Belize, July, and 12yo diving kid ?

[stargost]

We are considering going to Belize this summer, probably early July.


1) is July an okish time, or are we going to get lots of rain already ?

2) we are looking for a location which would accomodate diving with a kid, meaning:
- a resort expecting other diving families with kids / young teans ?
- a resort located in an area where there is good shallow diving: my daughter is JOW, and it is often an issue depending on the dive club/DM. We usually try to stay below 40, but in some occasions it happened to be a real problem for the group, while getting to 50+ as an exception is not a real issue.

=> does any one has a recommendation for the best area/resort in Belize to bring a diving kid (12yo) ?

 

[peterbj7]

Of the areas I've dived I'd say the northern cayes would be best - Ambergris or Caulker. I love the Southwater Caye Marine Reserve, but restricting yourselves to 40ft there would be difficult. Not impossible though, and it's somewhere to consider.

July is a good time. It'll likely be very hot, but the chance of rain isn't high. No guarantees of course.

Choice of a resort depends on so many other things - price, locale required, busy or remote. Tranquility Bay at the far northern end of Ambergris Caye often has groups with children (diving and otherwise), and in fact there is lots of 40ft-ish diving nearby. In (San Pedro) town the real interest of the reef starts a bit deeper than that, so 40ft may not be totally satisfying. There may also be surge that generally disappears as you go a bit deeper and enter the spur-and-groove formations. Though of course the famous Hol Chan dive site is all above 40ft.

I have presumed that by "stay below 40ft" you meant "stay above 40ft"!

 

[Gaz]

We are considering going to Belize this summer, probably early July.


1) is July an okish time, or are we going to get lots of rain already ?

2) we are looking for a location which would accomodate diving with a kid, meaning:
- a resort expecting other diving families with kids / young teans ?
- a resort located in an area where there is good shallow diving: my daughter is JOW, and it is often an issue depending on the dive club/DM. We usually try to stay below 40, but in some occasions it happened to be a real problem for the group, while getting to 50+ as an exception is not a real issue.

=> does any one has a recommendation for the best area/resort in Belize to bring a diving kid (12yo) ?

I think July is a good month to visit not too much wind no rain and reasonable sea conditions and the island wont be too busy which will also affect your choice of resort based on this condition.

I think you are going to be limited with the 40ft requirement as there are limited sites off Ambergris that will be able to accomodate this while still keeping the other divers on the boat happy. same issue you have experienced before.

On the other note your kid is certified to 60ft with supervision and if you decided on the 50-60 ft range it really opens up the options for you.

I have taken many a JOW diver and to tell you the truth they tend to be better divers than most of the adults that were on the boat LOL:biggrin: and handled the diving very well.

Since you are coming in July which will be fairly quiet I would reccomend staying in town probably at the Sunbreeze which is one of the more popular hotels and will be the best option for finding friends for your kid to hang out with. Its also offers much more options for exploring town and eating opportunities.

Gaz Cooper

 

[stargost]

Thanks a lot!

We are fine with our daughter going deeper than 40ft (not too often and we are extra careful, still have this Why I Do NOT Train Kids In Scuba Diving in mind !) but it is ok. We always dive with her anyway. It has happened few times already, and she went down 60ft with no pb. It really depends on the DM.

Thanks for your recommendation on the hotel. I also saw some kid's club stuff proposed in a hotel in turneffe, and as well we noticed the 4 nights packaged on your website for glover reef. Different style, but maybe an option too.

 

[Gaz]

Thanks a lot!

We are fine with our daughter going deeper than 40ft (not too often and we are extra careful, still have this Why I Do NOT Train Kids In Scuba Diving in mind !) but it is ok. We always dive with her anyway. It has happened few times already, and she went down 60ft with no pb. It really depends on the DM.

Thanks for your recommendation on the hotel. I also saw some kid's club stuff proposed in a hotel in turneffe, and as well we noticed the 4 nights packaged on your website for glover reef. Different style, but maybe an option too.

Im really thinking unless your dive animals that an offshore place such as Glovers or Turneffe might not be the best option for you as theres not much to do there other than dive.

Most of those locations are small islands and its focused mainly on the diving although there are other things to do such as Kayaking fishing etc.

Ambergris offers many more options which are unusual and interesting such as on Weds its chicken drop at the pier lounge, this is a fun time and they have a pen which has 100 numbers in it and you all bet on a number for $1.00 (.50cents US) and they bring a chicken in and its struts around and eventually poops on a number if its your number you win $100.00 a fun early evening out.

You can also rent a Golf Cart and explore the island which is fun to do also

Gaz

 

[peterbj7]

I've just skimmed the Larry Taylor article. He echoes some of my own concerns about teaching kids, but I don't know how relevant that article is to your daughter.

My usual concern with kids is attention span, but this has already been dealt with as your daughter is already a diver. Diving to 40ft or to 100 ft is still diving, and she's already doing it. Sure, other psychological issues start to come in as you go deeper, but down to say 80ft, maybe 100ft, very little has changed and if she can do the shallower depths she can do the deeper ones.

The issue of physiological effects must be considered, but here there is very little known and no evidence (so far as I know) that these slightly deeper depths have any measurable effect on the body. I would have thought, and this is just me surmising, that the amount of nitrogen absorbed would be potentially a greater concern as we don't fully understand how bones grow, but that's a combination of three things - depth, duration, and gas breathed - not just depth. So long as she dives a conservative profile and stays well away from no-decompression limits I doubt there's much to worry about.

So I would suggest she learns to dive on nitrox (a valuable discipline for her to learn anyway) and keeps away from the then-extended no-decompression limits. Given that, I see no problem with her diving to any normal recreational depths.

The local diving off Ambergris Caye has most of its interest in the AOW range of depths, with the spurs-and-grooves starting at 50-60ft and going down to a bit below 100ft. There is superb diving to be had here whilst never going much below 90ft, for many dives 80ft. But if you stick to 40-50ft you won't see most of the best there is on offer here.

In terms of which hotel, as I said before a great deal depends on what you're after. Sunbreeze would be good for adults but I've never thought of it as especially child-friendly. Have a look at Belize Lodging Guide, Resorts, Hotels, Accommodations, Reservations, Rooms in Belize. You may also appreciate a series of aerial photos recently taken for real estate purposes but which can be viewed by anyone, which show every hotel and resort on Ambergris Caye from the air. They can be found at Pelican Properties Belize Real Estate Ltd. San Pedro and Ambergris Caye.. Come back here with any follow-up questions.

I should have said that I agree that the outlying islands probably wouldn't be ideal for your family. Especially for this first visit I suggest you stick with Ambergris Caye.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

You should consider Splash Dive Center for kids diving. I became a partner in Splash after retiring to Belize and helping the then sole owner, Patty Ramrez for several years with her Splash Kids Club. This club teaches local kids free of charge whose parents cannot afford diving lessons so we have plenty of experience teaching children. In addition, I have personally instructed several of my grandchildren. You can check us out at splashbelize.com or contact Patty at patricia@splashbelize.com.
In addition to the diving, there are lots of other things for kids to do in and around Placencia. The Monkey River tour is a favourite - you take a 30 minute fun boat ride through the mangroves and then go up the river where you see crocodiles, huge iguanas, lots of birds and pristine rain forest. You hike into the rain forest with a licenced guide to look for howler monkeys (guides are very qualified and must complete exames to be licenced). Cockscomb Basin Preserve is another close by favourite (has the highest concentration of jaguars and big cats in the world) and is a great place for hiking in the jungle/rain forest with or without a guide. I have taken my kids and grandkids there many times when they come to visit. Forty percent of Belize is covered by reserves and parks and the majority of these are in the south, with Placencia being an excellent base to exploring these. Placencia has the benefits of being on a caye and is known as "the caye you can drive to".
We are in the process of upgrading our website and the following is the first draft covering our kids club:

Patty started a program called Splash kids Dive Club where local Belizean kids whose parents cannot afford scuba diving lessons can learn to dive for free. She uses the opportunity to teach them the importance of protecting our environment.
Splash has done 50 certifications from open water to rescue diver to date. As these children reach the age of 18, she hopes she will be able to continue the program to develop some of them into dive masters and instructors so that they can have the opportunity careers in the dive industry.
To date, this program has been sponsored entirely by Splash but contributions from others in the form of books or financial contributions would be welcome. Better yet, sponsor a child!

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Forgot to comment on accommodation. Splash partners with a number of hotels and resorts that range from budget to luxury. You can find these on our website splashbelize.com
We usually dive Laughing Bird Caye with our kids club. This is a national park and world heritage site. We normally do a dive in the morning, then have a barbecue on the caye for our surface interval before doing the second dive. Kids can snorkel during the surface interval or explore the caye.

 

[pedro101]

Have you considered doing your trip at the end of June that ties in with San Pedro Lobsterfest and would be some added fun for your family vacation.

San Pedro Lobsterfest - Official Website of San Pedro Lobsterfest

 

[ecologic diver]

hey guys , gaz i think you hit the nail on the head , most of the kids we have had here at ecologic divers in our short time have done better than adults , and they listen to what you say. I enjoy working with the younger folks alot.