Belize?

[DM Gary]

We usually take a short trip to Cozumel in November. It comprises of five days on the island with three days of diving, with three or four dives per day. Since SW is flying into Belize City for about the same price as Cancun, I was wondering if a trip of that time frame and dive schedule is feasible. If so, what are the easier to reach islands that have good diving?
We did two cruise dives with Hugh Parkey's a number of years back-which were very nice-but they don't seem to have a website anymore. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

 

[Pyro_]

Easiest ones to get to would be caye caulker and ambergris caye. You will find that caulker is the more relaxed and layed back of the two and not as much built up.

I can recomend Belize diving services on caye caulker for diving Belize Diving Services - Belize Scuba Diving - Great Blue Hole

 

[drrich2]

My Belize diving was via live-aboard, which you can't do with that schedule, so others can give you 1st hand accounts. From reading others' posts, the impression I got was Splash Divers in Placencia for land-based activities plus diving, perhaps with longer boat trips, Ambergris Caye as the touristy 'sort of island' with fairly good Caribbean diving, Caye Caulker more laid back with somewhat longer boat rides vs. Ambergris Caye, and for the better diving, you head on out to the farther islands like Turneffe Atoll, but that's more isolated and can be expensive.

There are others, but those are what I see mentioned the most.

Apologies if I misunderstood and misreported anything; I figured others will spot and correct my errors if such there be. I posted in case you need something to start organizing a forum search of trip reports and try to make some sense of it all, since the various options can be disorienting.

Do you want to do Mayan Ruins (did 3 on a cruise ship stop, boat trip up New River to Lamanai; very nice!), or other land-based activities? Who all are 'we,' and what ages? Non-divers to entertain? These things can change a destination.

Richard.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

we just got back from Belieze in May. We stayed on Ambergris Caye at Sunbreeze Hotel. We flew the puddle jumper from Belieze City so travel was easy. The diving around AC was good...but not spectacular. I will tell you what everyone else will say about Bluehole. From the depth, to new divers, to the 2 1/2 hour boat ride to get there, the Bucketlist Bluehole is really pretty .... meh. The two dives after Blue Hole are spectacular and make everything else worth it. The surface interval on Half Moon Caye is one of the most beautiful spots I've ever been. We did another three dive day and saw dolphins and a manatee named Jimmy. Those were great dives as well.

The moral of the story is you had to get away from AC to get to the fantastic diving. I'd do it again if we found the right deal, but it would have to be a deal. Cozumel is so far our favorite spot (twice a year) and we would go back to Roatan and Turquoise Bay Resort as well. I wrote fairly lengthy trip reports on both.

Safe travels,
Jay

 

[_Ralph]

To get that many dives in, AC is the spot to be. Although they will be in the immediate area, and as noted above, not the greatest Belize has to offer.

If 2 dives/day is up your alley (you mentioned 3-4 above), then diving off Caye Caulker would be my choice. Dive the sites towards the south.

_R

 

[lowflyer]

Look into staying at one of the resorts on Turneffe Atoll. Much closer to the better diving, including the Blue Hole, if that is something you want to do.

 

[Edward3c]

We usually take a short trip to Cozumel in November. It comprises of five days on the island with three days of diving, with three or four dives per day. Since SW is flying into Belize City for about the same price as Cancun, I was wondering if a trip of that time frame and dive schedule is feasible. If so, what are the easier to reach islands that have good diving?
We did two cruise dives with Hugh Parkey's a number of years back-which were very nice-but they don't seem to have a website anymore. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

You could do something different, have a look at ReefCI.

 

[drrich2]

Dive Trip to the Blue Hole and to visit Half-Moon Caye. Should give you an idea what's involved, although different people at different times have different experiences.

Richard.

 

[drrich2]

You could do something different, have a look at ReefCI.

I scanned some Trip Advisor reviews on them; is it true they don't have air conditioning? No AC in the tropics is a no-go for me, but obviously some people don't see it as an obstacle.

Richard.

 

[Downing]

Diving in Coz is what triggered us to look into Belize many years ago. Now I go to Belize every year and haven't been back to Coz since. Loved the drift diving but it was just too crowded for us.

Where you would go in Belize would depend on your priorities. If you just want to dive your brains out--nothing wrong with that--then I'd say head for one of the resorts out on the cayes. Turneffe Island Resort, Turneffe Flats, Hatchet Caye and Blackbird Resort come to mind. Eat, sleep, dive. Think summer camp for adults. Expensive but inclusive with very nice accommodations, good food and lots of diving.

Most folks go to Ambergris Caye followed by Caye Caulker. Different islands with somewhat different vibes. Lots of dive ops to choose from on AC, along with accommodations, places to eat and drink.

If you want to spend any time checking out the mainland, then look at Hamansi in Hopkins or, my favorite, Placencia, both of which are further south and border the jungle. Accommodations in Placencia range from the high end, like Francis Ford Coppola's Turtle Inn, to youth hostels and all points in between. I always dive with my good friends at Splash Dive Center.

ReefCI looks really cool. The lack of AC would give me pause, too. I don't really need it during the day but man, it's hard to sleep at night without it (personal experience out in the jungle). Hopefully they have some big box fans.

Belize is really easy to get around by air or car. There are two puddle jumpers, Maya and Tropic, with no real difference between the two. They can get you any where you decide to go except for the atoll resorts. If you do one of those then you'll be transported by that resort from BZ City and back on a boat. You could also rent a car and drive. There aren't that many roads so getting lost isn't a problem, but I don't really recommend it for first-timers. Btw, you probably don't want to spend any time more than you have to in Belize City. It's pretty rough, not a tourist town like San Miguel. Depending on your schedule, you might have to spend the night there if you're headed for the atoll, in which case I'd recommend the Ft George Radisson or The Great House right across the street.