Ambergris Caye or Turks ????

[NightRaven77]

Ok.....im lucky...

I have a choice of a dive trip to either Ambergris Caye or Turks and Caicos !!

I know Im in a Belize forum so the responses might be bias but I want to hear from everyone anyway....

We are leaving in early June...

Which would you choose and why?

 

[drrich2]

How much of an issue is budget? Turks & Caicos has a rep. for being as (or a bit more) expensive as Grand Cayman, based on what I've seen others post.

Land-Based or live-aboard? Both Turks & Caicos and Belize have a rep. for offering up the best diving via live-aboard (though with Belize some might say Turneffe-based resorts would be fine). I'm assuming you're looking at land-based.

Turks & Caicos is often associated with lots of reef sharks in the absence of feeding or baiting; do you like shark?

In live-aboard discussions, T&C is associated with wall diving that starts deeper than some other places; those of you who've done land-based, would that include land-based T&C diving? If so, your average & max. depths might be deeper on a T&C dive trip vs. Ambergris Caye, or am I mistaken on that?

I've only dove Belize via live-aboard, and haven't been to T&C. If it were me, and I had to do land-based, I'd pick Ambergris Caye, because I'd want to go back to T&C later via live-aboard, so as to see what's said by some to be amongst the best diving in the Caribbean, in the best way to see it, particularly at an otherwise expensive destination.

Richard.

 

[NightRaven77]

Sorry,.....about the lack details....

Looking at land based mostly....doesnt matter if is a resort or a rentable house or condo..

Im just looking at a quality of diving point of view......

thanks for the insight

 

[Hoag]

How much of an issue is budget? Turks & Caicos has a rep. for being as (or a bit more) expensive as Grand Cayman, based on what I've seen others post.

Land-Based or live-aboard? Both Turks & Caicos and Belize have a rep. for offering up the best diving via live-aboard (though with Belize some might say Turneffe-based resorts would be fine). I'm assuming you're looking at land-based.

Turks & Caicos is often associated with lots of reef sharks in the absence of feeding or baiting; do you like shark?

In live-aboard discussions, T&C is associated with wall diving that starts deeper than some other places; those of you who've done land-based, would that include land-based T&C diving? If so, your average & max. depths might be deeper on a T&C dive trip vs. Ambergris Caye, or am I mistaken on that?

I've only dove Belize via live-aboard, and haven't been to T&C. If it were me, and I had to do land-based, I'd pick Ambergris Caye, because I'd want to go back to T&C later via live-aboard, so as to see what's said by some to be amongst the best diving in the Caribbean, in the best way to see it, particularly at an otherwise expensive destination.

Richard.

I have done TCI 3 times and 3 different ways:
Shore based out of Provo
Live Aboard and
Shore based out of Grand Turk.

All three were amazing and I have responded to this question in the Ops other thread.

I have been to Belize twice, and both times were on a Live Aboard (Belize Aggressor III).

 

[NightRaven77]

Where did you stay with in Provo? and what dive op did you use?

 

[Joneill]

Where did you stay with in Provo? and what dive op did you use?

I've stayed at the Sands at Grace Bay twice and loved it. The lastest was last May and since then they completed a $4.5MM refresh .

Last year was the first time I was diving and went with Aqua TCI. Great smaller outfit with a max of 8 divers on the boat (nice wide beam, very comfortable boat). They get out early and beat most others (including Dive Provo) to the best sites in places like West Caicos and French Cay. Fantastic diving with 60 minute bottom times (lots of sharks too) and great owner/operators - I can't say enough positive things about them, so highly recommended.

 

[Hoag]

Where did you stay with in Provo? and what dive op did you use?

I stayed at what is now the Ports of Call, but when I was there, it was a Best Western. I dove with Dive Provo. It was incredibly convenient because Dive Provo and Ports of Call share a parking lot.

I gave more detail in a reply in your other post.

 

[Snoweman]

I haven't done Ambergris, but I did Plancencia looking for whale sharks. When we were skunked on finding the sharks, we dove the reefs. I wasn't impressed at all. Maybe Ambergris is better, but it doubt it. I dove out of Provo with Aqua TCI. Great outfit, but I wasn't wowed by the sea life. It was intimated that the liveaboards are known for throwing their food waste overboard and that attracts the sharks. We stayed at West Bay Club and I was very impressed, both with the hotel and the dent it made in my wallet.

I would go back to T&C, but not for the diving. The water and the beaches are both stunning. I found it damn near impossible to submerge during a snorkeling trip, the water feels that buoyant.

 

[KathyV]

...I dove out of Provo with Aqua TCI. Great outfit, but I wasn't wowed by the sea life. It was intimated that the liveaboards are known for throwing their food waste overboard and that attracts the sharks...

I've done 2 liveaboard trips out of Provo and I have never seen chumming or any efforts made to attract sharks. I thought that the LOB diving was great on both trips, but I have never done shore-based diving from Provo.

 

[Joneill]

I've done 2 liveaboard trips out of Provo and I have never seen chumming or any efforts made to attract sharks. I thought that the LOB diving was great on both trips, but I have never done shore-based diving from Provo.

The shore-based diving was great as well. Not sure about Snoweman's experience, but I saw lots of diverse sea life on the dives. Double D and G-spot at French Cay were particularly awesome sites. The only dive where we didn't see sharks was one at West Caicos where the Aggressor LOB was at the next morning ball over and we went right underneath her on our dive.

Check out video's posted on the Aqua TCI and Flamingo Divers Facebook pages to get a sense of what you might see.

AquaTci

Flamingo Divers