1 week dive trip in Nov for 2 experienced divers

[divemaster86]

Hi,

My husband and I are thinking about a November trip to Belize (from Chicago), and we are looking for suggestions on what area to stay. We are picking Belize as a new spot rather than retreating to our very comfortable usual dive destination, Bonaire We are 2 experienced divers and the trip will be a primarily diving vacation. For a 1 week trip, where is the best area to stay to get to all the sites quickly? What sites are "must-dos?" We are not looking for a Ritz, but clean and comfortable with better amenities (i.e. wi-fi, air con, etc) are major pluses.

Muchas gracias!!

 

[Ralph Capeling]

The main choices are San Pedro, one of the Cayes or Placencia. Belize is only about 150 miles long but it is difficult to get to "all of the sites quickly" from one place. You are coming at the wrong time for whale sharks, so the main "must-do" is the Blue Hole. San Pedro has diving close by with short trips to dive sites and there are lots of places to stay. Main limitation is that you are effectively in a resort town on a large caye. There are a number of cayes you can stay at and you may want to consider Huracan Divers who are on a caye at Lighthouse Atoll due proximity to the Blue Hole. Main limitation is as per San Pedro plus less night life. Placencia has lots of dive sites and accommodation and is close to lots of onland adventure tours (most of the inland attractions are in the southern half of the country). Main limitation is that dive sites are 30 minutes or more by boat away. You can do a blue hole dive from there but it is a long boat ride but could be done on an overnight basis to combine some other interesting sites such as Shark Hole. If you are interested in Placencia, check out Splash Dive Shop at Belize by Splash Dive Shop located on the Placencia peninsula in southern Belize

 

[peterbj7]

Good summary there by Ralph. A lot depends on just what you want out of your vacation. I have just spent a few days up at Tranquility Bay, on Ambergris Caye but nowhere near San Pedro. A great spot for a diving vacation, but absolutely no night life.

Thatch Caye (a private island just off Dangriga) would offer similar, but in a different and in my view superior diving area (the Southwater Caye Marine Reserve). Again, no night life, but it's remarkably easy to get to the mainland and go on tours - they do the whole lot with their own boats and mini-buses.

San Pedro itself is a fairly busy place, though not particularly so in November, and can offer quite a lot to do at night. You can stay a little outside and get all the benefits a largish tourist destination can offer, but without the noise and bustle. Somewhere like Victoria House is a very peaceful home-from-home with everything close by but not directly in your lap.

A lot depends on your budget. Belize is not a cheap place, and it would be a shame to spend all your budget on an hotel and not have anything left for the many activities available. If you look at Belize Vacations, Tours, Resorts, News, Hotels, Travels, Flights, Weather, Maps, Real Estate you'll find a lot of information about much of Belize, not just Ambergris Caye. Including many maps, accommodation guides, diving guides, and lots more besides. have a look there and come back with any further questions.

November is not a busy time anywhere in Belize, so you can take your time, do your research, and come up with something that really suits you without fear of finding it all booked up. Do remember, you have the option of a two-centre holiday, and I'd choose somewhere by the sea and somewhere inland in the San Ignacio area. Even if you don't opt for that, do allow for a few inland tours or you'll be missing out on a lot of what Belize has to offer.

 

[divemaster86]

This helps a lot. Thanks

 

[underseasian]

Not wanting to put you off but the weather can be pretty grim in November and you may end up losing diving days....

 

[Gaz Cooper]

Hi

When you say experienced what does that mean ??? you mention your main dive destination is Bonaire, and if this is the case Belize diving will be much more challenging than Bonaire with the exception of the Atolls on the leeward side.

Bonaire tends to be very calm diving and a lot of shore diving, Ambergris Caye and PLacencia for example dont have any shore diving and diving off the coast can get quite choppy since they are are the windward side as compared to Bonaire where most of the diving is done on the Leeward side.

Personally if you guys are very experienced I would do a Belize Liveaboard and dive Lighthouse, Turneffe or Glovers Atolls this is the best diving in Belize with exception of specialty dives offered in certain areas.

here is a small article I wrote on doing it right

Scuba Diving Belize Do it Right By. Gaz Cooper

So you are thinking of Scuba Diving Belize? that’s all very well but just how and where in Belize are you planning to Dive.

Belize is a diverse diving destination with multiple locations to Dive Belize each offering different types of diving. What I plan show you in this article, Scuba Diving Belize, is how to plan your Scuba Diving Vacation to suit not only your pocket book but also your dive experience level.

Let us first talk about how NOT to Scuba Dive Belize, and that is doing it by visiting on a cruise ship. While many Scuba Divers visit Belize on cruise ships and understandably want to dive Belize, the problem with that is the cruise ships dock in Belize City.

Belize City has never been a top diving destination as it’s mainly used as a base where all the Belize liveaboards use to dock and re supply for there next trip.

The waters around Belize City are a nice shade of chocolate due to the river mouths that empty into the ocean there, if you dive from Belize City you have to travel about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the Belize Barrier Reef where the visibility is much better,

The dive sites that you will be able to dive from a cruise ship will NOT be the best dives in Belize and as long as you understand this then go ahead and dive, my only problem is I read people saying oh yes I dove Belize and was not impressed, once asked where did you dive, I am told oh we went on a cruise ship and dove for a day.



You absolutely cannot dive Belize in a day and especially not from a cruise ship, at best you will dive along the Barrier Reef close to Goff’s Caye the sites will be nice sites but certainly not the best diving Belize has to offer so by all means take a dive but plan a trip back to Belize for a week of the very best diving Belize has to offer.

Let’s look at the different types of diving Belize has to offer

Scuba Diving Belize, Belize Barrier Reef Diving

Belize Barrier Reef diving is incorporates the following areas starting in northern Belize starting with Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker,Caye Chapel, St Georges Caye gradually heading south for 175 miles. The further south you go it’s normally a longer boat ride out to the Barrier Reef.

You will be diving in spur and groove formations that you can clearly see in the picture above.

As you can see the inside of the Barrier Reef (sandy color) is a protected area and is at most 8-10ft deep.

The white you see if waves crashing over the reef (Calm Day) you can also see the Cut which is the only access the open sea, you can see it just to the left of the middle of the picture at about 10 o’clock..

These islands are the most popular destinations for Scuba Diving Belize as they offer the visitor a nice array of activities other than Scuba Diving however both these destinations offer challenging diving.

The Barrier reef which is the type of diving you will be doing from these islands can be quite challenging for many divers. The Barrier Reef runs 175 miles the entire length of Belize, the reef actually comes right up to the surface and the waves crash over the reef as they head to the shore, what this means is the only way to get out to open sea is by negotiating the breaks in the reef called Cuts, these are natural paths out to sea and deep enough for boats to pass through.

Negotiating these cuts in all but calm weather can be quite tricky for the boat captains and uncomfortable for the divers onboard.

During the months of Dec through April you can expect 5 to 8ft rollers to be coming through the cuts, the boat captains are very skilful at getting through however every now and again you go up and the boat comes down hard.

Many divers are not prepared for this type of diving, most expect flat calm seas like they experienced in the Cayman Islands or Cozumel and find it a little beyond there comfort level. (Not recommended for people with any type of back problem.)

The boat crews do a great job, but if you are not comfortable with choppy seas or get seasick, or you’re not as fit as you should be maybe this diving is not for you.

The best dive boats for diving in these waters are the ones that exit from the side and enters from the side , after owning more than 20 boats during my dive operator days in Belize including side entry and swim platform boats I can speak from experience when I say rear entry platforms are dangerous in these swells, if you can imagine being thrown around as you try to de kit with the rear of the boat bouncing up 4-8f its not only dangerous but unnecessary keep the dive platforms for calm waters.

On a positive note you will become a better diver for it and there will not be many other tropical places that will challenge you like diving the Belize Barrier Reef. Once you have dive the Belize Barrier Reef from these locations most other tropical destinations will be a walk in the park.

The reason the majority of visiting Divers to Belize tend to stay on these northern islands is they offer other things to do than diving such as Mayan ruin tours, Cave tubing trips, the islands have shops restaurants and nightclubs so all in all it’s a nice mixture of things to do other than just diving. For more information on Diving Ambergris Caye visit Dive Belize

Scuba Diving Belize in the south of the country has become famous over the past few years with the discovery of migrating Whale Sharks that visit Gladden Split to coordinate with the Snapper spawning..



This happens from March through June each year the best time to dive is on the full moon where you will see these behemoths and thousands of Snappers spawning.

The ride out to the reef takes about 1 hour from most of the mainland resorts from Hopkins down to Placencia.

You can also access Glovers reef from the southern resorts this is my favorite atoll.

Hope this small article gives you an insight on the different types of diving that Belize has to offer.

For more information on Diving Belize or visiting Belize visit my website.

Dive Safe

Gaz Cooper

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Gaz points out the hazards of getting back into boats when there are big swells. What he doesn't mention is that even the trip out to the dive site can be rough - the boats can take it but it can be hard on the passengers. At Splash Dive Shop, we don't take people out when the sea state is not appropriate and I would think most responsible dive/snorkel operators do the same. One thing to think about though if you are coming to Belize, is what to do if you get some down days. Around Placencia, there are plenty of options close by (Monkey River, Cockscombe Basin with the highest concentration of jaguars and big cats in the world, rain forest hikes, Maya Ruins, caves, etc) and the best beaches in Belize.

 

[Gaz]

Raplh is correct it can be rough however in contrast to Placencia getting to most dive sites off Ambergris Caye is only a 5-10 minute boat ride and most of that ride is inside the reef prior to heading out through one of the cuts to open water.

No dive operator will risk taking you out unless its safe to do so however for capable divers some of the best diving is when the sea state is choppy but safe.

Gaz