Diving From Placencia Belize

[bholbertii]

Need some help from any of you who have traveled to southern Belize for a dive trip. Anybody got any suggestions or recommendations on dive shops? By checking the net, we were thinking of staying at the Maya Beach Hotel north of Placencia. Anyone been there? and what's your opinion? And most importantly ... how was the diving? how far out is it to the reef? Any and all responses would be most appreciated.
Thanks
BuffaloBill

 

[rpodos]

Robert's Grove is one of my favorite places in the Caribbean, not just Belize! That's partially cause he and his wife are New Yorkers too, and try to deliver to that standard of quality (up to and including serving pastrami Reuben sandwiches!!). One or both of them are pretty much always there too, making sure everything is topnotch.

It's also next door to Coppola's hotel, which has a great restaurant too.

The diving is great, but yeah, the boat trips are loooong. Especially in that I went from Placencia to Turneffe Island Lodge on my last trip, where of course all the diving is 5-10 minutes from the dock.

I don;t know when you are planning to go, but try to include a full moon somewhere between February through April.

 

[bholbertii]

Richard,
thanks for the info. yeah ... full moon plus a few days scheduled for next march. We'll be staying in Placencia and also looking for retirement realestate between the scuba dives.

Robert's Grove is one of my favorite places in the Caribbean, not just Belize! That's partially cause he and his wife are New Yorkers too, and try to deliver to that standard of quality (up to and including serving pastrami Reuben sandwiches!!). One or both of them are pretty much always there too, making sure everything is topnotch.

It's also next door to Coppola's hotel, which has a great restaurant too.

The diving is great, but yeah, the boat trips are loooong. Especially in that I went from Placencia to Turneffe Island Lodge on my last trip, where of course all the diving is 5-10 minutes from the dock.

I don;t know when you are planning to go, but try to include a full moon somewhere between February through April.

 

[raina79]

I was in Placencia last spring. I was backpacking, so I can't really recommend a place to stay, but I can tell you about my dive experience. The first 2 dives I did were to the Sapidillo Cayes with a dive shop called Natural Mystic. I strongly recommend that you DO NOT use them. It was what some people would call a "cattle boat". 13 divers and 2 guides all in one group. It was awful! My friend and her boyfriend were on their 4 open water dive (had just got her certification a few days before) and the first thing they did was take us straight down to 120 ft!! We had one DG in the front and one heading up the back, and everytime the guide saw some sort of marine life he would start hitting his tank with his knife so all 13 divers would know. It was an awful racket. It was really just a bad experience - not enjoyable at all - and I would not recommend them. If anybody has had a different experience with them please say so.

But, on a good note, I heard nothing but good things about Seahorse Dive Shop from various people, including a few locals in the dive industry. I heard they run a very professional shop. I'd give them a try if you end up going for a dive shop independent of a resort.