Hamanasi Dive Resort
- Thread starter HighFive
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hopefulist
Contributor
I don't do the resort thing but most folks in the know would strongly advise against driving to Tikal. Most of the car rental companies won't allow you to cross the border and, though Crystal does, you won't have any insurance which is pretty risky business on those roads. Tikal is awesome and well worth the trip, but you should either hire a van or go with a tour group from San Ignacio. Here's a link to the Belize Forum which has a wealth of information for you:
www.belizeforum.com
www.belizeforum.com
vimaldude
Contributor
I just returned from Hamanasi after 1-week holiday. It is an awesome place. It is not a fancy big resort like you see in Cancun but the service and the ambience are great. The rooms are big and comfortable with ocean views. The staff is very helpful and courteous.
The diving takes places everyday in the morning. The dive boat leaves at 8:00 and returns at 1:00, mainly going to the Southern Barrier Reef. It is about 1/2 hr. ride to get to the first dive site. We had about 10-12 divers in the boat but the boat is big and you don't feel crowded at all. The divemasters are nice. They separate the divers in to groups according to dive experiance and each DM takes 4-6 divers. The resort is so small that by the second day, you are on first name basis with all the rest of the guests so it feels like a family.
The reef starts at around 25-30' and then goes to about 50' and then drops off in to deep blue. It is an awesome wall dive. The currents are non-existant and the visibility is usually 50+ feet. Plenty of corals and fish. We saw big Nurse sharks, eagle and sting rays, turtles, octopus, scorpion fish and other assorted denizens of reef on each dive. They take you to South Water Caye for the SI. It is an incredibly beautiful atoll with emerald waters and shallow reefs for snorkeling.
On the way back to the resort, we often saw pods of dolphins. One time, they hung around our boat for about 15 minutes, flipping and jumping.
The rental gear was in very good shape. They will carry all your equipment to /from the boats and rinse it for the next day.
The resort has a very nice pool area with lots of shade and hammocks. The beach is nice for walking/sun-bathing but not so good for swimming/snorkeling due to limited visibility and sea-grass. We didn't have any sand-fly problems.
The food is ok. They are having problems retaining skilled cooks so the food quality varies quite a bit from day to day. Service is with smile but quite laid-back (lunch/dinner can last easily about 1.5-2 hrs). We wanted veggie food and they tried their best but were not always successful. The soups and desserts were very good, though.
We also did some nice land trips (Caving, Jungle Hike and Mayan Ruins). The guides were very knowleadgeable and very entertaining.
You will have a good time at Hamanasi.
The diving takes places everyday in the morning. The dive boat leaves at 8:00 and returns at 1:00, mainly going to the Southern Barrier Reef. It is about 1/2 hr. ride to get to the first dive site. We had about 10-12 divers in the boat but the boat is big and you don't feel crowded at all. The divemasters are nice. They separate the divers in to groups according to dive experiance and each DM takes 4-6 divers. The resort is so small that by the second day, you are on first name basis with all the rest of the guests so it feels like a family.
The reef starts at around 25-30' and then goes to about 50' and then drops off in to deep blue. It is an awesome wall dive. The currents are non-existant and the visibility is usually 50+ feet. Plenty of corals and fish. We saw big Nurse sharks, eagle and sting rays, turtles, octopus, scorpion fish and other assorted denizens of reef on each dive. They take you to South Water Caye for the SI. It is an incredibly beautiful atoll with emerald waters and shallow reefs for snorkeling.
On the way back to the resort, we often saw pods of dolphins. One time, they hung around our boat for about 15 minutes, flipping and jumping.
The rental gear was in very good shape. They will carry all your equipment to /from the boats and rinse it for the next day.
The resort has a very nice pool area with lots of shade and hammocks. The beach is nice for walking/sun-bathing but not so good for swimming/snorkeling due to limited visibility and sea-grass. We didn't have any sand-fly problems.
The food is ok. They are having problems retaining skilled cooks so the food quality varies quite a bit from day to day. Service is with smile but quite laid-back (lunch/dinner can last easily about 1.5-2 hrs). We wanted veggie food and they tried their best but were not always successful. The soups and desserts were very good, though.
We also did some nice land trips (Caving, Jungle Hike and Mayan Ruins). The guides were very knowleadgeable and very entertaining.
You will have a good time at Hamanasi.
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