planning dive/ruins trip for end of Mar-Apr 2012

[AWMIII]

I would add that I would not expect an operator to take you to the carverns on your first trip with the operator. I would expect that they will want to see you dive a few times before getting you in an overhead that ends up at 100ft. The carvern that i dove off of El Pescador was narrow dark and deep. That said, it was my favorite dives of all time. But, if someone freeked out or had bad bouyancy control if could be a really bad situation. The other thing is that it seems that they decide where to dive on the way out to the spot based on the people in the boat. As a single diver, you will probably be grouped with other people who may or may not be at your skill level. The DM will pick a spot that works for everyone. My other advice is watch deco on your second dive each day. It is extremely easy to get a small obligation there due to the depth of the dives and usually short surface interval. Nitrox would be an easy solution, but it seems dificult to get and arrange in SP.

 

[peterbj7]

itrox is easy to arrange, though there is nowadays only one supplier (Amigos del Mar). Any dive shop should be able to get it, though 24 hours notice is best. Cost is US$10 plus local sales tax, total around US$12.

 

[Dreadidiver]

Just returned from Punta Gorda Belize, my advice is to steer clear. Safety not a priority for diving there- and someone tried to stab my husband the second night we were there. Crack addicts approaching tourists day and night- not a safe place to go. We felt much safer in the cayes off of Belize City.

 

[peterbj7]

That's bad news, something I hadn't heard before. PG is not really much of a tourist destination anyway, not that that excuses what happened to you. I think you would have had a totally different experience up the coast at Placencia, just as you would certainly have done in the northern cayes and those off Belize City.

 

[Downing]

My PG experience was the complete opposite except I wasn't there at night and didn't dive there.

I took a bus there from Placencia and wandered all over town by myself for a day. I never saw a single "crackhead" and no one tried to panhandle me. I was approached a couple of times down by the market by young Mayan women trying to sell their handmade baskets, but they weren't pushy about it.

At one point, I found myself hanging out in front of a bar with four or five young Rastafarian-type young men and realized that if they wanted to jump me I was in trouble because we couldn't be seen from the street and we were fairly isolated out on the edge of town. But we talked and drank lemonade for nearly an hour, and although their world views were certainly different from mine I never felt intimidated or threatened in any way and really enjoyed the experience.

As Peter said, PG's not really a tourist destination, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.