Opinions please.

[boulderjohn]

Ok sorry I waited to post again so long. This diving is

2 tank reef dives (Daily for the week Can pick Morning or afternoon around the Reef that is abot 1/2 mile out from the shore They pickup on the pier outside the condo we are renting)
1 night dive (At night of course)
1 Blue Hole day trip (You pick the day you want to go or the day picks you if there aren't many tourists, 3 dives Blue Hole, Lighthouse, Atoll I think is the 3rd dive)
Hol Chan Shark Ray Snorkel trip (½ day)

Ala Mode deals for the spouse that doesn't want to dive every day but wants to join you one the trips you go one a couple days.

A pretty decent but not spectacular deal. You should have a very nice time. Those 2 tank dives will be much better than you might expect. I do have one suggestion on those. Some of them can be a little on the deeper side, and if you have good air consumption and push your NDL's, then you will want to make sure you get a good surface interval, or you may find yourself getting a short second dive.

As for the Blue Hole trip, look forward to the other two dives. If you do a lunch time surface interval on Half Moon Caye, you will get an unexpected treat. It's a very nice little visit. Make sure you go to the overlook to see the boobies.

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/parkhalfmooncaye.html

 

[hopefulist]

jefffalcone - When were you at Glover's? We had a BLAST there 4 years ago and are thinking of a return trip next August. They've gotten some bad press lately - dive safety and poorly maintained equipment. Don't know if there's any truth to it but I'd like some recent feedback. Would love to hear every single detail you're willing to share about your diving experiences out there. Thanks in advance...

 

[jefffalcone]

I was just there in april. It's hard to believe they've gotten bad press. They run a class opperation. I had my own equipment, so I can't really comment on their rental stuff, but it all looked fine. Most of it looked pretty new. I was actually kind of annoyed at one of their safety regulations. They don't allow more than three dives a day, no matter how shallow they are. I didn't see anything unsafe going on. The diving was great. I wouldn't hesitate to go back. It's still being run by the same people, so I'm sure it will be pretty much just like you remember it.

 

[hopefulist]

Awesome - just what I was hoping to hear. I did my OW certification there and in retrospect realize I was taught (in addition to the basics) much higher-end concepts by Becky than most folks would dream of in that process. Extra buoyancy stuff, reef protection, fish identification, tips to make your air last longer - things that I read about in SCUBA mags as cutting edge or was "introduced" to while doing my Adv OW certification on Utila last year. Hmmm...better start counting the days - thanks for taking the time to post!

 

[philmayer]

As for the Blue Hole trip, look forward to the other two dives. If you do a lunch time surface interval on Half Moon Caye, you will get an unexpected treat. It's a very nice little visit. Make sure you go to the overlook to see the boobies.

Half Moon Caye is a great little island. If you get to choose the sites for that day, make sure you do Aquarium and Half Moon Caye Wall.

The Blue Hole is a LONG ride from Ambergris Caye. No, it's not packed like a shopping mall. But I also thought it was the most boring dive we did on our Belize trip. You go down, look at the stalagmites, then return to the safety stop and exit. There's very little to see there.

 

[singler]

On another forum I may have been the one asking for anyone to validate a claim made in Vivien Lougheed's latest edition of the Hunter Travel Guides Adventure Guide to Belize, pgs. 526 and 527. There are BEWARE and WARNING notices re: the operation there. I have not discovered or received any substantiation to these claims. Actually quite the opposite, as in the previous postings in this thread and others on other forums. We are going there this Dec/Jan. and will report back on our experience, which by all counts will be GREAT.

Thanks all.

 

[highdesert]

Can't tell you about Ambergris Divers once you're on the boat, but when we went to Belize last January, they were one of the places we inquired to. They were extremely slow in returning repeated e-mails, and would not deal on price for 40-50 dives among the four of us. We looked elsewhere.

 

[singler]

I'll answer my own post after a rather lengthy hiatus from this forum. Equipment at Glover's was just fine and the dive operation was good too. No regrets.