Hal
Contributor
Together with a non-diver friend, I had a short trip to Ambergris a couple of weeks ago. Dove three days, two on local reefs and one on the blue hole trip. Last day, went to one of the Mayan ruins on the mainland and cave tubing. Here's a brief summary of diving, operators, hotel and non-diving stuff.
1. Local dives. Spent two days diving with ProTech on local reefs.
Day one, first dive was on Tuffy Reef (spellings are approximations). Diving was fairly mediocre. Saw little in the way of animal life. Reef itself did not strike me as particularly vibrant. At the end of the dive, I did see the largest manta ray I've ever seen. Unfortunately, was on the way up and didn't have a chance to explore further. Second dive was on Emerald Canyons. Diving was good. Nurse sharks were everywhere and, presumably because of regular chumming, immediately approached as we hit the water. Young nurse sharks basically landed in our laps, with DM holding one for much of the dive.
Day two, went to Cypress Tunnels and 3 Cocos Canyons. Both dives were very nice in terms of both reefs and sea life. Nothing remarkable but very good dives.
ProTech. The shop was professional. Was able to make arrangements for pick-up, nitrox, etc. Dive masters were good. With this said, I did not find protech to be anything special - would have expected pretty much the same thing at any other local dive shop. Had read reviews that seemed to suggest that it was a notch up from others. Would be interested in hearing why. Also had exchanged e-mails with Peter Jones (based on inquiries I made in this forum), who apparently owns the shop. Did not see him in my days there. Also, although ProTech is indeed able to arrange the non-local dives, which is very convenient, they do not do lead any of these.
2. Blue Hole. Went with Amigos del Mar, one of only 2 or 3 shops that actually go out to the atolls themselves (rather than arrange it through other shops). First dive was the Blue Hole itself. I liked the dive. Thought it was an intersting experience. Saw a number of sharks - reef, maybe black-tip (although not positive). No bull sharks, hammer heads, etc. Were it only for this one dive, I would not suggest doing this trip given time/expense. BUT, the two other dives that were part of the 3-dive trip, Half-Moon Caye and the Aquarium, were VERY good. Enjoyed both dives very much. Sea life was great. On the whole, I think this trip was worth it. However, given what I heard there from people who had been on the Elbow trip, I think that, in retrospect, I would have gone for the Elbow. Was told that, when the Elbow is good (strong current), it is great. If not, its OK. But, like the blue hole, the other dives are very good.
Amigos was very professional but somewhat mechanical. Was a finely tuned business that made you feel like you were part of a business venture. Perhaps this is a necessity when you get as many divers as you do through there without the benefit of having many on previous dives (and, thus, getting to know their level of experience) and when you go to a fairly advanced dive. Still, did not leave me with a warm-fuzzy feeling. Were I to go back, aside for the atolls, I would stick with Protech or one of the other local dive shops rather than go with Amigos.
3. Banana Beach. Place was pretty nice. Room was very clean, pools were nice, people friendly. Only eat at restaurant for breakfast, which was very nice. Bar was pretty good. For us, there in off-season, location was not ideal. Was about a 1/2 hour walk to town - not something that you want to do in the middle of the hot days or, at night, after dinner/drinks. As such, we tended to find ourselves taking the $5 cabs back and forth. We had originally debated between Banana Beach and Sunbreeze. Given Sunbreeze's location, were I to return, I would definately pick Sunbreeze over Banana Beach.
Location aside, did have one negative experience at the hotel. Was flying through Houston. Because of storms in Houston, arrived too late in the day I was supposed to fly to Belize to catch the flight. As such, had to take the first flight out the next day. Like most of these hotels, Banana Beach charges you for everything up front - paid by internet. I asked for refund for the first night given that my delayed arrival was thanks to weather, not my own doing. I was told that they stuck to a no-return policy. Given that they appeared to be at much less than full occupancy, and presumably, would not have had a guest in the room had it not been reserved for me, I would have expected more flexibility. Would have thought that they would be interested in people writing trip reports telling about their willingness to be flexible when possible, rather than rigidly sticking to their no-return policy. Customer-friendly places tend to attract me even if other things may not be as good (e.g., location). This is another reason I would not return to Banana Beach.
4. Non-Diving Stuff. My friend is a non-diver. (no, I have no idea why). In any case, he did try snuba a couple of times and liked it very much. Am hoping that the experience may just make a diver out of him yet. Beaches were bad - grassy, bad smell, etc. As such, when not snubaing (if really a verb), my friend chose to hang out by the pool rather than beaches. Given this, when I look for family vacations in the future (with wife and kids), I think it unlikely that I'd return to Ambergris - might try one of the atolls or Honduras first.
On our last, non-diving day, we went to a mayan ruin - Xunantunich. It was incredible. Well worth the day trip from Ambergris. Run was in amazing condition. Also, because we were lucky enough to be there on a day no cruise ships were in, along with about 2 other small groups, we were the only people in sight. Then, we went cave tubing in Jaguar's Paw. Also, great. First, we hiked about 1/2 hour through the jungle. Had a major thunderstorm that only enhanced the experience. The walk itself would have been enough to make that part of the trip worth it. Then, the cave tubing was amazing. Like the ruins, because no cruise ships were in, were were almost alone in the caves. I was told that when a ship is in, they've had up to 400-500 people in the caves at once. RECOMMENDATION: Find out if ships will be in before you decide if going to one or both of these places. Having seen both, we would not have gone had ships been in. Of course, since we didn't ask, we just got lucky.
1. Local dives. Spent two days diving with ProTech on local reefs.
Day one, first dive was on Tuffy Reef (spellings are approximations). Diving was fairly mediocre. Saw little in the way of animal life. Reef itself did not strike me as particularly vibrant. At the end of the dive, I did see the largest manta ray I've ever seen. Unfortunately, was on the way up and didn't have a chance to explore further. Second dive was on Emerald Canyons. Diving was good. Nurse sharks were everywhere and, presumably because of regular chumming, immediately approached as we hit the water. Young nurse sharks basically landed in our laps, with DM holding one for much of the dive.
Day two, went to Cypress Tunnels and 3 Cocos Canyons. Both dives were very nice in terms of both reefs and sea life. Nothing remarkable but very good dives.
ProTech. The shop was professional. Was able to make arrangements for pick-up, nitrox, etc. Dive masters were good. With this said, I did not find protech to be anything special - would have expected pretty much the same thing at any other local dive shop. Had read reviews that seemed to suggest that it was a notch up from others. Would be interested in hearing why. Also had exchanged e-mails with Peter Jones (based on inquiries I made in this forum), who apparently owns the shop. Did not see him in my days there. Also, although ProTech is indeed able to arrange the non-local dives, which is very convenient, they do not do lead any of these.
2. Blue Hole. Went with Amigos del Mar, one of only 2 or 3 shops that actually go out to the atolls themselves (rather than arrange it through other shops). First dive was the Blue Hole itself. I liked the dive. Thought it was an intersting experience. Saw a number of sharks - reef, maybe black-tip (although not positive). No bull sharks, hammer heads, etc. Were it only for this one dive, I would not suggest doing this trip given time/expense. BUT, the two other dives that were part of the 3-dive trip, Half-Moon Caye and the Aquarium, were VERY good. Enjoyed both dives very much. Sea life was great. On the whole, I think this trip was worth it. However, given what I heard there from people who had been on the Elbow trip, I think that, in retrospect, I would have gone for the Elbow. Was told that, when the Elbow is good (strong current), it is great. If not, its OK. But, like the blue hole, the other dives are very good.
Amigos was very professional but somewhat mechanical. Was a finely tuned business that made you feel like you were part of a business venture. Perhaps this is a necessity when you get as many divers as you do through there without the benefit of having many on previous dives (and, thus, getting to know their level of experience) and when you go to a fairly advanced dive. Still, did not leave me with a warm-fuzzy feeling. Were I to go back, aside for the atolls, I would stick with Protech or one of the other local dive shops rather than go with Amigos.
3. Banana Beach. Place was pretty nice. Room was very clean, pools were nice, people friendly. Only eat at restaurant for breakfast, which was very nice. Bar was pretty good. For us, there in off-season, location was not ideal. Was about a 1/2 hour walk to town - not something that you want to do in the middle of the hot days or, at night, after dinner/drinks. As such, we tended to find ourselves taking the $5 cabs back and forth. We had originally debated between Banana Beach and Sunbreeze. Given Sunbreeze's location, were I to return, I would definately pick Sunbreeze over Banana Beach.
Location aside, did have one negative experience at the hotel. Was flying through Houston. Because of storms in Houston, arrived too late in the day I was supposed to fly to Belize to catch the flight. As such, had to take the first flight out the next day. Like most of these hotels, Banana Beach charges you for everything up front - paid by internet. I asked for refund for the first night given that my delayed arrival was thanks to weather, not my own doing. I was told that they stuck to a no-return policy. Given that they appeared to be at much less than full occupancy, and presumably, would not have had a guest in the room had it not been reserved for me, I would have expected more flexibility. Would have thought that they would be interested in people writing trip reports telling about their willingness to be flexible when possible, rather than rigidly sticking to their no-return policy. Customer-friendly places tend to attract me even if other things may not be as good (e.g., location). This is another reason I would not return to Banana Beach.
4. Non-Diving Stuff. My friend is a non-diver. (no, I have no idea why). In any case, he did try snuba a couple of times and liked it very much. Am hoping that the experience may just make a diver out of him yet. Beaches were bad - grassy, bad smell, etc. As such, when not snubaing (if really a verb), my friend chose to hang out by the pool rather than beaches. Given this, when I look for family vacations in the future (with wife and kids), I think it unlikely that I'd return to Ambergris - might try one of the atolls or Honduras first.
On our last, non-diving day, we went to a mayan ruin - Xunantunich. It was incredible. Well worth the day trip from Ambergris. Run was in amazing condition. Also, because we were lucky enough to be there on a day no cruise ships were in, along with about 2 other small groups, we were the only people in sight. Then, we went cave tubing in Jaguar's Paw. Also, great. First, we hiked about 1/2 hour through the jungle. Had a major thunderstorm that only enhanced the experience. The walk itself would have been enough to make that part of the trip worth it. Then, the cave tubing was amazing. Like the ruins, because no cruise ships were in, were were almost alone in the caves. I was told that when a ship is in, they've had up to 400-500 people in the caves at once. RECOMMENDATION: Find out if ships will be in before you decide if going to one or both of these places. Having seen both, we would not have gone had ships been in. Of course, since we didn't ask, we just got lucky.
