reddog
Registered
I and a buddy dove for a week in Belize this past February (2005).
We flew directly into Belize City from Newark, NJ and made a quick and easy transfer to the local puddle jumper that took us to Ambergris Caye. Total cost of airfare was $400 for the EWR to Belize link and then $49 for the short hop.
Arrived in AC, met at the airport by the hotel driver and whisked off. We stayed at the Exotic Caye. It's about a 10/15 minute walk from the center of San Pedro but still in the thick of things. Besides, once you make your dive arrangements, there's no real reason to go to town center except for the walk itself. The hotel is right near a supermarket and several good restaurants, the staff is very friendly and helpful, its got a good bar on the beach and a great little breakfast cafe. We took a two bedroom suite with kitchenette that, with a loft and a couch, could easily sleep 4-8 individuals. Porch looked out over the ocean. Cost was $120/night.
Made our dive arrangements through Amigos del Mar, based on recommendations I picked up through the board. It was a very good choice. The proprietor was very helpful and tolerant of two highly caffenated New Yorkers bursting in with an urge to dive. The boats were lare and well-equipped and the dive staff were professional.
Two things I noticed that you should watch out for. First, I wanted to complete my Nitrox cert while down there and so had asked the manager of ADM if I could do it there, to which he said yes. When I got there, I saw no Nitrox filling equipment or tanks. I had already decided to forego the cert, so this didn't alter my plans. My presumption is that ADM could have set me up to do the cert, but it wasn't somethign they did regularly. Lesson -- push for details if you book over the phone.
Second -- diving in Belize is deep diving. We averaged 100-140'. Max bottom time tends to be quite short. Stay a few feet above the guide or you'll hit the NDC limit before the rest of the group.
Diving is easy there. Every morning we dove we went out to the hotel dock and ADM picked us up to take us to their main dock and staging point, where our gear was waiting for us from the prior day. At day's end we'd be back at this dock and they'd taxi us back to the hotel. Our gear was well-cared for and nothing ever got mis-placed.
We dove just inside Hol Chan, Victoria Tunnels, the Lighthouse Reef and the Great Blue hole. All suffered from the algae blight that is currently hitting the Caribbean. As a result, the beautiful Belize reefs that we see in the photos are dull. Also, as advertised, there is much less fish life than I have seen in the rest of the Caribbean.
That said, every dive was a great one due to the combination of great structures and the dive guides. The dive conditions were perfect, the water warm and the currents low. Except for Hol Chan, all the other sites had many structures to float around and through, keeping the travel interesting. The Blue Hole, which is devoid of most everything, is a facsinating swim through the stalactites of the cave ceiling. You could see from all the structures that if it wasn't for the algae this would truly be a spectacular place to dive.
Every dive was accompanied by a great number of sharks, which was kind of neat. in contrast to other dives I've done, the guides all brought food of one sort or another along, leaving a trail as we went that attracted the nurse and reef sharks. On one dive, the guide was actually swarmed by nurse sharks trying to suck off the clorox bottle full of chum he had brought.
I know, this is hokey stuff, but I have to admit that it was fun to watch and demystifying to be around that many sharks that many times.
On the day before we left we took a water taxi to the mainland and did the Mayan Temple thing. Facsinating. Be sure to get a good, knowledgeable guide.
Ambergris Caye is paradise. White white sand surrounded by blue blue water. Friendly people, good food and reasonable prices. We didn't even scratch the surface of the diving it has to offer and I would go back in an instant.
We flew directly into Belize City from Newark, NJ and made a quick and easy transfer to the local puddle jumper that took us to Ambergris Caye. Total cost of airfare was $400 for the EWR to Belize link and then $49 for the short hop.
Arrived in AC, met at the airport by the hotel driver and whisked off. We stayed at the Exotic Caye. It's about a 10/15 minute walk from the center of San Pedro but still in the thick of things. Besides, once you make your dive arrangements, there's no real reason to go to town center except for the walk itself. The hotel is right near a supermarket and several good restaurants, the staff is very friendly and helpful, its got a good bar on the beach and a great little breakfast cafe. We took a two bedroom suite with kitchenette that, with a loft and a couch, could easily sleep 4-8 individuals. Porch looked out over the ocean. Cost was $120/night.
Made our dive arrangements through Amigos del Mar, based on recommendations I picked up through the board. It was a very good choice. The proprietor was very helpful and tolerant of two highly caffenated New Yorkers bursting in with an urge to dive. The boats were lare and well-equipped and the dive staff were professional.
Two things I noticed that you should watch out for. First, I wanted to complete my Nitrox cert while down there and so had asked the manager of ADM if I could do it there, to which he said yes. When I got there, I saw no Nitrox filling equipment or tanks. I had already decided to forego the cert, so this didn't alter my plans. My presumption is that ADM could have set me up to do the cert, but it wasn't somethign they did regularly. Lesson -- push for details if you book over the phone.
Second -- diving in Belize is deep diving. We averaged 100-140'. Max bottom time tends to be quite short. Stay a few feet above the guide or you'll hit the NDC limit before the rest of the group.
Diving is easy there. Every morning we dove we went out to the hotel dock and ADM picked us up to take us to their main dock and staging point, where our gear was waiting for us from the prior day. At day's end we'd be back at this dock and they'd taxi us back to the hotel. Our gear was well-cared for and nothing ever got mis-placed.
We dove just inside Hol Chan, Victoria Tunnels, the Lighthouse Reef and the Great Blue hole. All suffered from the algae blight that is currently hitting the Caribbean. As a result, the beautiful Belize reefs that we see in the photos are dull. Also, as advertised, there is much less fish life than I have seen in the rest of the Caribbean.
That said, every dive was a great one due to the combination of great structures and the dive guides. The dive conditions were perfect, the water warm and the currents low. Except for Hol Chan, all the other sites had many structures to float around and through, keeping the travel interesting. The Blue Hole, which is devoid of most everything, is a facsinating swim through the stalactites of the cave ceiling. You could see from all the structures that if it wasn't for the algae this would truly be a spectacular place to dive.
Every dive was accompanied by a great number of sharks, which was kind of neat. in contrast to other dives I've done, the guides all brought food of one sort or another along, leaving a trail as we went that attracted the nurse and reef sharks. On one dive, the guide was actually swarmed by nurse sharks trying to suck off the clorox bottle full of chum he had brought.
I know, this is hokey stuff, but I have to admit that it was fun to watch and demystifying to be around that many sharks that many times.
On the day before we left we took a water taxi to the mainland and did the Mayan Temple thing. Facsinating. Be sure to get a good, knowledgeable guide.
Ambergris Caye is paradise. White white sand surrounded by blue blue water. Friendly people, good food and reasonable prices. We didn't even scratch the surface of the diving it has to offer and I would go back in an instant.
It was a nice site, smooth entry, little current, and lots of small stuff to look at. It's even better at night. We made 19 dives in our 9 days of diving. Again, I can't say enough about our divemasters. We mostly dove with DM Brian at Protech. Did make one dive to Eagle Ray Canyons with Gilbert on our last day with Protech. It was only my wife and I on the boat. Hence, the Eagle ray pics in the gallery. Ask for the dive and they'll take you there. With Amigo's, Marciano was our DM for both days. He also was top notch. We booked all our diving with Protech, and on the days we dove the outer atolls, they made all the arrangements for our travel with Amigo's . Peter Jones, the Protech owner was good about emailing and communication. Depending on whether you want morning or afternoon diving, they can accomodate you. The hardest thing about the distance trips was hitting the dock at 5:30am, but Amigo's large boat made the 2-2 1/2 trip much more enjoyable. Feel free to PM me if you've got any specific questions on the operations, the island or the island food. Dive safe, Ken :42:
