+1 for Cozumel as your next dive destination. If you decide in that direction, let us know if you want help regarding dive operators, accommodations, etc. - All the best!
I'm so confused! Trying to decide on next dive to do.
- Thread starter jessejana
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Downing
Contributor
The boat rides are definitely longer the further south you go. No real appreciable difference between Hopkins and Placencia as far as that goes. Ramon's is very nice and a popular choice. If you would like to do anything else while in Belize, then I'd recommend one or the other. You have quick and easy access to Cockscomb Basin, the world's first jaguar preserve, the Hummingbird Highway, a gorgeous drive through the Maya Mountains, cave rafting, zip-lining and Maya ruins like ATM.
I love the drift diving in Cozumel, but the place has gotten too crowded for my taste, especially when the cruise ships roll in. If I could roll back time 30 years...
The wrecks around Oahu are very cool. The best overall diving is the North Shore, but not in December, lol, as that's where the surfing competition takes place. Flat as a pancake in the summer, though. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of fish life around Oahu due to the tropical fish trade. And there's by far more garbage on the bottom then anywhere else I've been. The turtles are HUGE, and one of my fondest diving memories is coming across a turtle cleaning station on a dive there. If you haven't lined up a dive op yet, check out Scuba Diving Oahu With Kaimana Divers - Dive Oahu With The Pros Kaimana Divers. Gabe is a great instructor/guide and runs a really nice operation.
I don't know that you can go wrong at any of these destinations, so if I were you I'd plan on diving them all eventually. All will have their pluses and minuses. We dived in lots of different places before deciding that we enjoyed Belize the most. If it were just all about seeing as many fish as possible, then it would be in 20 feet of water off the Keys. But for us, it's as much about the destination and that's why Belize wins out.
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Stoo
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I've been diving the outer cayes of Belize for 10 years straight. I think it's best overall diving in the Caribbean.
Beyond that, I'd say Little Cayman has the best walls. I found Bonaire kinda dull honestly, although the ice-cream is awesome. The shore diving offers lots of options of course... Assuming you can figure out how to do it without getting all of your stuff stolen...
Manneca
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I second Kaimana Divers. Dived with Gabe in April. I was pleasantly surprised with the diving. (I'm an Indo-Pacific snob, so sometime you'll have to get to the real Info-Pacific--it blows anything in the Caribbean away.)
KD60
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Stoo - I only did the main reef off main isle of Belize and found it very disappointing....sounds like you did "outer cayes" and much better. Can you recommend a Caribbean place that offers a nice tropical beaches with good diving? Bonaire has been my fav DIVE locale, but its not tropical and not many beaches. Thanks! Kevin
Stoo
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If by "main isle", you mean Ambergris Caye, I agree. I was there maybe 20 years ago and wasn't impressed. I can't imagine it's improved. We have been diving out at Turneffe and Halfmoon over the past decade. I have numerous reviews of Turneffe Island Resort and Huracan diving. TIR has a nice little man-made beach, Huracan not so much. I hate sand so "beach" isn't on my list of requirements for travel...
Having said that, when I think of beaches and diving... Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos, Bonaire come to mind. I'm sure there are others, but these are the places that I have visited and come to mind.
nodakdive
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I stayed at Ramon's Village on Ambergris and dove with them. I really liked the diving, though we got blown out a couple of days. Got to dive with a pod of dolphins who played with us for about 15 minutes. I liked all the different restaurants on Ambergris and I like the feeling of a smaller island. The diving we did was spur and groove for the most part. Did a day trip to Caye Caulker one day when the diving was blown out.
That said, based on your desire to do more diving development, I'd second, or third or whatever, a Cozumel trip. Ambergris was "live boat" diving, but there was very little current. While that was nice, learning to drift dive on Cozumel might be a good option for you. It's not death defying, but it's a little more sporty and would be good to experience. I don't know much about GC diving, so you may have already experienced current there, but if not, Cozumel will supply that.
That said, based on your desire to do more diving development, I'd second, or third or whatever, a Cozumel trip. Ambergris was "live boat" diving, but there was very little current. While that was nice, learning to drift dive on Cozumel might be a good option for you. It's not death defying, but it's a little more sporty and would be good to experience. I don't know much about GC diving, so you may have already experienced current there, but if not, Cozumel will supply that.
Go dive the Blue Hole in Belize. It is an all day trip. In the afternoon we did 2 beautiful dives on Half Moon Caye.
Headed to Placencia in July, It appears that there is no shore diving and you must do a longer boat trip to reef areas. Any recommendations? We are only able to dive a few days as most of our trip will be business. We are both DM's on Maui but my wife doesn't care for rough water boat rides.
Downing
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Yep, no shore diving. Nothing to see anyway, so you're not missing anything.
Do you know where you'll be staying? Some of the resorts have their own in-house dive ops, like Roberts Grove and Turtle Inn. I always dive with Splash. The water really shouldn't be too rough unless you go outside the reef. Splash has a 42-foot Newton which would probably be the most comfortable for her. There are a couple of other independent dive shops, Go Sea and Seahorse. No personal experience with either one but I do know some of their guides since they trained with Splash. Seahorse has been around a few years. Go Sea is fairly new, as in a year or two old.
Of the three, Splash is by far the biggest and runs several boats a day. Very popular here on SB. Ralph and Patty, the owner/operators, are good friends of mine and if you dive with them you'll end up being good friends with them, too.
Have fun and be sure to post a trip report.
Do you know where you'll be staying? Some of the resorts have their own in-house dive ops, like Roberts Grove and Turtle Inn. I always dive with Splash. The water really shouldn't be too rough unless you go outside the reef. Splash has a 42-foot Newton which would probably be the most comfortable for her. There are a couple of other independent dive shops, Go Sea and Seahorse. No personal experience with either one but I do know some of their guides since they trained with Splash. Seahorse has been around a few years. Go Sea is fairly new, as in a year or two old.
Of the three, Splash is by far the biggest and runs several boats a day. Very popular here on SB. Ralph and Patty, the owner/operators, are good friends of mine and if you dive with them you'll end up being good friends with them, too.
Have fun and be sure to post a trip report.
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