Question on blue hole or turneffe for a non diver

[jscan1]

My non diving spouse and I are going to ambergis June 29th to July 6th. I am going to spend majority of the trip doing morning dives off ambergis, but my question...is there one of the outer atoll trips that could encompass snorkeling for her and the better wall dives for me, on the same boat? I don't neccasarily care if I do the blue hole or not, would prefer three wall dives and from the description the elbow sounds more up my alley, but from my understanding is the longer of the two trips? Also she is a bit of a "Dramamine" queen, how are the seas typically (yeah, I understand, it's the ocean) between ambergris, and these spots in early July?

 

[Saltyhawg]

The dive op we used had both snorklers and divers on board. We dove Blue Hole and 2 wall dives (Aquarium and another I can't recall). Our friends snorkled and saw some cool stuff at the Blue Hole while we were looking at stalagtites for all of 9 minutes (bottom time). I think you've got the right idea as the wall dives were great.

Oceans were calm the day we went (Feb) but I couldn't tell you what they are like in July. There are some posters here that liveor dive frequently in Ambergris that will hopefully chime in.

 

[Yoyodyne-88]

The Blue Hole is the Blue Hole. Remarkable, but I would not consider it a great wall dive. Much more to see on the outer reefs. Both areas can offer shallow patch reefs for snorkeling, if the operator is willing.

Either of your choices involves crossing open water that can be rough, but a big factor also is the boat you choose, how well it rides.

 

[jscan1]

Last year she joined me on dives at Niihau in Hawaii, and the Channel crossing back to Kauai was two of the roughest hours I've spent on the water (I am a former boat owner and am on dive boats a few times a month so have seen my share of rough days) SHE and about 50% of the rest of the boat were not happy campers on the way back. My Caribbean experience has always been much calmer than that, but don't want to rope her into another day like that if possible

 

[Yoyodyne-88]

My own trip to Lighthouse and the Blue hole saw 8-to-12 ft. seas on our return leg. Taking green water over the gunwales on a 40' boat. That same boat sank on a later trip.

But the classic Belize forecast is "seas light but choppy."

 

[jscan1]

Thanks, I am more interested in hearing about typical July conditions than "the exceptions" and who do you guys recommend using for the out Atoll trips?

 

[Yoyodyne-88]

Elbert Greer is a decent guy and been around AC for a long time - you could ask his advice about arranging offshore trips.

<http://whitesandsdiveshop.com/>

 

[boulderjohn]

My non-diving wife went with me on a 3 tank dive to the Blue Hole. She and a beginning diver who was quite correctly unwilling to dive the Blue Hole snorkeled it instead, and they thought it was pretty good. Then we went to Half Moon Caye for the other two dives, and she thought the snorkeling was good there, too. The highlight for her was the surface interval on Half Moon Caye, where you get to go into the observation tower in the middle of nesting boobies and frigate birds. She enjoyed the trip. Now, you have to make sure the boat is ready for you. She was the only snorkeler on the second two dives, and they had to have someone keeping an eye on her.

 

[AWMIII]

From Ambergris Caye, Turneffe is much closer. On a rough day, most boats will go south inside of the reef to a point where they are close to being in the lee of Turneffe. It may be rough for a bit as it is open ocean on a lee shore. Then they cut through Turneffe and exit the east side almost in the lee of Lighthouse Reef for the 10 mile or so trip it Lighthouse. I have done it when it was rough, I have done it when it was calm. It is impossible to predict.

You may have trouble finding an operator who is going to Turneffe that time of the year. It is a much less popular trip and I never seem to be able to find enough people to go with me to put together a trip there. Most shops want 10 divers. The Elbow is at the south end of Turneffe. However, there is also good diving and snorkeling at the north end. Some shops will compromise on price or numbers to run a trip to the north end of turneffe. Either day trip is a great adventure for people comfortable with boats. Amigos Del Mar has the biggest boats. Some of the smaller one make the trip faster on calm days. My advice is DO NOT BOOK AHEAD OF TIME. Make the call after you get there and talk to the shop about it. Pay the night before the trip, do not pay in advance. If the wind is honking out of the East, or Northeast, do something else. Most shops will cancel, but allow yourself the freedom to make the call yourself. If you talk to Island Divers, they are extremely flexible and friendly. They are not going to force you to go on a day that is marginal. YOu could also probably set up a combo diving, snorkeling, deep sea fishing trip to Turneffe with them. There is no need to book trips to the Atolls before you get to San Pedro.

 

[boulderjohn]

One advantage of the Blue Hole trip is that you can be absolutely certain you went to the Blue Hole.

The last time I was in at Ambergris, I was leading a trip for the shop for which I worked. When I arrived, someone who had spent the previous week there gave me a warning about the operator we were using. He said the day they had scheduled their trip to the elbow at Turneffe was the day after some local holiday. When they arrived for their trip in the predawn darkness, there was no one there. Eventually they learned that the problem was that everyone who worked for that operator had been out celebrating until the wee hours. They finally found a crew and left more than an hour late. Their DM slept the whole way to the elbow. They did their dives and returned, getting back more than an hour earlier than scheduled. On the way back, the diver pointed to landmarks and finally got the DM to admit that they had not gone to the elbow. The DM said they had gone to the "little elbow."

When my group did our trip to the elbow, we, too, arrived in the predawn darkness to find no one there. Eventually, we, too, left an hour late. We did our dives at a site that I thought was pretty unremarkable--certainly not worth the extra money we paid for the trip. Like a total idiot, I forgot about my warning and spent the return trip chatting with the people in our group, not paying attention to the return trip. I was thus surprised when we got back more than an hour earlier than scheduled. Of course, I had no way of proving that we had not gone to the site for which we had paid the extra cash, no matter how hard I tried.

The operator we used is no longer in business, but I assume everyone who worked for them found work with other operations and is still on the island somewhere.