San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize dive report

[dukeofhesse]

New to the forum. Just returned from a week in San Pedro where my wife and I stayed at the Palms Ocean Front Suites located in San Pedro, on the island of Ambergris Caye. It was supposed to be a week of diving with Ramon's Divers which is located right next door.

First dive: short ride out to site except that the swells were about five feet and that meant a ten foot drop from the crest of each swell with the bow of the boat half submerging each time. At the site, we had to back-roll in (which I hate and is dangerous in a wildly bouncing boat). The worst thing and really only important thing, is that there are NO FISH! A curious nurse shark followed us around and we saw a big loggerhead turtle, but just about nothing else. Getting back aboard was a challenge with the waves. We were told by the boat crew that it wasn't rough, and is often a lot worse. I started getting seasick just trying to get back in the boat. With the waves, the boat crew throws a line out for divers to hold onto pre-boarding. But the boat had to maintain power due to the waves, and I was pushed dangerously close to the spinning prop. Awful experience.

Because the dive site was so close, they brought us back to the dock between dives. My wife and I didn't see any point repeating that experience so we didn't do the second dive of the day.

The second day, we took a short ride out to the Marine Reserve to a site called Hol Chan where we were told there would be a lot of fish but it is a very shallow dive, under 30'. There were tons of fish, morays, turtle, etc. Except one huge problem. Very strong outgoing current which we had to swim with going out and against coming back. I may be an older guy, but I'm in terrific shape and I got so tired fighting the current that I surfaced to make it clear to the DM that I was having problems. He had to help me get back once on the surface. My much younger wife - lucky me - who is in excellent physical shape barely made it back herself.

Following those experiences, I started asking around at other dive operators. Where are all the fish? I was told, amazingly, that it 'had been fished out'. Fished out? I'm not aware of people angling for Sergeant Majors, Angel Fish, Damsels, etc. What am I missing here?

We bagged the diving for the rest of our week stay. Really disappointing trip. I would never go back to Ambergris Caye unless I found out about better diving within reasonable distance of San Pedro.

I thought San Pedro, especially the beach, was fun, albeit in serious need of clean up. Plastic trash was everywhere including the water. Same thing on the streets.

Report card:
Ramon's Village Divers C-
Palms Ocean Front Suites A+
San Pedro B

If other people have different views on any of this, I'd like to hear about them. Thanks.

 

[divin'dog]

I stayed at Ramon's a while back... I feel pretty much the same way you do. When it came time for the local LDS to sign up for another Belize trip, I skipped out. However, if you ever dive around the Turneffe Islands, that's a totally different story! If you asked me to dive out there, I would have my bags and gear packed before you could finish your sentence.

 

[Edward3c]

New to the forum. Just returned from a week in San Pedro where my wife and I stayed at the Palms Ocean Front Suites located in San Pedro, on the island of Ambergris Caye. It was supposed to be a week of diving with Ramon's Divers which is located right next door.

First dive: short ride out to site except that the swells were about five feet and that meant a ten foot drop from the crest of each swell with the bow of the boat half submerging each time. At the site, we had to back-roll in (which I hate and is dangerous in a wildly bouncing boat). The worst thing and really only important thing, is that there are NO FISH! A curious nurse shark followed us around and we saw a big loggerhead turtle, but just about nothing else. Getting back aboard was a challenge with the waves. We were told by the boat crew that it wasn't rough, and is often a lot worse. I started getting seasick just trying to get back in the boat. With the waves, the boat crew throws a line out for divers to hold onto pre-boarding. But the boat had to maintain power due to the waves, and I was pushed dangerously close to the spinning prop. Awful experience.

Because the dive site was so close, they brought us back to the dock between dives. My wife and I didn't see any point repeating that experience so we didn't do the second dive of the day.

The second day, we took a short ride out to the Marine Reserve to a site called Hol Chan where we were told there would be a lot of fish but it is a very shallow dive, under 30'. There were tons of fish, morays, turtle, etc. Except one huge problem. Very strong outgoing current which we had to swim with going out and against coming back. I may be an older guy, but I'm in terrific shape and I got so tired fighting the current that I surfaced to make it clear to the DM that I was having problems. He had to help me get back once on the surface. My much younger wife - lucky me - who is in excellent physical shape barely made it back herself.

Following those experiences, I started asking around at other dive operators. Where are all the fish? I was told, amazingly, that it 'had been fished out'. Fished out? I'm not aware of people angling for Sergeant Majors, Angel Fish, Damsels, etc. What am I missing here?

We bagged the diving for the rest of our week stay. Really disappointing trip. I would never go back to Ambergris Caye unless I found out about better diving within reasonable distance of San Pedro.

I thought San Pedro, especially the beach, was fun, albeit in serious need of clean up. Plastic trash was everywhere including the water. Same thing on the streets.

Report card:
Ramon's Village Divers C-
Palms Ocean Front Suites A+
San Pedro B

If other people have different views on any of this, I'd like to hear about them. Thanks.

If you want to try Belize again, look at ReefCI and do more than just dive.

 

[jlevine]

In terms of fish life in Ambergris Caye, I agree that the fish count isn't great with the notable exception of Hol Chan which is a protected park. With regard to waves, San Pedro can get very choppy. The shop that I usually use (Ecologic Divers) in general does not go out if there are lots of whitecaps.

Hol Chan can have a lot of current. Current does help the sea life with regard to nutrient flow but it definitely means work. I've been in Hol Chan with lots of current and it is a bear to deal with but there is so much to see there. In other locations that I've been to with lots of current, we usually drift dive so we don't have to fight it as much. I am guessing it would be more of a challenge to do that because of how the logistics of the area.

In terms of Ramon's, I can't say anything since I've never dove with them.

I personally love San Pedro. I've been there several times. It's very walkable and you can find lots of good food at a whole range of prices. Garbage management has been a challenge, due in part to food packaging. The city has made some strides but it could be better. Some of the locals might have some comments about that.

I guess if I had to sum it up I would say that San Pedro has average diving but a wonderful topside experience that offers something for everyone.

 

[Downing]

I haven't dived off AC but can attest to abundant fish life out at the atoll and off Placencia.

As an aside, I was shocked a few years ago when I spent about a week and a half diving off Oahu. Lots of huge, and I mean huge, turtles, but very little fish life in front of Honolulu. I was told the same thing: fished out but this time by the aquarium dealers. I saw more fish the one day I dove off the North Shore, which I think was a protected area, than the rest of the trip combined. I did see a lot of trash on the ocean floor, especially on the westside, and a ton of fishing tackles.

From what I've seen, the beaches in Placencia are very clean, but I have heard of garbage washing up on shore, presumably from passing ships. Placencia itself is relatively litter free with public garbage cans placed in strategic locations.

I've noticed, though, that many Belizeans have a different attitude towards litter. For instance, a lot of houses will have a fair amount of trash laying around in the yard, which is something I rarely see in the US. I've often wondered why the occupants don't spend 10 or 15 minutes with a garbage bag in hand cleaning it up. A few years ago, a Belizean friend of mine was proudly showing me a photo album of his daughter's wedding. Some of the shots were of the reception held outside behind the church. There was trash all over the ground, plainly visible in the photos. I would have been embarrassed if it had been my daughter's wedding, actually, I would have just cleaned up the place before the reception, but it was as if he just didn't see it.

 

[AWMIII]

I have done a bunch of diving in Belize (for instance 67 dives in Belize in 2013). It is the lee shore of the entire Caribbean. The trash accumulates on the shore at an amazing rate. Not all of it is the fault of the Belizeans. Much of it comes from far away.

San Pedro has wonderful diving, but it is cursed with only having one exposure to dive. At Turneffe for instance, you can always find a shore that is in the lee. In the late winter, it is frequently windy. The locals refer to it as the Winds of Lent. Many days' it is too windy to dive. At least the more reputable operators will not go out when it is too rough. The only spot that people regularly dive inside the reef is Hol Chan. One trip we dove Hol Chan 3 days. It got old quick. When the wind is fired up on shore, there is a constant surge of water crashing over the reef. That water needs to get out so it pours out through the cuts in the reef. That constant river pouring out of the cuts meets the ocean swells and makes the surface of the cuts break. The change in tide sometimes causes the outflow to slow down as the tide is rising. The net result of all of this is that the currents in the cuts can be unpredictable.

Diving Hol Chan when the current is flowing quickly out is dangerous. Sometimes, it would not be possible for the small boats that are used to take divers and snorkelers to Hol Chan to safely go out of the cut if one of their guests was sucked out. A good guide can reduce this danger by a proper briefing that includes strategies for dealing with the current in the cut. There are several "rooms" off of the sides of the cut particularly on the North side. It is very possible to duck into these cut in the reef to get out of the current for a few minutes. Also, the current is dramatically less right at the bottom. Hugging the bottom helps reduce the current when fighting against it.

There is no question that diving outside the reef off Ambergris Caye can be rigorous when the winds fire up. But that can be the case in most places. The great thing about AC is there are lost of other things to do when you get blown out.

Not all of the sites are fishy all of the time. It make have been that it was so rough that the fish were taking shelter from the surge. Or it may have been that they dropped you in the deeper water to get you out of the surge and the fish were in shallower water. It is common when it is rough to find fish tightly packed on the back side of rocks taking shelter. People who dive off San Pedro are frequently treated to large creatures. The large schools of smaller fish are seen by the snorkelers inside of the reef. I enjoy the dramatic vistas of the underwater landscape. Huge canyons and tunnels are the home of eagle rays, turtles and schools of snappers.

I'm sorry that you caught a poor weather window for your visit. My advice is try Belize on a liveaboard.

 

[Yobubba]

Sad to read you had this bad experience. You should have tried the North part of the Island. Hol Chan is on the South tip and can be a rough current but that changes every hour and timing is everything in experiencing the cut there. It's dramatically effected by the tides.
Ramons is right in the center of the most populated area of the island and the reef sites in front of it are over visited. The more North (away from town) you travel the more pristine the reef becomes. Don't give up on Ambergris Caye, It's a big island and judging it from that small overpopulated spot isn't justice.

 

[dano718]

WOW we were there in the waves at the reef were about 15 ft, the boat 30 ft you do the math LOL. The guy we dove with was Patajo Diving he dives small groups only. He have this down to a science the ladder was in the middle of the boat and he help you remove your gear in the water. We saw loads of fishes many babes and very few lion-fish. He point out many shrimp and other small creatures as will as the big one. We did notice that in the southern part of Belize the lion-fidh increase and the fish decrease, so maybe you were in the heavy lion-fish area.

Dano718

 

[dhuhman]

Just returned last week from 8 days at Ambergris Caye, stayed at Seven Seas resort just north of "downtown" and dove with Chuck and Robbies. We had great experiences diving. Had our group of 5-6 divers every day, so they paired us with a divemaster and boatman for the week. Big Sexy and Luis were great guides, capable both below the water (Big Sexy) and handling the boat (both). Like others have stated, the wind waves can be pretty large outside the reef, but we got lucky and only had one day of blow-out. The next day there was residual 6-8 foot chop (hard to estimate exactly) but our group was able to handle it easily. On the blow-out day, we went to the park like every other operator, and dealt with the issues others have mentioned (I live in SoCal, and the 405 isn't as crowded at 5 PM as the park is on a really windy day).

I believe the various shops take turns bringing out some bait, so the nurse sharks pretty much come around as soon as a boat pulls up to a mooring, and 2-3 tend to follow the group around for the dive. That's OK, if somewhat contrived, because it's the first time alot of folks have seen that size animal swimming next to them and not worry (much) about being attacked. Groupers and morays must also sense dinner, because we saw more of them in one dive then I often see in a week of diving. The small to medium sized fish weren't thick, but we didn't feel like we had to look hard for a photo op. Saw a couple of loggerheads (one as long as the person swimming next to it) a huge ray in the distance going away (maybe 10-12 ft span), a couple of barracuda, some friendly squid, a very curious unattached remora that played in our bubbles during our safety stop, and the usual variety of other reef dwellers.

One guy in our group said that the diving was so-so, but the interaction with unique animals was spectacular, so I guess there was a decent balance. Chuck and Robbies treated us well, helping with equipment issues and dive flexibility. They, like the majority of operators at AC, have relatively small open boats with a center console, bimini, and not much else. We did side entry and recovery, but the crew did all the heavy lifting both getting geared up and getting out. I don't think their backs will last many years of reaching over the side to hoist out a fully-weighted BCD/tank that you shuck while alongside the boat.

I'd recommend Chuck and Robbies to anyone diving at AC, and hope for good weather.

 

[FyshEye]

Thanks for all the information. My wife and I have planned a trip to Ambergris Caye. This will be our first trip to Belize. We are staying a Ramon's Village. I originally wanted to head south for the Whale Sharks, but our timing is in the middle of July and they will be all gone by then, so we elected to go north. Also, my wife isn't a diver and I thought she would get bored while I was gone diving.

I will be taking a dive kit with me on this trip. Any dive operations that cater to Photags more then any others? It would be a real drag to spend XYZ amout of money on a dive trip and get stuck with a boat of non-photographer divers that might not have a lot of diving experience.

I will be shooting a mix of Wide and Macro. Any suggestions on dive spots? Beside Hol Chan and the outer atolls, I heard that heading north towards the Mexico Boarder on Ambergris Caye is better?