Diving Recommendations for Ambergris Caye, Belize

[becky_scuba]

Hi All.
I just returned from a fantastic dive trip to Ambergris Caye, Belize Jan 26-Feb 2nd-& thought that perhaps someone would like some recommendations from my experience!

Sunbreeze hotel-was great & was right on the beach

Dive Operator: Aqua Dives, right on the beach of the hotel. Our divemaster was Eric, you should ask for him because he was AWESOME-very attentive to the groups needs.

Type of diving: Most of our dives were on the main barrier reef. That is a lot of finger canyons. There was a lot of coral, but not as many fish as my previous Caribbean experience in Bonaire!

More specifics on the diving, all on the main reef except Monday:

Sunday: Tres Cocos & Boca Ciego-ok dives, not that exciting

Monday: Went off the main reef, a 3 hour boat ride to the blue hole. This was a $125 upgrade from the regular price because of the long distance. The blue hole was not what I expected. When we jumped in the water, I saw about 5 black tip sharks-which I had never seen! We descended down to 140 feet and entered the small cave area with the huge Stalagtites (sp?). It was neat, but very, very dark. Anyone doing this should take a flashlight! And because of the depth, we could only stay down for 2 or 3 minutes and had to begin ascending.

The second dive was at Half Moon Caye which was an AWESOME dive-very similar to my experience in Bonaire-tons and tons of beautiful fish and coral. Lunch on the island and a brief walk to the Red Footed Booby Bird sanctuary, then off to dive #3 at the Aquarium. Again, another dive with tons of fish and coral-both were a photographer's dream! A 3 hour boat ride back to Ambergris Caye followed!

Tuesday: Back to the main reef for the remainder of the week.
Hol Chan-The shallowest dive of the week at 30 feet deep. Not the typical finger canyons but schools of fish, crab, lobster, and stingrays-very neat dive.
Shark Ray Alley-no diving allowed here, only snorkeling due to the shallow water. Tons of stingrays to look at and some nurse sharks
Eagle Ray Canyon-VERY COOL DIVE! Here we got up close and personal with several spotted Eagle Rays!! WOW!!! Highly Recommended!
Hol Chan-back here for my one night dive-the crabs and Lobsters were out and they are Huge!!! You can watch the Stingrays covering themselves with sand to sleep too!

Wednesday:
Victoria's Cavern-Has a NEAT swim through at 95 feet, otherwise the typical finger canyon dive

San Pedro Canyon-TONS of nurse sharks upon descent-the divemaster chummed the water and he helped us catch the nurse sharks and take photos. AWESOME!

Thursday:
Tackle Box-some neat Swim-throughs that are long and windy
Esmerelda-more nurse shark chumming & photo ops......

Friday:
Cypress Gardens-has a long dark swim-through-take your flashlight if you like...
Tackle Box-saw a HUGE porcupine fish with a smaller one-was a neat photo op!

Other Items to Be aware of aside from diving.....

1.) Bring more cash than you think you should! I usually take a small amount of cash on a trip and use my Visa, but I had to hit the ATM several times in one week. There are marine park fees for some of the dive locations that I wasn't aware of.....$40 to go to the blue hole marine park (yes, that's on top of the upgrade fee) and $10 to go to Hol Chan.

2.) Rent a golf cart one day and find the crocodile feeder....ask somebody how to get there.....you buy the chicken at the store and the guy will accept tips to string the chicken and lure the crocodile up to the shore with all the onlookers from other golf carts watching!

3.) Go to the chicken toss.....find out when they do it-people place bets ahead of time and they toss a chicken on a giant bingo-type board and whichever number the chicken craps on first that person wins a hundred bucks....

4.) Be aware that it costs $35 US or $70 Belize to leave the country at the end of your trip-only payable in cash, no visa accepted...

5.) Cheap best breakfast you could ask for.....go to the French Bakery-a guy moved to AC from France and opened a traditional french bakery-it is awesome and you can get a bakery item and coffee or drink for less than $3.00 US!!!

6.) Everyone should try Estel's restraunt on the beach-they offer breakfast and Lunch-it is cash only but the best food ever & very reasonably priced! Try the fry jacks-they are a great treat!!!!!

7.) Right across from the airport is the decompression chamber-the only one in Belize. Our group went in to take a look & a photo just to see what it looked like. An interesting experience!
OK, I know this was long but it was an awesome week with lots of cool stuff! I hope this info helps someone!

 

[peterbj7]

Great that you enjoyed it. There have been several people recently trashing our local diving on these pages.

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

We only had a chance to snorkel at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley but it was pretty incredible. Huge amounts of sea life in those areas, made me wish I had done the dive instead but we had a week on the Nekton following AC. To be honest, I don't think we saw bigger schools of fish anywhere while on the Nekton than we did just of Ambergris. If the rest of AC diving is like those two sites I would definitly head back.

 

[Jeff88]

Glad you had a great trip. My wife and I love AC...we have been there 3 times in the last 3 years...trying to plan another trip there for early '09.
Few things on your tips list
1. We usually take half our spending $$ in cash and the other half in travelers checks. Not all places on AC take credit cards.
2. Feeding the crocs is against the law there. Only reason it is done is for the local guy doing to feeding to make $$ from tourists giving him tips. Did he let you take his photo while doing it?
3. It's called the "chicken drop"...fun time. If your the lucky winner..you also get to clean the board up.
4. Some airlines include the exit fee in your tickets...so do not. Best to check what taxes/fees are included in your airfare when you book.
6. Man i miss the fry jacks there . Many great resturants on the island. You can literly eat from one end to the other.

That's it...time to start planning another trip there.

 

[carolrose]

Thanks for the detailed descriptions of the dives. I've been down there twice in the past year, but with a non diving friend so I haven't done a bunch of those dives. Your descriptions make me want to book another trip back.

 

[becky_scuba]

Glad you had a great trip. My wife and I love AC...we have been there 3 times in the last 3 years...trying to plan another trip there for early '09.
Few things on your tips list
1. We usually take half our spending $$ in cash and the other half in travelers checks. Not all places on AC take credit cards.
2. Feeding the crocs is against the law there. Only reason it is done is for the local guy doing to feeding to make $$ from tourists giving him tips. Did he let you take his photo while doing it?
3. It's called the "chicken drop"...fun time. If your the lucky winner..you also get to clean the board up.
4. Some airlines include the exit fee in your tickets...so do not. Best to check what taxes/fees are included in your airfare when you book.
6. Man i miss the fry jacks there . Many great resturants on the island. You can literly eat from one end to the other.

That's it...time to start planning another trip there.

The croc guy did let everyone take place.....didn't know that was illegal. It was one of those things that just happened without planning. I have a video clip of it actually....

 

[becky_scuba]

The croc guy did let everyone take place.....didn't know that was illegal. It was one of those things that just happened without planning. I have a video clip of it actually....

Oops....I meant to say he let everyone take PICS!!!

 

[becky_scuba]

Thanks for the detailed descriptions of the dives. I've been down there twice in the past year, but with a non diving friend so I haven't done a bunch of those dives. Your descriptions make me want to book another trip back.

Sure, no problem. My only other place to compare it to (mulitple dives) was Bonaire. The main difference I noticed between the two was that in general, Bonaire seems to have more schools of fish and more colorful coral. On the main reef of AC there seems to be more of the big stuff divers want to see like nurse sharks, moray eels, stingrays, and eagle rays. I would definately say there was not a TON of fish on AC's main reef. But when we went to the marine park of Hol Chan, there was quite a lot of fish there, as well as the dives at the Aquarium and Half Moon Caye out on our Blue Hole dive day. Those dives reminded me of Bonaire....with fond memories!

 

[TJ O'Dwyer]

Great report! I am heading to AC at the end of the month. Hope to see as much as you

 

[tomjmcpeak]

As a land economist, and student of the Caribbean, here are my published sixteen criteria for the ideal destination outside the U.S.:

1. Naturally beautiful, and beauty is protected.
2. No standing army (consequently no junta).
3. Stable and progressive government.
4. Low crime rate.
5. Low government social costs (not a welfare state).
6. Tax haven.
7. Direct flights from major U.S. airports.
8. Small local population relative to land mass.
9. Economy based primarily on tourism and banking.
10. Good wireless coverage and high-speed internet service.
11. Currency tied to U.S. dollar.
12. Primary language is English.
13. Friendly population.
14. Traditional values-based culture.
15. Primarily resort experience rather than cultural experience.
16. Feeling of privacy, safety, and exclusivity.

Did I include GREAT DIVING??!

i ALSO HAPPEN TO BE THE u.s. sALES ADMINISTRATOR FOR A NEW 800+ ACRE RESORT DEVELOPMENT ON THE SOUTH END OF aMBERGRIS cAYE, CALLED sOUTH bEACH bELIZE (pRE-CONSTRUCTION PRICES ARE VERY REASONABLE - HOUSE AND LOT FOR ABOUT $135/sQUARE FOOT. cHECK OUT www3.southbeachbelize.com/invitation.php, AND CONTACT ME IF i CAN FILL IN ANY DETAILS: TOM MCPEAK, PH.d., TMCPEAK@GMAIL.COM, CELL: 850-774-8501.