Belize lodging

[medfly3d]

I would like to plan a trip for Belize for next year and would like some advise on where to stay. The two places that catch my intrest are Ambergris and Glovers Reef Atoll. Ambergris seems to offer several dive sites and you get to have a taste of the local flavor. Glovers is secluded and offers lots of privacy. The resort is called Off the Wall Dive Center. I was hoping for a hut on the beach rather than one of the big hotels.

Any info would be great. When would be a good time to go? Sand flees? Good dive shops? Any other pluses or warnings?

 

[boscobc]

Excotic Caye Resort.. Right on the beach,a great guy named Don from Canada manages the place. I have sent several people to him. All just loved the place. Get the deluxe up grade though, it is well worth the $ difference.If you need a dive master & boat I can hook you up w/Happy Everet. Boat, Everet , all week w/just 2 divers. Picks you up @ resort when you ask & stays with you till you are through.
Bosco

 

[medfly3d]

Sounds great. Do they have a website?

 

[DandyDon]

You can find a lot more info on the Central American forum or with our Search feature. Have a good trip...

 

[Doug B]

I spent a week in Ambergris Cay...at Ramones, and loved it. My family had a good time too.

It's one of the few places that has a sand beach that you can swim/snorkel from. Diving boats there are top notch, highly recommend it.


Oh, and the rooms are like Gilligan's Island grass huts, but with air conditioning. Very cool.

Nice pool, good food, nice bar.... nice place to stay. Check out the company with the purple colored boats (I can't remember the company name) for other family excursions. There is one excursion that takes all day - you go to a little tiny island for snorkeling and lunch, then to another island where you walk from one end to the other thru the town, then to an area where manatees live, then to shark-ray alley. Very good trip for the family - and lots of fun. The Mayan ruin trip is a long day, but very cool too.

We made two trips to Shark Ray Alley - loved every minute... and the kids did too.

 

[medfly3d]

Thanks for the info. I had been looking into Ramones and from what I read and pics I saw, seemed very nice. It seemed like a garantee to see some sealife. Love the huts on the beach thing. I will definatly keep this one in mind. Better yet, I may have to make two trips!

Thanks again Doug

 

[jbeach69]

You might find BlackBird Cay Resort interesting... very secluded but they do regular runs to the Blue Hole and to other very nice reefs in that area of Belize, The biting flies can be very rough at times so a good repellent is necessary.. the reefs were good, the food was great, the huts and cabins good and the staff very accomadating.
http://www.blackbirdresort.com/

 

[Mverick]

There are NO big resorts on ambergris caye. Only smaller ones.

If you're an experienced diver. Just to let you know. All my dives there were of the guided tour nature. Which I didn't appreciate. I came up from the Blue Hole with around 2200psi. Other divers down to 400psi. On the other two dives in the package I came up with no less then 2500psi. Other divers down to 500psi. And, wouldn't let you swim around to burn some air. All come up at the same time. And they were bringing people who had NO bouyancy skills. It was the big boat that's right on the beach in town. A lot of the other dive shops don't go out to the hole so they set you up with them.

For my money. It stunk.

Diving was just OK in the blue hole. For me, just a deep hole with some nice stalagtites around 150.

Oh, belize staff are all laid back. As in, I ordered tea at dinner and it took 30min to get it. Only one other table. This was 4 nights in a row. I finally just went to the bar and ordered drinks and brought them in for everyone. By the time we got our drinks our food was already there.

Everywhere they are SLOW. Just there style so just work with it.

 

[jbeach69]

I agree with Mverick about the Blue Hole being a boring dive... but... that said, it is one of the most spectacular places to see and, IMHO, a must see dive... if you can go with someone experianced in diving it, to see the huge sharks that hang around down deep, to see the stalmites at 70 to 100 feet or so. Plus the side trip to Half Moon Cay is really nice too, and the Elbow... usually some of the more 'preserved reefs' in the Belize Atoll area..... I would certainly recommend the trip to the Blue Hole if you are visiting Belize only once