Best place for divers and non-divers

[BLW]

I am planning a 10 day vacation in Belize with my family in March, 2015. I'll probably rent a house. What is the best place to stay that gives me good access to a wide range of dive sites, but is not too isolated for my teenagers & wife (who are lukewarm divers). Appreciate recommendations for a good diver operator that can offer personalized service. I suspect San Pedro, but I wonder if I'm missing something. Thanks.

 

[Downing]

Hey, welcome to ScubaBoard.

What sort of activities would your wife and son want to do when not diving?

San Pedro is by far the most built up for tourists so not surprisingly it's where most tourists go. It would have the most shopping, restaurants, bars, nightlife, etc.

If they're interested in some mainland activities, like Mayan ruins, cave tubing, jungle hiking, the Zoo, etc all of these are accessible from SP but they would spend a fair amount of time traveling back and forth by boat or air and car. In that case, you would be better off staying in Hopkins or Placencia. Both are on the mainland, although Placencia has a definite island vibe. I'd recommend Hamanasi for the former. Not a house, obviously, but a super nice place with a PADI shop on site. If it's the latter, I'd recommend using Splash Dive Center. You should be able to rent a house there easily enough. Patty Ramirez, Splash co-owner and operator, can help with the accommodations.

By "wide range of dive sites" I suspect you may be planning to do the Blue Hole. There's a thread a few threads down that discusses the BH at length and you probably should read it.

It sounds like this is your first time to Belize. You'll find a wealth of information in the threads here. I also recommend Belize Insight Travel Guide. It's not a dive guide, although it will mention some sites, but it's a really great travel guide that breaks down the country district by district and has a ton of glossy photographs.

 

[BLW]

Thank you for the welcome and the advice. In thinking about things further, I think my real questions are as follows:
1 - Is San Pedro a good home base from which to explore Turneffe atolls, Light house reef (possibly Glovers reef), as well as diving spots around Ambergris caye?
2 - If there are better locations (say Turneffe atoll), is there enough of a community/activity base at these locations for non-divers to enjoy themselves (e.g., restaurants, shops, kayaking destinations, bike paths, snorkeling & beaches)?
Your views on this would be really appreciated.

 

[Downing]

San Pedro is an excellent base for exploring the dive sites off AC. The other sites not so much since the boat ride would be around 2.5 to 3 hours each way. Glovers probably even longer.

There are several resorts out on the atoll. Turneffe Island Resort, Blackbird Caye Resort and Turneffe Flats are the big three. They don't really do restaurants or shops as they are more of a "get away from it all" type of experience. BCR has the most land so it's possible they may have bike paths. All three offer snorkeling and beaches in spades. I know TIR has some kayaks but I don't know about kayaking destinations.

Given your list of priorities, I'd say San Pedro would probably work best for you on this trip unless you think your wife and son would be ok with mostly just snorkeling and relaxing on the beach, in which case you should consider the atolls.

 

[AWMIII]

The tradeoff for San Pedro is most local sites are good and less than 10 minutes from the dock. Surface intervals are done at a café in town. Lighthouse and Turneffe are LONG day trips. I don't think anyone runs a trip to Glovers from San Pedro. There is NOTHING socially except for the other people staying at your resort at either Turneffe or Lighthouse. We like to visit a lot of local restaurants and my daughter usually ends up playing with the local kids on the beach. The mainland places (Hopkins and Placencia) usually involve a minimum 45 minute (calm and protected) boat ride to the sites (no idea how they compare to the sites off San Pedro) and are still 3hrs or so from Lighthouse and 2hrs from Turneffe. Whale Shark dives are more easily accessed from Placencia and Hopkins.

The mainland tours cost more from San Pedro, but probably do not take anymore time since a 20 minute flight gets you almost anywhere in the country. How long does it take to drive from Placencia to San Ignacio?, Belmopan?, Tikal? I usually do a couple of days at Caves Branch Resort (www.cavesbranch.com) to get the jungle adventure out of my daughters blood before heading to San Pedro to relax and dive. Tons of kids and young adults always seem to be at Caves Branch.

 

[Downing]

How long does it take to drive from Placencia to San Ignacio?, Belmopan?, Tikal?

Placencia to Belmopan by car--not sure why you'd want to stop there except maybe to gawk at the American Embassy--takes about 2 hours. A good chunk of that is the Hummingbird Highway, which is probably the prettiest drive in Belize.

Placencia to SI is an extra half hour. Basically, go to Belmopan and hang a left on the Western Highway.

Tikal? I have no idea. Still on my bucket list.

Of course, if you drive like Wendy, owner and proprietor of Wendy's Restaurant in Placencia, you can probably shave an hour off both times. I was passed by her twice on the same trip, once on the Hummingbird and then again on the the Southern Highway. I was doing around 75mph, and she blew by me like I was standing still.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Things to do besides diving from Placencia - Hike, river tube, swim under a waterfall in Cockscomb Wildlife Sancturary (worlds largest jaguar perserve), Monkey River tirip to see the wildlife and do a manatee watch on the way back, visit the southern Maya ruins, do one of many Mayan cultural tours, jungle horseback riding, kayaking, zipline, do day trip to ATM Cave, day trip to Xunantunich and Blue Hole National Park, enjoy the longest and best beach in Belize, snorkel with huge turtles near Silk Cayes, enjoy the many unique local restaurants, fish (troll, spin cast, deep sea or fly), etc etc. Lots to do here besides diving.

I like to tell people you can leave Placencia after breakfast and zipline, go jungle river tubing, visit a Maya ruin and be back on the beach with a drink in your hand before it gets dark!

Regards
Ralph

 

[Turneffe Flats]

Hi BLW - Since you have 10 days planned for Belize, you could split your vacation time between one of the island resorts at the atolls, and one in the western rainforest like Chaa Creek or Caves Branch. That way you can experience the world class diving the Belize atolls have to offer, and spend time in the jungle hiking, caving, river kayaking or tubing, and visiting Mayan ruins. This seems to be a particularly popular way to see Belize, as many vacationers have been doing just that. At the island resort of Turneffe Flats, we have a great program for divers that includes diving around the Turneffe atoll, and a trip to Lighthouse Reef atoll and the great Blue Hole. There is also an active program for non-divers. We call it the Atoll Adventures package that includes snorkeling, birding, manatee, dolphin and crocodile watching, and reef walks.