Helicopter trips to the Atolls?

[Allen Raphael]

Well, we are one week away from arriving in San Pedro and are trying to maximize our dive:commute ratio! We were looking at some of the helicopter trips to Blue Hole, Turneffe, Lighthouse, etc and were wondering has anyone tried these before? The cost seems quite high but the thought of doing a crazy long boat day (maybe twice if we go to both Lighthouse and Turneffe) isn't the most appealing thing for my wife (and frankly me too). They appear to leave from Belize City but I am not sure if any depart from Ambergris. Does this really save enough time to warrant the extra expense and has anyone heard of safety concerns regarding these choppers?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Allen

 

[AWMIII]

I think most of the helicopter trips are private charters so I would bet they can pick you up at SP. It is about 55 miles to the Blue Hole from SP. I would bet the chopper is an hour trip each way. They must use a boat of some sort out there, so there would be some shuttling between sites. I bet that a helicopter would shave 4 hours at most off of a 12-13hr Blue Hole day. You still have signifigant surface intervals between dives. That time savings is not that substantial in my mind. But, I like boat rides. Lighthouse Reef is a pretty big place and the sites that we dove were pretty spread out. I am sure the choppers make the most sense for the cruise ship passengers who get off in Belize City.

 

[Gaz]

Distance to the Blue Hole is around 46 miles therefore if you were flying out to the Atolls the flight time would be around 20-30 minutes which shaves a good 90 minutes each way however I am not sure how you would arrange that maybe Peter will know but I am sure it will be a rather expensive charter and that is if you can sort out a boat out there what with the cost of the chopper and the cost of whatever the boat situation is works out to be a very very expensive day trip.

Gaz Cooper

 

[Downing]

How would you get from the helicopter to the boat and vice-versa? There's no place for it to land afaik.

I think the helicopter tours just fly around out there, then return from whence they came.

If you're staying at TIR, you can opt for a helicopter ride to and from the caye. I think it's about $1,200 extra versus the hour and a half boat ride that's included in the cost of the stay. The helipad's just down the beach from Cabana 8.

 

[Allen Raphael]

Well, I did look into the chopper trips to the Atolls and they are CRAZY expensive. Not even close to worth it unless you're seasickness is unbearably bad or your schedule will not allow a full day excursion. This particular operation quoted something like $6400 for a four people, but that would cover both atolls and all diving. Still, not worth it and I don't mind chilling out on the boat and sharing stories with other divers.

 

[AWMIII]

well, i did look into the chopper trips to the atolls and they are crazy expensive. Not even close to worth it unless you're seasickness is unbearably bad or your schedule will not allow a full day excursion. This particular operation quoted something like $6400 for a four people, but that would cover both atolls and all diving. Still, not worth it and i don't mind chilling out on the boat and sharing stories with other divers.

good call!

 

[peterbj7]

I did read recently of Pedro's Inn seeking takers for a helicopter trip to the BH for just US$100 per person. That was just a quick fly around though, with no landing out there.

 

[Allen Raphael]

I did read recently of Pedro's Inn seeking takers for a helicopter trip to the BH for just US$100 per person. That was just a quick fly around though, with no landing out there.

Wow, that is pretty cheap but I would be just a little hesitant to sign that legal waiver....gulp.