Good experience with Ambergis Divers in San Pedro

[Jan73MUC]

Hello everyone, I am new to this board, in fact I only signed up for it to give you my report on a very good experience I had with Ambergris Divers in San Pedro. I just returned from a 10 day trip to San Pedro in July/August '08. Coming to Belize was neither planned nor properly researched, I just took the bus from Cancun to Chetumal to explore. I checked out a couple of hotels, finally settling in the Banana Beach Resort (b.t.w. a very fine place I highly recommend, just a little far from the town's center). First afternoon I checked out the dive shops on the shoreline and was drawn into Ambergris Divers by their little beachside advertisement for the Blue Hole Trip (4 tanks local dives on the reef for USD99 plus the 3 tank one day Blue Hole trip for add'l USD199). On my walks I hadn't seen a comparable offer so I decided to check them out. The people, that is Karen, Cecile, Matt, Jerome and Ernest, were extremely friendly, relaxed, layed back. Since I just came with my dive computer I needed rental gear. The gear was ok, nothing extraordinary, but working just fine - hey it's rental gear. The local dives I did with Matt and loved all of them. We've been picked up at the hotel 30min prior to the dive at 8.30am. They chose the dive sites based on divers capabilities, preferences and avoided sites we've been to before. The Blue Hole trip was fantastic too. On this challenging dive I was particularly pleased with the thoroughness of the dive masters. The briefing was very detailed and our group of about 15 divers went down with 3 dive masters. This dive was led by Ernest, who I suppose is the most experienced DM in the shop, probably 15 years or even more under his belt. Wanting to do more than those dives in the remaining week I asked whether they could custom tailor a dive package for me (1 day Turneffe Atoll, 1 day Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley, 1 night dive, 3 days 2 local dive, plus all equipment and park fees) - Karen offered all of this to me for USD540. At the same time I went to Aqua Dives and asked them for a quote on the same package deal and they came back with close to USD800. I realize that diving is not just about getting the best deal, so I encourage everybody to check the places out, yet I find it interesting of how much prices vary for similar offers. However, the main point wasn't about the deal but the flexibility of Ambergris Divers. When I developed a mid ear inflammation just two days after they would without hesitation reimburse me for the unused portion of the package. There wasn't even the slightest discussion about their official policy which states reimbursements only for cancelled trips due to bad weather conditions. Overall, I was very pleased with the shop and would like to thank the guys for being such a fun part of my vacation.

I am looking forward to coming back to San Pedro one day.

Jan from Munich, Germany

 

[peterbj7]

Nice post. Good news about the refund, as it's all too common for a refund NOT to be given in those circumstances. A very good reason for choosing one operator over another.

A tip for other divers (a bit late for you!) - IMMEDIATELY after diving in salt water rinse your ears in fresh water all the way down to the eardrum (stand under a shower). It's the salt and (by now warm) sea water that causes irritation, then inflamation, then infection. Putting a drop or two of rubbing alcohol in there and manipulating it so it reaches the eardrum has the same effect.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

jan,
great post for your first one. i missed out the blue hole dive two years ago as the wind was blowing but next time i ll be sure to head down ambergris divers and get that special deal! happy days!

 

[belizeit20]

Ambergris Divers by their little beachside advertisement for the Blue Hole Trip (4 tanks local dives on the reef for USD99 plus the 3 tank one day Blue Hole trip for add'l USD199)

This is to just let this board now that the US$99 & US$199 specials that Ambergris Divers is offering was first brought about by Aqua Dives Belize as their Extreme Dive Specials. Aqua Dives has several signs around town demonstrating these offers and on their website Aqua Dives Belize, The Ultimate Dive Center, Ambergris Caye!. The point made that Aqua Dives gave an offer of US$800.00 is completely false. They have several dive only specials and none would come up so great. In fact they have the best rates in town. They can offer these specials because they move alot of divers and are one of the only dive centers that can provide offshore trips. The Extreme Specials offered by Aqua Dives will be effective for the remaining of 2008 and in 2009 they intend to drop the Blue Hole price again to make it more affortable for all divers.

 

[Jan73MUC]

The point made that Aqua Dives gave an offer of US$800.00 is completely false.

Well, I am sad about being called a liar here. So I will only reply once to this post and all future posts that deal with the quoted prices I mentioned. The tailor made package that I described in my original post and for which I compared the total prices comprised of many dives that are also listed in the original post, here is the list:

1 day Turneffe Atoll (3 tanks),
1 day Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley (1 tank, one snorkel)
1 night dive (1 tank)
3 days 2 local dives (6 tanks)
all equipment
all park fees

makes it a total of 14 dives

I am not sure why the reaction to my post was so emotional. I have no interest in pushing any shop and I am sure Aqua Dives is a fine shop, too. So please, put it to rest.

 

[yakivet]

This is to just let this board now that the US$99 & US$199 specials that Ambergris Divers is offering was first brought about by Aqua Dives Belize as their Extreme Dive Specials. Aqua Dives has several signs around town demonstrating these offers and on their website Aqua Dives Belize, The Ultimate Dive Center, Ambergris Caye!. The point made that Aqua Dives gave an offer of US$800.00 is completely false. They have several dive only specials and none would come up so great. In fact they have the best rates in town. They can offer these specials because they move alot of divers and are one of the only dive centers that can provide offshore trips. The Extreme Specials offered by Aqua Dives will be effective for the remaining of 2008 and in 2009 they intend to drop the Blue Hole price again to make it more affortable for all divers.

All right--- I'll stir the pot.

Belizeit20- I think you're a bit out of line. Jan said nothing bad against Aqua Dives except the fact that they wouldn't match the package that was proposed by Ambergris Divers. I'd hope as a consumer you're smart enough to check the price before you buy.
I'm a bit confused. Your picture states you're a travel agent but your profile calls you a diver with 1000+ dives. Maybe you're both, Yet the only shop you've ever actively promoted is Aquadives. You wouldn't have a vested interest would you? Maybe it explains your biased opinion. How could you possibly know that the $800.00 offer was completely false? I tend to believe Jan.

 

[belizeit20]

This is for Yakivet. By Jan saying

On my walks I hadn't seen a comparable offer so I decided to check them out.

It would make it seem like the specials are for Ambergris Divers only. Apart from that why did she not mention one of the many other dive centers that she claimed she visited. Additionally, go on the Aqua Dives website and add the rack rates US$160.00 for a Turneffe South US$60.00 for a Double Tank X 3 = US$180. Night Dive = US$45.00 Dive Hol Chan = US$50.00 Total = US$435.00 That is with no discount in which a 10% Discount is always given for more than one day of activities. They normally never charge for gear to give the extra discounts and there is only a US$10.00 Park Fee for Hol Chan. So, I can say she was rip off at Ambergris Divers.

 

[Ecologic Divers]

your prices seem a little off. I sincerely doubt that Aqua Dives will give additional 10% off. that being said $60.00 - $6.00= $54.00 for a 2 tank dive then aqua dives has to pay additional 10% to the Tax man. that leaves $48.60 or $24.30 per dive. If so, then price conscious divers should serious look at AD. Most all the other dive centers charge $75.00 tax included. In Belize all prices are to include the tax.

 

[Scott M]

Hmmm, interesting thread and responses. I have been to Belize and used Amdergris Divers. Top notch outfit. We had Ernest as our DM and could not be more satisfied with the professionalism. I'm sorry but I think AD is way out of line on this one. The Op said nothing bad about the shop and gave what was thought to be their assessment of the siutation as it was. I don't understsand the attack, it is unwarranted. I would be very suspect of diving with AD if they feel they need to send some on here to rebutt a review. In our business we have found that if your doing things right and giving the customer a good value for the price they are going to return. Our competitors use tactics like what AD is doing and it rarely works, if anything it turns people away. AD, my advise to you is just do waht you do and do it well, the rest will work itself out.

 

[belizeit20]

At the end I made my point. Even if you add the 10% Tax and don't give a discount your total would be US$488.50. So, how the diver came up with US$800.00 I guess no one will really know.