This was a combimation birthday, anniversary and Christmas gift for the family. My wife, two sons and wives spent 12/6 - 12/13 on Ambergris Caye. I booked the hotel and dive package thru Bay Adventures. Everything was as we requested including three adjoing rooms on the second floor of the hotel. Flights were direct from Houston; on time and no missing luggage.
The Sunbreeze is a step up from most dive hotels we stay at. The rooms were large, beds comfortable, and plenty of hot water. Refrigerators and TVs are in each room. Maid service was dependable. The rooms do not have balconies rather they open onto a common outside walkway. As a result our drying wetsuits and gear were open to anyone that walked by, although nothing came up missing. The resturant and bar were excellent, although somewhat expensive.
Aqua Dives provided very good service. We book the standard two tank trips, but upgraded to three tanks per day for six days when we checked in and requested nitrox for three of the divers. Our gear (BCs & regs) were on the boat each day with the correct tanks. The nitrox mix was dead on 32% every tank.
While catering to recreational divers, the DM did allow me freedom to dive my own profile as long as I came up with the group. Eric (our primary DM) was excellent; briefings were thourgh and he went out of his way to id fish life. I heard nothing but excellent comments about him from other divers on the boats.
We did book the Blue Hole trip (three dives plus lunch). I would not have done it, except that my sons had not dove the Hole. Took the whole family (4 divers & 2 snorklers), all had a good time. The dive shop provided a guide for the snorklers, which was a nice plus.
I really can't say anything negative about Aqua Dives, other than I normally prefer to be with more experienced divers and allowed more freedom. I think they offer that, but our group was a mixed bag of experience, so I can't fault them.
Weather could have been better three cloudy days, four windy days and generally high 70s to low 80s. The locals indicated this was their winter. Swells got to 3' to 5' one day.
All in all an excellent trip, which we plan to repeat.
The Sunbreeze is a step up from most dive hotels we stay at. The rooms were large, beds comfortable, and plenty of hot water. Refrigerators and TVs are in each room. Maid service was dependable. The rooms do not have balconies rather they open onto a common outside walkway. As a result our drying wetsuits and gear were open to anyone that walked by, although nothing came up missing. The resturant and bar were excellent, although somewhat expensive.
Aqua Dives provided very good service. We book the standard two tank trips, but upgraded to three tanks per day for six days when we checked in and requested nitrox for three of the divers. Our gear (BCs & regs) were on the boat each day with the correct tanks. The nitrox mix was dead on 32% every tank.
While catering to recreational divers, the DM did allow me freedom to dive my own profile as long as I came up with the group. Eric (our primary DM) was excellent; briefings were thourgh and he went out of his way to id fish life. I heard nothing but excellent comments about him from other divers on the boats.
We did book the Blue Hole trip (three dives plus lunch). I would not have done it, except that my sons had not dove the Hole. Took the whole family (4 divers & 2 snorklers), all had a good time. The dive shop provided a guide for the snorklers, which was a nice plus.
I really can't say anything negative about Aqua Dives, other than I normally prefer to be with more experienced divers and allowed more freedom. I think they offer that, but our group was a mixed bag of experience, so I can't fault them.
Weather could have been better three cloudy days, four windy days and generally high 70s to low 80s. The locals indicated this was their winter. Swells got to 3' to 5' one day.
All in all an excellent trip, which we plan to repeat.
