Help Planning first Dive trip to Belize

[chillyinCanada]

I'm a little surprised no one's mentioned Ramon's in San Pedro (apologies if someone did and I missed it). They are a pretty decent resort, and have a very turn key dive operation. I've dove with three shops in San Pedro, and while I don't plan to go back there any time soon, if I did, would probably just stay at Ramon's if for no other reason than ease...

There are so many other places to stay that are betyer value for the money than Ramon's.

My comment is with regard to the hotel only. The dive operation is good enough.

Check out Island Divers, contact Rudy the owner.

Also, Chuck and Robbie's dive op. Owner Robbie.

I still say that Amigos for the Blue Hole 3 dive day trip and/or their Turneffe 3 dive day trip is the best way to go.

 

[MtnDiverColorado]

There are so many other places to stay that are betyer value for the money than Ramon's.

My comment is with regard to the hotel only. The dive operation is good enough.

I suppose it is a question of how cost sensitive you are, and how much you value the convenience. I like the "one stop shop" at Ramon's, and the coordination between the diving operation and other aspects of the resort.

Last time we were out a night dive went a little late, and they were able to coordinate with the restaurant to still serve us after hours when we got back. That's worth paying a bit more for, imho, and I admit, I value convenience and comfort a lot, but I know folks view that differently.

 

[mcohen1021]

I am trying to plan a dive trip to Belize with my wife for March (somewhere between 9th and 16th) 2025 for roughly 4-5 days. We are both SSI open water certified with Nitrox certification and will be bringing our own gear, we dive at least one big trip a year. We have been to Maui, Cozumel (many times, our favorite place so far), Honduras, Costa Maya, and small local spots near home in Missouri. The whole trips main focus is diving and we do want to dive the blue hole. While diving is the main event it is always nice to stay somewhere comfortable to relax on a beach when not diving. But other than sitting on a beach staring at the ocean and eating diving we don't really have any other needs. We had a friend that we were working with to plan this all out but he died suddenly and we are now without our Belize experienced friend. With so many small islands and different dive shops and the internet full of so many opinions I thought our best bet was to post here and ask for help. Can anyone make a some good suggestions or know a place to point me to that can help us lock down a good option?

Just seeing your post, a little late in the game to reply maybe but hope this helps. I have scuba'd Belize twice, but i do not consider myself any expert.

Trip 1 in 2012: I stayed on San Pedro in a condo, and I dove with Reef Adventures. Ched Cebral was awesome. Back then, only 1 operator went to Blue Hole - Amigos del Mar. And it's expensive. And only certain days a week. I think I talked them down from $260 pp on a group of 4 to $190+40 (park fees) pp. That being said, it's a 3 hr ride there and 3 hrs back. It's a full and exhausting day. The good thing is the boat is comfortable. Bad thing is, it's packed. A cattle car. And Amigos DMs were too hands on. I will say, that if I was to go return to San Pedro, it would be a vacation with some diving included rather than a dedicated dive trip. And I would not be wasting a day to do blue hole from San Pedro.

The restaurants in San Pedro were very good, but pricey. Right up from the tradewinds condos, the grocery stores are walking distance - there are 2 - Richies and Caye Mart.

Not that much to do on the island, so take a good book.

Trip 2 in 2024: We did Belize Aggressor III and everything was outstanding. We picked a 'dive the world week' and got the discounted rate. With all meals, 4-5 dives a day, no 6 hrs round trip to blue hole and in the master suite, I think we did better price wise than trip 1 (~$5600 for the week, and we flew almost free on miles).

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ched Cabral is one of ny favorite people. I've known him for 25 years.

 

[mcohen1021]

Ched Cabral is one of ny favorite people. I've known him for 25 years.

And the guy is freaking hilarious - we were constantly cutting up and laughing - still friends with him on FB too

 

[Eric_K]

I suppose it is a question of how cost sensitive you are, and how much you value the convenience. I like the "one stop shop" at Ramon's, and the coordination between the diving operation and other aspects of the resort.

Last time we were out a night dive went a little late, and they were able to coordinate with the restaurant to still serve us after hours when we got back. That's worth paying a bit more for, imho, and I admit, I value convenience and comfort a lot, but I know folks view that differently.

We've dove with Ramones (air) for 6 times, 2 weeks at a pop. Profiles are standardized and NDL for reef and Turneffe. I've no interest in Blue Hole, so no info there. I'm seeing more and more Nitrox tanks on board, and I finally got my cert for that this winter, so I'll try it out. I really don't think I need it, but I am not sure how much of a premium for the tank is charged at Ramones or others. I don't think I've ever seen anyone testing the air on the boat, but maybe that's done at the dock? I'm looking to go someplace else in the Caribbean, but my wife doesn't dive (she does go out on the boat with me), but it's a vacation for her, not a "dive vacation." so she likes the food variety, and we stay in a nice resort right downtown. We are not really focused on the cost of these trips.

 

[mgdesert]

I have been having a hard time communicating with the dive shops on San Pedro. I email amigos or belize pro and then don't get an answer for a week or longer. Is this typical for anyone else's experience? I heard back from Scuba School and Family dive shop, they are more expensive but seem to run smaller groups, which i prefer. Anyone dive with scuba school and family from san pedro?

 

[MtnDiverColorado]

We've dove with Ramones (air) for 6 times, 2 weeks at a pop. Profiles are standardized and NDL for reef and Turneffe. I've no interest in Blue Hole, so no info there. I'm seeing more and more Nitrox tanks on board, and I finally got my cert for that this winter, so I'll try it out. I really don't think I need it, but I am not sure how much of a premium for the tank is charged at Ramones or others. I don't think I've ever seen anyone testing the air on the boat, but maybe that's done at the dock? I'm looking to go someplace else in the Caribbean, but my wife doesn't dive (she does go out on the boat with me), but it's a vacation for her, not a "dive vacation." so she likes the food variety, and we stay in a nice resort right downtown. We are not really focused on the cost of these trips.

Nitrox is $10/tank, I seem to recall Ramone's testing on the dock before tanks were loaded on the boat (not completely sure), but I recall they tested.

There was another dive op up the beach, who ironically advertised their Nitrox courses all over their website, who told us they'd be happy to provide Nitrox, but they didn't have an analyzer... As a result, I bought and have always brought my own on trips, just in case...

 

[MtnDiverColorado]

I have been having a hard time communicating with the dive shops on San Pedro. I email amigos or belize pro and then don't get an answer for a week or longer. Is this typical for anyone else's experience? I heard back from Scuba School and Family dive shop, they are more expensive but seem to run smaller groups, which i prefer. Anyone dive with scuba school and family from san pedro?

I have, as you noted they are a smaller operation; with pretty modest equipment and facilities. They are the folks I noted above told me I had to use my own Nitrox analyzer. That may have changed though, been a few years.

Despite them being a bit more modest than other dive ops, I really liked their people, and thought they did a fantastic job making sure everyone was safe, and had fun enjoyable dives. There was someone on our trip, close to me, who was a first time diver, and I was very impressed by the way they coached him, and really helped him increase his level of confidence throughout the trip, despite some challenging conditions (windy, high seas). So I would recommend them, though again, more modest facility and boat wise.

 

[mgdesert]

I have, as you noted they are a smaller operation; with pretty modest equipment and facilities. They are the folks I noted above told me I had to use my own Nitrox analyzer. That may have changed though, been a few years.

Despite them being a bit more modest than other dive ops, I really liked their people, and thought they did a fantastic job making sure everyone was safe, and had fun enjoyable dives. There was someone on our trip, close to me, who was a first time diver, and I was very impressed by the way they coached him, and really helped him increase his level of confidence throughout the trip, despite some challenging conditions (windy, high seas). So I would recommend them, though again, more modest facility and boat wise.

Thanks for the info. They told me in an email that they didn't recommend nitrox due to its lack of benefit for this diving vs the extra cost. They don't fill their own tanks but get them from another supplier. Since they are the only ones replying to me at this time I will probably just go with them and stay with 21 air for this trip. I definitely prefer fewer divers in a group so that alone makes me prefer this shop, despite the higher cost and lack of nitrox.