Trip to Belize info please.

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Robertcrockett

Contributor
Messages
291
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46
Location
Eleanor WV
# of dives
500 - 999
Wanting to plan a trip to Belize for my fiancee and I. I have never had the pleasure of visiting so if anyone can lend any information on where we may like to stay, and who we should consider diving with, it would be nice. We like to stay nice sometimes but honestly we don't have to have real fancy, we are both pretty low maintenance. She is a AOW novice diver with a good base skill and I did my DMT about 4 years ago on Utila and have dived primarily Utila and Roatan since. Time for a change. We will probably short time it due to work and child commitments. I imagine our stay will be 7 to 14 days, during the summer months of '16 or '17. Any opinions, facts, observations, will be greatly appreciated.
 
Caye Caulker or Ambergris? We like some cold rum and pineapple, piña coladas or beer to relax after a day of diving but not really into the party scene much.
 
If you're not into the party scene, then I recommend you stay st one of the resorts out at the Atolls. That's where you'll find the best diving and the most peace. You'll have no problem getting your rum or beer.
 
100% diving or land-based activities? Nightlife or hammock life? Agree with Chilly that if you want the best diving, the atolls is where it's at....the trade off being that things are about as quiet and laid back as you'll find anywhere in the Caribbean. Night life consists of watching beautiful sunsets with a cold beer....:)
 
The atolls have the best diving but no nightlife and difficult access to mainland activities. Caya Caulker is very small and laid back. Ambergris Caye is much larger and the town, San Pedro has more of everything than CC. You might split your trip with 4 days on a caye and 4 days on the mainland. Have someone show you how to use tools like gmaps and youtube to case the joint.
 
First Time Visiting the Island

Ambergris Caye/San Pedro Belize Update Jan 2016

First time visiting any place is confusing so this info might help.

Ambergris Caye is a long narrow island (22miles) that runs North and South. The Barrier Reef runs parallel to the island on its East side, so that’s where we dive. Almost all the development, Hotels, Resorts, Restaurants, bars, Dive Shop etc. are lined up along the East shore. The West Side of the island for the most part is mangrove and shallow lagoon.

The international airport is on the mainland of Belize in a town called Ladyville. After you land you will need transportation to the island. As you exit customs the door to the local carrier’s ticket counters are on the left. It’s easy to catch one of the small aircraft to the island from international and they leave every hour. You will land at the islands airstrip which is in the town of San Pedro on the South end of Ambergris Caye. If you came by boat from Belize City you will dock in San Pedro as well. Here is the water taxi link Belize Water Taxi | Belize Charter Boats - San Pedro Water Taxi

Cabs on the Island are cheap and easy to use for short distances around the town core where streets are paved. Commercial Taxis have green licenses plates and are painted yellow.

Your US dollar spends without problem and the exchange rate is $2. Bz to $1. USD. However you don't need to exchange it because it's accepted everywhere. Prices are expressed in US and BZ making it a little confusing so it's best to ask first.

Tourist and residents travel up and down the island along its East shore either by The Costal Express Water Taxi http://www.coastalxpress.com/schedule/ or by golf cart. Dive shops, resorts and some restaurants have boats that pick up and drop off guest for their variety of activities. Our dive shop has a boat that picks up and drops off at almost all the resorts. Address are peculiar on the island. We don't have zip codes and few streets are named so house numbers are rare, instead most houses simply use the Name of the House for the address such as Iguana House, Casa Rana, Tree House, Sunset House, etc. It will help to just give the house name when describing where you are on the island.

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Almost all the dive shops have Snorkeling adventures departing each morning at 9am, visiting Mexico Rocks or The Hol ChanMarine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley.

These two stop snorkeling trips return you to your dock at 12:30 pm, just in time for lunch. Trips cost from 55 to 45.usd.

Dive Trips to the Barrier Reef depart daily. One of the boats is always headed out for either a Two-Tank trip (80.usd) or a Single-Tank dive (60.usd) on the Barrier Reef. The island has 30 sites or more they visit and they typically begin on the edge of the wall at 45 feet and range in depths along the Spur and Groove formations from 60 to 80 feet. The sites are approximately 5 to 15 minutes from the dive shops and depart daily at 9am returning at approximately 12:30 (lunch time) from the Two-Tank trip and 10:30 AM from the One-Tank trip. All the dives are led by a Divemaster/Guide. Which dive site we visit is determined by the Divemaster who considers sea conditions such as current and visibility, and also the divers on the trip; his goal is to not show the divers the same site twice and we try not to mix beginners with experienced.

I hope this helps.
 
Thank you guys so much. Trips would be mainly all about the diving so being somewhere without all the tourist scene is fine for us...We're a late 40s couple and our party days are distant memories, though we do like to unwind with a great drinks and discuss the days dives. We like strolling around after dives and eating the local foods, visiting small shops etc...the atolls sound nice.
 
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We stayed in Ambergis Caye last year.
Bed and breakfast place called "Wayo's" was awesome. Best ceviche in town.

Dove with Chuck and Robbie's - decent equipment, super friendly and helpful staff, nice boats. Ask for DM "Big Sexy" (Nito Vasquez), he's awesome! Diving is incredible. Surface is choppy, but life is abundant anywhere you go. Blue hole is ok, the wall dives after are well worth the trip out.

They call rum and pineapple a "panty ripper."

cheers!
 
And it's a quick trip into Belize City then a puddle jumper to San Pedro. You could easily do a quick 5 day trip.
 
Ambergris caye/San pedro is great, there is great diving, good place to relax, the resort up north and some down south are the best, there a little ways from the party scene so not much noise, you can banana beach nice quite resort with a great restaurant and bar, also mata rocks is one you can look at, a little smaller. for diving you can let me know, i would be happy to help you out, we offer diving snorkeling, fishing, we also offer free pick up to and from your hotel as well as free equipment rental.
 
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