Belize Diving - Worth it?

[Hank49]

We would be happy to take you out. We have daily boats out to and from Belize City and are only about half hour from the city. Turneffe Atoll is our main destination at less than half hour .

Yeah, you have the easiest access to Turneffe from Belize City. You're in the lee of Turneffe all the way down to the Elbow. Easy trip even on windy trade days.
It's a pretty easy shot from my house too...but we don't have any nice hotels in Mullins River..hah.

 

[South4Scuba]

We have dived Ambergris Caye several times. Among dive destinations, Belize, for us, ranks below Cozumel, Cayman and Roatan. We love walking the streets of San Pedro and sampling the local food and atmosphere. Night life is not as abundant as Cozumel, but there are fun things to do.

We have found more often than not that the water will be rough outside the reef and the boats are typically smaller than other dive destinations. You have to do a back roll entry usually and then take your gear off in the water to reenter the boat. Maybe I'm just too much of a weenie, but I prefer a nice big 46 foot Newton dive boat with real ladders when the water is rough.

There is a lot of marine life to see and Belize is the only place I have seen a Manta Ray in the Caribbean. One you are under water Belize is a great place.

We have stayed at The Palms condos and they are very nice. Sunbreeze Hotel is also nice.

Not ruling it out, but I'd rather go other places.

 

[hpbelize]

I prefer a nice big 46 foot Newton dive boat with real ladders when the water is rough.

We use 46' Newtons even when the water is calm and we only have a couple divers.

We are also on Facebook and on the cover of this month's Dive Training Magazine.

 

[dukedives]

We have dived Ambergris Caye several times. Among dive destinations, Belize, for us, ranks below Cozumel, Cayman and Roatan. We love walking the streets of San Pedro and sampling the local food and atmosphere. Night life is not as abundant as Cozumel, but there are fun things to do.

We have found more often than not that the water will be rough outside the reef and the boats are typically smaller than other dive destinations. You have to do a back roll entry usually and then take your gear off in the water to reenter the boat. Maybe I'm just too much of a weenie, but I prefer a nice big 46 foot Newton dive boat with real ladders when the water is rough.

There is a lot of marine life to see and Belize is the only place I have seen a Manta Ray in the Caribbean. One you are under water Belize is a great place.

We have stayed at The Palms condos and they are very nice. Sunbreeze Hotel is also nice.

Not ruling it out, but I'd rather go other places.

Q:
Not sure I buy your listing.....

Coz can be very crowded and Cayman (at least little and brac) are very expensive. I agree that Belize can present some challenging surface conditions, but they're workable. I personally go with roatan as #1 and Bonaire as #2 and Belize as #3.

 

[Gaz]

We have found more often than not that the water will be rough outside the reef and the boats are typically smaller than other dive destinations. You have to do a back roll entry usually and then take your gear off in the water to reenter the boat. Maybe I'm just too much of a weenie, but I prefer a nice big 46 foot Newton dive boat with real ladders when the water is rough.

There is a lot of marine life to see and Belize is the only place I have seen a Manta Ray in the Caribbean. One you are under water Belize is a great place.

In my 15 odd years running up to 3 dive shops simultaneously on Ambergris Caye, and operating over 12 dive boats 25-55ft, and a mixture of rear entry and backward rolls I have to say, from a safety aspect the backward rolls were by far the safer boats, for diving Ambergris Caye.

I actually got rid of my rear platform boats, as I considered them dangerous for all but experienced divers that could de kit and exit the water quickly while taking into account the heavy swells and the rear of the boat slamming down in between waves.

Yes diving from Ambergris can be choppy and since the majority of divers that visit Ambergris are novices to intermediate vacation divers i found the rear platform boats to be difficult and dangerous for these types of divers in choppy conditions.

Balancing on fins trying to hold onto a rail while ajusting a mask and trying to keep balance at the back end of the boat as it is being tossed up and down is challenging for most divers using a platform boat from Ambergris Caye.

As for exiting its the same story with platform boats, in 8ft swells (not uncommon in Feb march) its very difficult and dangerous for divers to get back on the boat with the boats back end going up 5-8 foot and then slamming back down as a diver tries to hold onto the ladder and remove fins.

The best boats IMHO and experience is the side entry backward roll from entry and the ladder over the side for exciting the water, this way you have no chance of being hit by the back of the boat as it is rolling up and down in the swell, additionally the diver has plenty of time to remove his gear before safely climbing the ladder onto the boat. ( You would be surprised at how unfamiliar most divers are with there kit)

Platform dive boats are excellent for calmer waters but for Ambergris I would get a newton with side doors for entry and exciting

Gaz Cooper

 

[peterbj7]

I would MUCH rather use a properly designed rear-facing ladder than any side ladder.

Rear platforms can be very safe and easy to use if divers listen to how they should use them and follow those instructions. I had (have) a boat with a platform, with a rear facing ladder that pivots and floats. That means that the final (bottom) rung is always floating on the surface when the ladder doesn't have anyone on it. Without going into detail, approaching and safely using this ladder in even the roughest conditions is relatively easy, so long as it's done properly. Yet there are always divers who ignore what they're told and approach the ladder from the side. That puts them much closer to the bucking bronco that is the boat, and also means they can't grab the bottom rung of the ladder with both hands. Transforms a safe and easy approach into one that is very likely to cause severe injury.

In the UK diver lifts are now common, so the diver sits in a sling suspended in the water some way from the boat and is then lifted onto the boat. Belize isn't ready for those yet though.

 

[Downing]

In the UK diver lifts are now common, so the diver sits in a sling suspended in the water some way from the boat and is then lifted onto the boat. Belize isn't ready for those yet though.

Peter, do you know off the top of your head where any pictures of this sling are on the internet? I'm having a hard visualizing this. If not, I'll go surfing. Just being lazy.

 

[peterbj7]

I don't but I'll have a grub around. Must be one somewhere.