Cozumel Vs. Belize?

[DeputyDan]

As of today - The Blue Tang Inn on AC.
We have never stayed on AC and are debating the merits of staying there or going south.
My wife does not dive (she is OK if I dive all day) as long as she has a shaded place to read with a good view and no cooking!!!

 

[chillyinCanada]

Blue tang is a cool place. Who will you dive with?

---------- Post added December 12th, 2012 at 01:48 PM ----------

Mike, you've sure got a lot to say for a guy who's never been to Belize.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Hey DeputyDan, just checked out the Blue Tang online. Neat place. I'll have to add it to my Belize list and contact those folks. Maybe they will be at Beneath the Sea in March. Always looking for Caribbean places with good diver feedback.

 

[Mike]

Chilly

The Scubaboard Belize section is full of trip reports with divers reporting exactly what I've warned a newbie to be aware of and you keep on acting like it's not going on. Other dive shop owners have even chimed in on this thread in agreement with what I've said, and you're still in denial. You sure seem to have a lot to defend. Do you own something that benefits from tourism in Belize? For somebody who pretends to have blinders on to the situation you sure seems to have ulterior motives in why you'd do so much to quiet the truth from being voiced and keep beating this dead horse.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Also as for Blue Tang try to get the top floor front Oceanside.

 

[doogisar]

The Blue Tang looks like a great place in person beach side, but I have not stayed there. We were at the Sunbreeze Hotel all three times but the next time around we might try other placed. Don't forget to make your way around to check out all the restaurants amazing food. I really liked the Blue Water Grill, Feidos, Hurricane, and one other, I can picture it in my mind but not the name. either way it is not too expensive and a great place to visit the very small town of San Pedro. If you are there late June to July 5th or so, they have the Lobster Festival which is awesome, the whole Island gets into it and it is celebrated in Palencia and on Caye Caulker as well. They rotate from one to the next. Lobster Tails for $7 can't be beat and the food in the town center from the small vendors is really good too. $.50 US for a taco, equals $1 Belize Dollar.

 

[slenderff]

If you have not even been to Belize then i am afraid you have loast all credability in my eyes. Better to speak of YOUR experiences than keep regurgitating others. The fact remains that there are good decent operators and people like you who constanly bash Belize as being some wild west frontier of diving are becoming boring. As in all walks of life if you cannot make up your own mind as to what is safe and reasonable then you only have yourself to blame.
Maybe you should actualy dive in Belize.

Chilly

The Scubaboard Belize section is full of trip reports with divers reporting exactly what I've warned a newbie to be aware of and you keep on acting like it's not going on. Other dive shop owners have even chimed in on this thread in agreement with what I've said, and you're still in denial. You sure seem to have a lot to defend. Do you own something that benefits from tourism in Belize? For somebody who pretends to have blinders on to the situation you sure seems to have ulterior motives in why you'd do so much to quiet the truth from being voiced and keep beating this dead horse.

 

[DeputyDan]

We have been to Belize - just not to Ambergris Caye.

Mike has a point about some of the Blue Hole trips. The only issue that I have with the blue hole trips under discussion is that many new divers really don't know what they don't know and thus can't really make an informed decision.

I have personally never has an issue with dive operators in "tropical destinations" and this includes Belize but I pay attention with what is posted on this board and try to get recommendations of other divers (Being in an active dive community helps alot).

Also taking stress and rescue really helps when considering dive operations. At least my instructor spent quite a bit of time on things to be aware of and things to "casually" watch for when using/selecting an operator.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Mike, I'm just a diver. I neither have any vested interests in Belize nor do I have on blinders. But I'm at least relating personal experience whereas you are merely repeating what you've read. Frankly, I don't think you should go to Belize. Your negative perception will go with you and ruin your overall trip and likely that of anyone that ends up diving with you.

 

[Downing]

I disagree. Mike should go to Belize and experience first-hand all that Belize has to offer, including some outstanding dive operators.

The fact is that there are some issues with some operators at the Blue Hole. Since for whatever reason everyone's always reluctant to name the bad ones, it would be prudent for a first-timer to ask around for the names of the good ones.

As far as I can tell, the bad ones are limited to one spot, Ambergris Caye. This is where the majority of divers go for vacation, and they often think of a dive op there as representative of all Belizean dive ops everywhere, including the entire country.

It's frustrating that so many people do this. We've had some near hysterical postings about "Bad Experience in Belize" and "Unsafe Operators in Belize" that almost always turn out to be about an AC op at the Blue Hole and at least sometimes aren't even well-founded to begin with.