ambergris caye 2nd week May 8 -15

[justadyver]

will be staying at banyan bay. want to take the trip to the blue hole. my one problem ,my wife gets sea sick. how long is the boat ride and how ruff will it be. any reccomendations on who to go with. larger boat smoother ride or smaller boat faster ride?
she says she will tough it out, once we get there puke a few times and then go diving. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[peterbj7]

Not much choice, though by then there may be a new player. Established ones are Amigos del Mar and AquaDives, with Ramon's as an occasional offering. By then Belize Dive Connection will have arrived and displaced AquaDives from the Sunbreeze dock (AquaDives are staying in the town area but going a bit further south).

All operate boats in the 45-60ft range. Amigos is probably the longest (which makes a big difference to ride) and maybe just the widest, with AquaDives not far behind on both measurements. BDC's Newton is rather shorter at (I think) 48ft, and Ramon's is a nice boat but only 40ft. All are the same style, covered in with superstructure. Occasionally the trip is made in a much smaller open boat, but I don't recommend that.

The speed of the journey won't vary much - say 2-2.5 hours each way. Unless the sea is glassy calm the ride won't be totally smooth.

If she gets seasick she'll be best staying on the lower deck and near the stern, with a good view out to the horizon. She should eat very little before or on the trip, and avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours beforehand. Something like suckable candy can help calm an iffy stomach, and it'd be a good idea to have a sweetish soft drink like Gatorade available.

 

[Gaz]

Peter pretty much covered everything only thing I might add is make sure the wife passes on the OJ for breakkfast as citric acids upsets the stomach and can increase the chance of getting seasick stick with water and gatorade.

Gaz

 

[Downing]

And stay out of the head!

 

[melissabeads]

Have her use these.... Wristband | Walgreens You can pick them up at Walmart.. Walgreens.. etc!

On Mythbusters, they tested several treatments for seasickness, Ginger won hands down.. I have heard it is good to take ginger in pill form several days before your trip and during.. but I think gingersnaps, candied ginger just before you get on the boat would be best.. ( I don't like popping pills.. and ginger is a blood thinner so you need to watch that as well)

Hope you have a wonderful time!!!

 

[Gaz]

LOL good point downing 2 and a half hours sitting inthe head would not be a good idea

Gaz

 

[Rockhead]

A couple of things-
Top speed of a boat is proportional to the waterline of the boat- all things being equal (which, admittedly, they aren't) the bigger the boat, the faster it can go. So I'd go with big AND fast.
I've never tried it, but I saw a thing called QueaseEase and a diveshop owner I know said she has been getting very positive reports on it from her divers. It is an inhaler that you use after you start feeling sick (all the other stuff you have to take before you feel nauseas, or it won't work.
-Jim

 

[pedro101]

Here are pictures of a Blue Hole trip - gravol taken in advance another option for upset stomach

hotel pedro | Cheap Hotel San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

 

[georoc01]

All I can say is that I went last year during that same week. Seas were very rough and the crossing was over 3 hours. We used Aquadives. I was glad I took Meclazine before we left.

Coming back was much quicker and easier as we were going into the wind, rather we had it at our back.

 

[peterbj7]

High winds in May are not usual.