belize vs honduras

[melaniebecker]

Hi there
I am in central america and am trying to decide whether belize is a better dive option than honduras. Honduras is a third of the price and my guide book is also telling me that a lot of the coral in belize has been destroyed. A friend of mine who has never dived is joining me but is being lulled in by the better quality websites in belize and that it´s all in english. Any comments. Honduras or Belize???

 

[billwalton1648]

I'm not sure about Honduras, but Ambergrise Cay in Belize is fantatic: sandy roads with only "golf carts" for tranportation; reasonable prices; great restaurants... and the perfect place to stay - Banyan Bay.. they have two room luxury suites for around $175-$185 in the low season.. about 3/4 of a mile to town.. but its a fun walk only the beach... or you can take the road and listen to the spanish speaking parrots in the trees! Dive at the Banyon bay.. the dive master there (I think his name is Rudy) is fantastic.. and even though the barrier reef (only a five minute boat ride) is a little broken up from a recent hurricane.. the dives are good to great... you dive canyons and ridges.. there a nurse sharks on some of the dives... which didn't appeal to me at first, but they are like big catfish... our best dive was to descend right on top of five of them in about 90' of water... Rudy seemed to know them all by name.. they "introduced" themselves to us, them accompanied the group on a 50 minute three dimension journey that was very similar to walking dogs without a lease!..... I've dove Bonaire, and several other places in the Caribbean... the diving in Bonarie is definitely better but Ambergrise Cay has more to do.. the people speak English and are very friendly and the accommodations (Banyan Bay) are clearly superior.. and its closer and cheaper.. to summerize: you're giving up a little bit of dive quality (not much) versus the "top spots" (Cozumel, Bonaire, Caymans, etc.) but Ambergrize Cay is my choice (an my non-divers choice) as our next destination... Bill

 

[Lil' Irish Temper]

Welcome to the board

 

[doole]

I'm partial to Honduras - YMMV.

There's TONS of macro critters, (which I love) the night diving is world class and the dives are generally very shallow (as opposed to Belize.)

I've had dives at some of the mounts that lasted an hour and a half, on an AL80. Just like a great big long safety stop with lots of critters. I loved it.

 

[murphdivers286]

Welcome to the board. You may want to post this question in the General Travel & Vacation Discussions forum.

Click here ---->[red]General Travel & Vacation discussions[/red]

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources. At the bottom, be sure to notice the Local & Singles Dive Club forums.

I'd suggest Roatan or Utila. Run searches on both here!!

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

Hi melaniebecker, my name is Matt. I would like to welcome you to Scuba Board! It’s a great place for people that appreciate scuba diving. and safe diving. Cheers!

Click here to greet a new member! :happywave
No experience needed and it feels great!​

 

[riverdiver]

I enjoyed Ambergrise Cay in Belize, very good diving,also stayed at Banyon Bay best place on Ambergrise,nice pool,on an other note the beaches suck, full of seaweed no shore diving or swimming.
Ed

 

[Otter]

As I just returned from Belize, I will posting a trip report shortly. The short answer is that Belize is an easy set of dives for new divers. Virtually no current, warm water, and good viz. There are lots of little fish, a few octopus, eels, and turtles. There is the very occasional shark....in 28 dives, we got a glimpse of one small nurse shark. We were on the Sun Dancer II (Peter Hughes liveaboard).

We talked with a couple returning from Honduras and got basically an even bleaker picture....they saw one turtle and one eel. As one of our fellow passengers said, (this was his 25th liveaboard -- must be nice!), in Honduras, anything bigger than 2 inches is on the end of a fork....except Whale Shark season which is coming up pretty soon.

 

[aka_diver]

It's been about 12 years but the last time I was in Roatan I stayed at AKR. The diving is better then Cozumel but not much to do other then resort events. Never been to Belize. If your a left coaster I'd recommed the South Pacific Fiji etc.