Cozumel or Belize in late October?

[jcole]

I hope this topic has not been done to death, but I was hoping to get some fresh feedback on it in light of the recent hurricane in Cozumel.

I'm a relatively new diver that has dove Coz about two years ago as my first diving destination. Last year, I dove Grand Cayman and this year I'm planning a family/diving trip to either Cozumel again or Belize (for the first time).

There will be a group of about 3-4 couples each with kids, rotating duties with the children and trying to get some good diving in.

We'll probably stay at the Iberostar again if we end up in Cozumel, and in San Pedro/Ambergris Caye if we go to Belize.

We're trying to take into acccount many factors to make sure that we choose the best destination for our needs right now that will still fit into our budget, so I'm hoping to get a little feedback from people who have been to both recently with families and dove.

Thanks very much,
John

 

[WaterWayne]

John, I dug this very question out of the Cozumel forum, which is a subset of the general Mexico forum. I used the "Search this forum" clickie at the upper right of the Cozumel list, and just searched for "belize". There were four pages of hits, but this one was titled most closely.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=41590&highlight=belize

Nice to have choices of destinations!

 

[jcole]

Thanks for the heads up Wayne.

Sorry for the double posting of this topic.

John

 

[WaterWayne]

Glad to help, John. Come out and dive Lake Travis with us soon.

 

[jcole]

Would love to. Thanks for the invite.

Chances are better that I'll be able to make a weekend dive.

John

 

[sctom]

John,
My wife and son and I just got back from Cozumel. We had a great trip, dove 6 out of 8 days. This was our first trip back to Cozumel in 10 years and San Pedro was the reason it took us 10 years to get back. Don't get me wrong, as I said we had a great trip to Cozumel but I sure did miss Belize. Two different types of diving and two different type of people. San Pedro is so much more layed back. It's been 3 years since we were in San Pedro but as I recall it was much easer on the budget and the diving was great. My pick would be San Pedro then you can compare for your self.
If you choose San Pedro I would recommend Amigos del Mar Dive Shop. Their dock and shop is out front of Lilly's hotel & restaurant and the Mayan Princess Hotel. The owners adopted my family when my son was 6 or 7 years old and would keep him at their shop when we dove and then after he got certified (at 10) would let him stay at the shop for our first (deep) dive and let him go on the second dive. They do the surface intervental at the shop. Anyhow, I hope this helps.

 

[Hank49]

October is a nervous time here in Belize. This is the time when hurricanes form right in the Caribbean....real close sometimes...You may get beautiful weather or you may be wondering if you're going to get your scheduled flight in or out. I would make sure you can easily rebook your flights etc just in case.