Belize vs Hawaii

[TalyonUngol]

Alright, so the original plan between me and my father was going to Cozumel, but supposedly the Reef might be closed for rejuvenation. So, we are now looking at either Hawaii or Belize.


Which of these locations has a better Scuba Diving experience? I am not certified yet, if that helps. I will be by the time we do it of course.

What about food? Price? Activities?

Father and I like to do more outdoor activities like HIking and camping, but we're doing this mainly for Scuba.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[diversteve]

A tough call.

To be upfront, I have not personally been to Belize but I planned a dive trip with my buddy's but had to cancel at the last minute (they went) Also a good friend of mine who is a diver lives there permanently.

I've been to every island in HI - some more than once. Dove every island but Oahu..

So taking cues from your post

Belize diving is decent or better from Ambergris Key. It's also possible to daytrip to the Blue Hole from there. The Atoll resorts are closer to the better diving but being atolls there's no other activities excpt snorkeling or the beach.Also most only exchange guests once or twice a week.

We planed a trip to Placencia in Southern Belize. The ,majority of the dives are as much as 60-90 minutes by boat, One reason we went is in late spring/early summer you can Dive with Whalesharks - about tghe only place in the Anericas you can reliably do that. It;s also the starting point for hiking, Mayan Ruins tours, cave tubing and both the Howler Monkey and Jaguar Preserves. In fact Splash Dive has a sister co that does all that. Check out the Hamanasi website they do most of them.

Lastly Southwest flies there direct from their hubs, closest to you is probably Denver. From Belize City, Troic or MayanAair do the regional flights. My friend that lives there only goes thru Belize City when he has to.

Nexy post: Hawaii

 

[tarponchik]

Why Belize? There is not much outdoors there, especially, if you combine with diving. There are 3 kinds of diving you can do in Belize: liveaboards, atolls and taking boat from the mainland. The last option will require longish boat trips cause the reefs are relatively far, and options 1 and 2 isolate you from everything but diving. If you want a fair match to Hawaii in the Caribbean, this will be Dominica. However, the comparison will be fair only for a short trip because Hawaii give you way more opportunities to explore due to sheer size and the number of things you can do. Another destination with good hiking is Costa Rica (Pacific side); however, I won't recommend it to a newbie diver.

 

[diversteve]

Hawaii is volcanic - so is the base for the reefs. Some sites have insane coral growth and fish life. Oahu diveops often provide pickup since their boats are kept a shotrt distance from popular areas like Honolulu or Waikiki. Hiking there is either away from the water inland or you can hike Diamond Head,

Maui is my best option. There's about 20 shallow shore dives down the west coast with beach entries - even guides.

Boats mostly leave from the Kihei boat ramp and go to Molokini - a sunken,protected crater with tons o ffish and miles of reef. Farther north boats from Lahaina go to Lanai - the signature dives there are the Cathedrals - you could do both.Both areas also dive along the Maui coast afternoons - many with new/discover divers on board so sites will be decent but shallower. So by driving 45mins between the two areas you can dive 3 islands.

Kauai is also good diving but less of it. Lots of hiking on all the islabds, IO valley on Kauai is famous for it. Maui has a bunch of inland hikes thru th rainforest and the Big Island is much more sparse but you can hike the recenct eruption areas. Maui or Oahu have the most non-dive things to do.

Either Belize or Hawaii is likely for sharks. occasionally Manta Rays odff Maui/Molokini. The bigger difference may be that HI reefs are considered bare compared to Belize due to the substrate. .
A guide once showed us how to hover still and wait till something moves - it's usually interesting. We found octopus in some wreckage off Old Airport Beach and turtles are everywhere on all the islands. Really Big Turtles at Sheraton Caverns off Kauai - an easy boat dive. My buddy did a dive off south Kona and about 200 spinner dolphins joined him. Also once you've done some diving during the week, consider booking the Kona Manta Night Dive - they light it up well since it brings in the plankton and the Mantas. They get real close but do not hit you - but you do feel the water movement - some are 20+ feet wide. Itls actually on the top 50 Dives in the World list.

hth, I can probably answer any HI questions you might have,

 

[ibj40]

Why Belize?

Why Not Ambergris?

To the OP -

This is a trip report we did from our last trip to Belize. You can see that it was a combination land/diving vacation. We dove the Blue Hole on our first Belize trip several years prior, so decided to skip it this time, but as noted above, can be done from Ambergris on a full day trip.

I have also been to Maui, although it has been quite a while (measurable in decades), and would go back to Belize in a heartbeat compared to Maui.

One other consideration is cost. My trips to Maui probably represented some of the most expensive diving I have done in the 35 years since I was certified; whereas Belize offers a much better value for your dollar spent.

 

[diversteve]

Why Belize? There is not much outdoors there

Huh?

Ziplines
Cave Tubing
Mayan Ruins
Hikes in the jungle nd the moutains
Cockscomb Nature Preserve
Howler Monkey tours
Jaguar Preserve
(one of these might be Cockscomb)
World famous Belize Zoo
Miles of nice southern beaches.

Yeah, not much to do....

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'd recommend Belize. I've been to Belize 11 times, and Hawaii (mostly Maui) perhaps the same number. (Though diving was restricted to Maui.)

I see two major differences:

1. The water is calmer in Belize, which may be more friendly for a new diver. The Pacific can throw some nasty waves at you. This doesn't bother me, but I know for some folks it's very off-putting.

2. The reef formations, water clarity, sharks, etc., are "better" (more diverse, better developed, etc.) in Belize.

That said, several folks point out that it's tough to combine diving and hiking in Belize. It's easy enough on Maui. In Belize you'd be more likely to do 3 or more dives per day (in part to make longer boat rides worth it, if you're mainland based). If you're on an atoll (best for diving), you're not hiking. (Though you might see some really interesting terrestrial animals at places like Half Moon Caye.)

If it were me, based on your description, I'd plan time diving in Belize, but leave a couple days to explore Mayan ruins, maybe do some rafting or hiking, and otherwise enjoy the land-based activities.

Have you considered Roatan? It's a really inexpensive place to live and dive, if you can get there. It's got reasonable diving AND the upland activities you might like.

 

[Damselfish]

Yes, there is stuff going on in Coz right now, but all of the reef is not closed. It looks like they are temporarily closing an area that is popular to be sure, but since it would be your first dive trip I expect you would still find plenty to enjoy.

What time of year are you planning to go? That may make a difference in your choice.

Is there a reason you are looking at Belize and Hawaii? There are lots of places to dive, wondering what draws you to those?

What about food? Price? Activities?

What about them?

Belize and Hawaii are very different diving and everything else. They both have lots of other things to do, with a notable difference - in Hawaii it's easy to dive in the morning then do other stuff in the afternoon (elevation changes permitting.) Belize, the places you dive and the places you do most of the other stuff available are not near each other, and possibly separated by lots of water. So if you did want to do other things in Belize it can work better to split a trip into diving and non-diving portions. It's possible to base yourself in one place and do land things one day and dive another, but not necessarily convenient. It's somewhat easier to do land based things when diving in southern Belize, but the reef is far away there and morning dives will take more of your day, so maybe still not so convenient to mix it up.

 

[diversteve]

My trips to Maui probably represented some of the most expensive diving I have done

Absolutely true - everything is higher on Maui. To defray some of that stay in Kihei, maybe cookf a few meals and shore dive - there must be 15 dive sites within 3 mi. of each other - all nice beach entries. To get some experience hire a guide once, it's mostly what Maui Dreams Dive Co, does or there's Shaka Divers or Scuba Mike. Some of the boat dive operators also guide since most boats return by Noon.
Up in Lahaina, there's Tiny Bubbles or Extended Horizons - also a boat operator.

 

[Damselfish]

There are 3 kinds of diving you can do in Belize: liveaboards, atolls and taking boat from the mainland. The last option will require longish boat trips cause the reefs are relatively far, and options 1 and 2 isolate you from everything but diving.

To clarify for the OP - dive boat trips from the mainland in the south, such as Placencia, are long rides. Boats from the mainland at Belize City are for cruise ship passengers - if you're going to Belize on vacation you do not stay and dive from there.

Boat dives from Ambergris (an island, not an atoll) are short, but my understanding is the diving is not as good as the atolls (where the liveaboards spend all their time). Ambergris is not quite as isolated from the mainland, as there is a small airport and ferries, but still non-trivial to do things on the mainland.

You may have read about the Blue Hole. Some people like it, some don't. Either way I wouldn't consider doing it as a new diver.