General Belize question...

[Scott from LongIsland]

oh jeezus. I wasn't ripping anyone apart. I was simply stating facts to clarify. Don't get all worked up man.

It is a common complaint about the cost of the blue hole dive. Just take a look at the prices at any of the local shops. The Blue Hole is typically double or more than doing 3 local dives. Again, i simply think that you need some more time and experience before you make such statements. You have made all sorts of claims without any firsthand knowledge. It's a disservice to those looking for proper info. I am sorry if that offends you and gets you so upset. It's really not a big deal.

 

[Mark IV]

Easy, fellas, easy !!!!! Speaking for myself only, my mention of the cost was in general terms, looking at an entire dive vacation to Belize, and it's premiere dive attraction, the Blue Hole, versus going somewhere entirely different. Obviously, if you're already in-country, the bulk of the trouble and expense for diving the Blue Hole has already been paid, and you might as well knock out that grail dive. It would be sorta dopey not to, and I'm surely not condemning it as being on par with a Jersey quarry dive, LOL!!
But again, in my relatively modest experience diving Belize, the overall cost-to-quality-of-experience ratio is better in other places (yeah, like Cozumel).

 

[Dogbowl]

Easy, fellas, easy !!!!! Speaking for myself only, my mention of the cost was in general terms, looking at an entire dive vacation to Belize, and it's premiere dive attraction, the Blue Hole, versus going somewhere entirely different. Obviously, if you're already in-country, the bulk of the trouble and expense for diving the Blue Hole has already been paid, and you might as well knock out that grail dive. It would be sorta dopey not to, and I'm surely not condemning it as being on par with a Jersey quarry dive, LOL!!
But again, in my relatively modest experience diving Belize, the overall cost-to-quality-of-experience ratio is better in other places (yeah, like Cozumel).

It’s really hard to beat Cozumel from a value perspective.

I end up comparing everything to Cozumel.

But...I will be doing the Blue Hole on a liveaboard in a few months. First time!

 

[flyboy08]

If one has never been, Belieze is a viable diving destination....the Blue Hole is a bucket list item that's non repeatable imho....lots of places to go diving...try them all!

 

[scbaNE2179]

I was on the Belize Aggressor IV last year around Fall time and despite 70% of the divers voted against diving the Blue Hole, the captain had to accommodate the divers who really wanted to do it. Here's my thoughts on how I felt about this before, during, and after the dive to 130fsw:

 

[Dogbowl]

I was on the Belize Aggressor IV last year around Fall time and despite 70% of the divers voted against diving the Blue Hole, the captain had to accommodate the divers who really wanted to do it. Here's my thoughts on how I felt about this before, during, and after the dive to 130fsw:
View attachment 444438

Haha, I get it, I'm going to be UNDERWHELMED. But I still want to do it and be able to say that I did it and be good for the rest of my life!

 

[T.C.]

Right. And people reading this comment will take it into consideration and end up doing the Blue Hole anyway, and then post about it on yet another Belize thread to say the exact same thing. And other people will read THAT comment and take it into consideration and end up doing the Blue Hole anyway. I love it.

I didn't have much of a choice. Our liveaboard went there. It was either dive the Blue Hole or not dive.

I'll choose Dive, for $2, Alex.

 

[Snoweman]

True, but I hate misrepresentation. Do try Cayman Brac and Bonaire sometime. Did my first diving at Cozumel in 1982. IMHO it has gotten overcrowded with too many cruise boats and high rise resorts. One of my old dive buddies said: Diving in the Caribbean is like sex, even the worst I had was good!

Too many high-rise resorts??? Are you talking about the Cozumel located off of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico?

 

[Mark IV]

Too many high-rise resorts??? Are you talking about the Cozumel located off of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico?

Yeah, he was. Looks just like Miami now,eh? Horrible !! ................................................

 

[Damselfish]

Let's face it, while the actual dive itself may pale in comparison to many, a majority (?), of other sites available in the meso-american coral reef zone, one cannot disagree that this unique geological phenomenon, appearing NO WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, is....well UNIQUE! Therefore, if for no other reason than to say "I've seen it firsthand, swum within it, dived to a depth of 130+' inside it and seen the "guts" of it!" one must take advantage of the opportunity to do all that, when it is presented to oneself! I plan on doing that at some point prior to moving away from here. Upon doing so, I will resist, with all my might, the urge to say to anyone whom might inquire about the experience "Yeah, I've done it, but it's not really all it's cracked up to be." BECAUSE, that's not why one does the dive....is it really???

Yeah, not unique. Just uniquely well marketed. I would say the reason so many people want to dive the Belize Blue Hole is so many years of excellent marketing, and those aerial photos that really have little to do with the dive. I think warning people it may not be all it's cracked up to be is very reasonable, just like one might give the scoop on any dive they've done. Kind of the point of a discussion board.

If you're there on a liveaboard anyway, whatever. Personally of 3 liveaboard trips there I've done it once, sat it out once, and fortunately the whole boat voted against it the third. I would actually consider a liveaboard week that guarantees it will skip the blue hole to be a selling point. If you're there anyway and want to spend the time and money to do it on a daytrip, again whatever. As many say, maybe "worth it for the other 2 dives."

If someone is planning a Belize trip with the main goal of diving the Blue Hole, or got certified last week, I think it's definitely good there's plenty of things they can read that might help them decide it that's what they really want to do.