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Hey guys, just got a flyer emailed to me by Belize Adventure Lodge. Guess everyone wants to give away something these days and I don't blame any of them. They are offering their 8 day dive package for a bargain $888. They've been mailing it to their regular contacts but they have some info online. Might be worth checking out.
Although you are right that the deal looks good and that dive resorts are really slashing prices now. Belize is starting to get correctly priced so that it is competitive with Roatan, Cancun and Cozumel, and Cayman and that is certainly not a bad thing.
I agree that it is a good deal. I booked 2 weeks for the wife and me at Turneffe Island Lodge last week for the last of October and first of November. Grand Cayman might be feeling it a bit as well. Check out the special at Ocean Frontiers. Am leaving in the morning for 2 weeks diving with OF (staying at Morritts Grand) and am so ready to be out of the high desert here!!!:burnout:
These low prices can't and won't last, so take them while they're offered. Eventually operators will go out of business if they're not covering costs, and the remaining ones will either raise prices or just have more people on their boats. You don't get anything for nothing.
It is true that low prices and bargains are a bit unsustainable in Belize since we have very high fuel prices and lots of taxes and duties and the low population here makes for a smaller labor pool from which to obtain skilled labor, but some players will be able to achieve efficeincies of scale that will allow them to continue. The funny thing is that their service and the clients enjoyment of the services offered may suffer. The Utila model of five dives a day offered on cattle car boats at sites that are not even near as good as Belize due to the amount of traffic over the years (diving newbies with dangling guages and no buoyancy control leading to broken coral everywhere and the sheer amount of people scaring away the shy types of aquatic life), is not really the one we should follow here in Belize. Belize can continue to be more upscale and charge accordingly but perhaps not right now in the recession. Giving people a good deal when they need it is positive. Bringing in the cattle cars is not.
It is true that low prices and bargains are a bit unsustainable in Belize since we have very high fuel prices and lots of taxes and duties and the low population here makes for a smaller labor pool from which to obtain skilled labor, but some players will be able to achieve efficeincies of scale that will allow them to continue. The funny thing is that their service and the clients enjoyment of the services offered may suffer. The Utila model of five dives a day offered on cattle car boats at sites that are not even near as good as Belize due to the amount of traffic over the years (diving newbies with dangling guages and no buoyancy control leading to broken coral everywhere and the sheer amount of people scaring away the shy types of aquatic life), is not really the one we should follow here in Belize. Belize can continue to be more upscale and charge accordingly but perhaps not right now in the recession. Giving people a good deal when they need it is positive. Bringing in the cattle cars is not.
I'm sure TCR will reply, but let me assure you that that isn't what they mean. Belize has high costs but also maintains its environment better than surrounding countries, so there is the potential of better diving. If you pick the lowest price operations you are more likely to find yourself on a cattle boat, as those high costs have to be covered somehow. But if you choose on quality rather than just price you'll actually find that you can get very good value here.
TCR is particular offers small-scale intimate diving, led by people who are especially well informed. In my experience, diving with them is always a great pleasure. They don't run the cheapest resort & dive operation, but there are many around which charge far more and actually give far less.
Newbies in particular can have a superb time exploring some of the wonderful reefs in that area, without the pressures always associated with larger operations and bigger boats with more divers.
I was not looking to be confrontational but was merely stating the obvious. To add more clarity to the issue, when boats from our area go out to do a dive, oftentimes they are the only ones at a dive site and another boat cant even be seen for miles around. The most divers on any one boat will be six or seven and the instructors or divemasters can be very personal with everyone, helping them with buoyancy issues and other problems quickly and with due attention. I do not think that everywhere else is like that and the last time I dove in Utila, we were packed eighteen on a boat and that boat was doing five dives a day. I was with several people who had only just been certified and many had issues, to put it nicely. So I was just making observations about what a Belize experience might be like on average as opposed to one in someplace where massive wholesale diving is the norm.
Cheap is not always best and oftentimes you get what you pay for. The recession has added on a temporary layer of competitive spirit to Belize in which people are trying to attract divers right on the margins of profitability and divers should recognize that and take advantage of it while it lasts. Belize will always be more expensive than Cancun and Utila due to previously mentioned costs that get passed on to consumers, but there is also a very attractive situation in some parts of Belize where the dives are virgin compared to other places in the Caribbean.
The only thing that Belize has to do, over time, is regulate the numbers of divers in its marine reserves at any one time, and then that scenario will continue well into the future. Belize has 180 miles of barrier reef and about that much in atoll reef and if you still want to go someplace where you may be the only ones diving in an area, Belize is a good place to go.
That was a long weekend. Anyway back to the issue. The $888 package is an August special. I have been out on their boats and their is no cattle boat. They can accommodate up to 22 guests but highly unlikely they'll have a full house. They have 2 46 Newtons and a Pro 48 plus other smaller boats. Their dive masters are certified and trained in-house and are all employed full time with years of experience. The fact that they are less than half hour from Belize City, 10 min. from the Barrier Reef, and under half hour from Turneffe gives them the ability to offer a great deal. The links I posted were wrong apparently. Here is the correct one for Belize Adventure Lodge and the one for the special. Take care everyone.
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(staying at Morritts Grand) and am so ready to be out of the high desert here!!!:burnout:
