there from Dangriga. With the time you have, it can be done. It' s remote, but beautiful. I loved half moon caye and blue hole, but BH is not a dive for novices--it's deep and it feels like it is deep. Since you have a lot of time in Belize, you should consider going west too--around San Ignacio--we stayed at Clarissa Falls--very basic but inexpensive. Without a car it could be tough to get into town to pick up tours, but there are also some cheap places in downtown SI too. Unless things have changed, it's difficult to get to Roatan from Belize. I don't think there is a direct flight. There is a ferry that leaves from Southern Belize and can get you to honduras (look on the lonely planet site for help with that) on Wed. or something like that--and once you get into Honduras you can take a ferry/plane (from La Ceiba) to Roatan. Diving is super cheap (and good) on Utila--another of the Bay Is.--it's also cheaper to stay there than Roatan. If you stay in West End in Roatan, there are a number of inexpensive places.

 

[diverdowndh]

I went to Caye Caulker this past February - i personally thought the island was a *****hole. I would never go back there again! I used Belize Diving Services and got deathly sick for 3 days of my vacation - from drinking water on the boat from a bottle that I caught them filling from a spigot later... and the nonchalant reply I got from the owner saying "one in ten people get sick on Caye Caulker"... stay away from that place, unless you want to get offered drugs every 5 seconds (which we did NOT). I thought the diving was so ho-hum that I'd never spend another nickel there, and the only diving that *was* worthwhile was a 45 minute boatride away - and they have the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. It just seemed so fished out. I've never dove a place in the Caribbean where you did NOT see barracuda. We never saw a single one and Caye Caulker was the ONLY place I've ever seen barracuda on the menu (and it was on the menus everywhere on the island), you figure it out.
We were on Ambergris about 5 years ago and it was really aweseome. We used Bottom Time Diving and they treated us really well, the diving was great, the island was excellent. On both trips Belize was sold different than advertised - there were not supposed to be ANY cars on Ambergris when we went, and when we got there they had "allowed" taxis on the island. Back then, the roads were all dirt and when it rained the taxis would FLY by splashing all over and it made it hard to walk anywhere without getting splashed.
Nah, I would not go back to Belize, at least not Ambergris or especially not Caye Caulker.
BTW, Caye Caulker was REALLY expensive to what we were told/expected.

 

[RockyHeap]

Belize isn't a "cheap" place even though the dollar is fixed at a $2 to $1 USD exchange rate. BEST THING about belize is the ONE BARREL RUM, oh my gawd is that nectar of the gods.

Blue hole is way way way overrated, and not cheap either, $225 a person if I remember right leaving from Ambergris for a 3 tank dive. Do a search on the blue hole and 95% of those who dove it wouldn't dive it again. Get into the jungle, Caves Branch resort is hard core jungle adventures. We've stayed there, Xanadu out on Ambergris, Banana Bank horse back ranch, and Hamanasi resort down in Hopkins which is really nice and unique authentinc belize experience.

Get out to Caves Branch, Xuantuich (sp?) mayan ruins, and the underground waterfall spelunking tour is a huge memory for me at caves branch.

 

[peterbj7]

Lots of people visit San Pedro and Caye Caulker and have a wonderful time. That isn't to say that everything's perfect - far from it - but they put the problems that do occur in perspective. And although we do have some dive sites that aren't particularly outstanding, we do also have some superb ones. Maybe you're a person who just shouldn't visit Belize.

Some of the specifics you quote simply don't sound true.

 

[diverdowndh]

i could care less if they don't sound true - they happened earlier this year. You are right though, i'm not a person to go to Belize... not anymore that is. My money will be spent where the diving is good, the people are friendly, and the island is a GREAT place to be (Caye Caulker is NOT, imo). There are few places where you don't get approached about drugs but never, and i say this strongly, never like on Caye Caulker.
I've been all over the Caribbean and even to Fiji and my dollars will go elsewhere!

 

[aliecon]

I have seen more fish in Isla Roatan and the reef was better than Turneffee or Grand Cayman. The wreck is pretty close, too.

 

[diverdowndh]

I've never been to Roatan, only Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker in Belize. I did say that Ambergris was a rairly good experience but not worth the $$$. I've been to Grand Cayman 3 times, if the diving in Roatan is better then I guess I need to go soon!

 

[Scuba Scotty]

Interesting to hear different opinions. Diverdowndh you sound quite unpleased with you experience there. Thankfully of the 20 odd people I've talked to personally you're the only one that's down on the place... phewww...

Probably not going to do blue hole. My GF and I are very adventurous people, we'll be pushing hard to get away from the most commonly dived sites, we'll get the other divers on board - we're like that.

We'll also be doing all the San Ignacio stuff extensively (ATM, tikal, Xunantunich, cave tubing etc).

Looks like the weather in Roatan in December sucks, and it's not quick or cheap to get there. So it's really a matter of where to spend our time between San Pedro, Caye Caulker, Placencia (Glovers), and San Ignacio. Looks like San Pedro and Caye Caulker share many of the same dive site but it's about %25 less to dive from Caye Caulker.

-Scotty

 

[diverdowndh]

Hey man, I tried. You may join the many others who like Caye Caulker. I'm certainly not one of them but that doesn't mean you can't give it a go for yourself. I really hope if you go that you have an incredible time. Don't drink the water, especially if it is out of an already opened water bottle! Do not believe that it is refilled with purified water, 'cause you'll end up like I did, sick for most of your vacation.... really, really sick.