Ambergris dives ops 3-tank dive trips ?

[peterbj7]

But you have to admit, drunk or sober, it is funny watching the spectators at the Chicken Drop

It's a great spectator sport. I often go along to these sorts of things to watch other people and photograph them.

 

[Bubba1]

Robin-

It's been a few years since I was in Belize but in my opinion, Blue Hole is over rated. Elbow and Turneffe on the other hand, are great dives.

I can't count the times I've heard that but usually from people that haven't been.
The Turneffe trip has changed dramatically in the last few years. A hurricane hit the north end hard and operators all started doing the Elbow of Turneffe. I only hear positive reviews from the people returning,. The Blue Hole for me is exciting not just because I'm diving amongst stalagmites and tites in a prehistoric cavern submerged during the Ice Age's demise but the close encounters with reef shark.
The second dive of the day is the best dive I've had in my 28 years of diving. I don't get it really when I hear those kind of remarks.
Most operators are charging 250. us for Blue Hole and 40 of that is a park fee, Turneffe is 185.
that might be a consideration that gets the overrated comment perhaps they mean to say 'for the price' its overrated.

 

[diverrex]

robint - something to think since you seem to like variety is to split a trip between AC and CC. I've dived AC (loved it) and stayed on CC but did not dive there. The water taxi from CC to AC is relatively easy and cheap. It would be no problem to do the morning dives on CC and head to AC later that afternoon. That way you see both places and hit different dive sites. You can see all of AC and CC topside in about two days, then it just repeats day after day.

 

[Desert_Diver]

I can't count the times I've heard that but usually from people that haven't been.
The Turneffe trip has changed dramatically in the last few years. A hurricane hit the north end hard and operators all started doing the Elbow of Turneffe. I only hear positive reviews from the people returning,. The Blue Hole for me is exciting not just because I'm diving amongst stalagmites and tites in a prehistoric cavern submerged during the Ice Age's demise but the close encounters with reef shark.
The second dive of the day is the best dive I've had in my 28 years of diving. I don't get it really when I hear those kind of remarks.
Most operators are charging 250. us for Blue Hole and 40 of that is a park fee, Turneffe is 185.
that might be a consideration that gets the overrated comment perhaps they mean to say 'for the price' its overrated.

I've only done Blue Hole once. Viz was mediocre. We didn't see anything except other divers. I am prepared admit that dive sites have good days and bad days. I may have hit it on a bad day. But I don't believe I would pay the bucks to do it again.

Art

 

[peterbj7]

I've dived the Blue Hole many times, though probably not as much as Bubba 'cause I haven't been here as long. I've done the "standard" quasi-recreational dive, I've dived to the air limit, and I've been near or to the bottom. IMO (and this is very personal) the "recreational" dive is too short to be of any great interest to me. It has to be short given the equipment and training of the people diving, but I find it frustrating. I also quite often see seriously unsuitable people down there, as evidenced by the rapidity with which they exhaust their tanks. Yet many of the people who do go say they love it, and I wouldn't want to deprive them.

On the question of CC vs. AC, remember that most diving from CC is not off that caye, but boats either travel north to the sites frequented by the San Pedro boats, or go south to the myriad of small cayes near the reef that I have yet to dive. "Diving CC" doesn't really mean what you might think.

 

[robint]

I would never book a package here, unless you get an extraordinarily low rate. But beware - a low initial price can be severely misleading. Many (most) operators who sell you a bundle of dives and charge you a discounted price up-front will NOT refund for any dives you haven't taken, usually regardless of reason. They will refer you to your travel insurance. I had some divers a while ago who were very fed up with one operator because due to bad weather they had taken less than half the dives they had paid for, with no possibility of a refund. More scrupulous operators won't treat you like that, but equally they won't offer the same headline-grabbing price. You have to decide how you like to deal and to be treated - I know which I would prefer were I to be a visitor here.

so are you recommending any particular dive op? Any dive op to avoid like the plague? are there any considered cattle boats? do the dive ops group people by experience or just by hotel of pickup? what about camera tables on the boats?

Just a thought - diving from Caye Caulker covers most of the more popular San Pedro dive sites plus quite a few too far south for San Pedro boats to venture to. The island is much smaller, quieter and more relaxed, and the only three dive shops cooperate with each other (the 20-odd in San Pedro certainly do not). And the atolls (Lighthouse for the Blue Hole, Turneffe for the Elbow) are nearer, so cheaper and quicker to get to.

I just checked the dive ops on CC and found that they appear to be more expensive than AC, especially over to Blue Hole and Turneffe. Also it appears that they all use much smaller boats which take just as long to get there as the dive ops state for AC. So all it all, it doesn't look to me to be a better value $$wise.

robin

 

[peterbj7]

The principal boats that go to the atolls from AC stop to pickup on CC, and charge around US$50 less from CC. AquaDives (based on AC) even has booking agents on CC. Not sure where your facts come from. There are only three dive ops on CC, Belize Diving Services, Frenchies and Big Fish. I know Big Fish charge slightly more than the norm on AC for local dives, mainly because they have to travel further so use more fuel. Don't know about the other two but I imagine it's much the same. Big Fish and Frenchies have "big" boats for atoll trips, but none compares with the AquaDives ones.

As to recommendations for dive ops on AC I can't really recommend - you'll have to read these pages and make up your own mind. But all dive ops here operate in about the same way - people are generally grouped according to who wants to go out at any particular time, ie. no selection. People from different hotels are mixed. Obviously people going from a remote hotel may well be picked up and taken out without any other divers - it all just depends on practicality.

Once on the boat, qualified divers are generally grouped according to expected air consumption. Dive sites are chosen either democratically or by the boat staff; it's rare here for local dive sites to be decided in advance and advertised as such, as happens in Mexico and many other places.

You won't find a camera table on any day boat in the area. Most however will have a rinse bucket dedicated for cameras, but you should always confirm this before departure and that it will take your camera. Most boats are small and trips short, so tables aren't needed.

There are operators/boats at busy times of the year that might be termed "cattle boats", but mostly you're unlikely ever to be in a group of more than 12 divers, and often way less than that. Four to six is probably the most common number.

I'm not trying to make your own decisions for you, and if I offer my opinion I'll identify it as such. But if I state something as a fact that's because I know it is true. The journey to the atolls from AC is around 30 miles further round-trip than it is from CC. Hence the lower costs from CC. As I said somewhere else recently, though not here, be careful that when comparing costs you include all elements. An atoll trip comprises elements for the trip itself, for sales tax, and for park fees. There will also be charges to rent equipment and often a surcharge for using a credit card. Each of these is significant, so make sure they're all included.

 

[Hank49]

Do all shops do the Blue Hole everytime they go to Lighthouse Reef? It would seem that, since there are many that aren't real excited about the unique aspects of the BH, including myself, and are more interested in the aquatic life on the reef, that some would just skip the 'Hole altogether.

 

[peterbj7]

On occasion I've had enough people who wanted to do three wall dives at Lighthouse to justify putting on a trip, but mostly people head for the Blue Hole and won't be deterred. As they say, you can lead a horse to water.....

Hank, PM me on your recent visit.

 

[robint]

I got the prices right off of the 3 dive ops websites. Maybe they have recently added on a fuel surcharge or something but they all were higher. One of the dive ops listed that travel time to BH was 2 hrs and which one of their boats they take (looked like a smaller type to me). I don't know the mileage, just what they have on their website. Even the 2-tank dives are more expensive according to their websites.