Report on Sunbreeze Hotel/Aquadivers in Belize

[swsurgeon]

The people on this board have helped me with a lot of useful advice, so I'd like to reciprocate with some information about a trip from which I recently returned. I plan to type this report in several segments because my machine has problems with losing text after I spend a lot of time typing in a large amount.

I went with a friend's dive club to the Sunbreeze Hotel on Ambergris Caye, about 12 air minutes from Belize City. There were 36 of us. I believe that the dive operation associated with the hotel was called Aquadivers. We arrived on Sunday, April 27 and departed on Sunday, May 4. This is an economical time to visit because it is the start of the off season and rates are lower. However, the temperature will generally be in the 90s on the caye and over 100 inland. Humidity will be very high. Our visibility was usually about 40-80+ feet, but the best visibility is supposedly experienced in March---when the temperature is lower and the rates are higher.

The hotel is located right on the beach and right next to the San Pedro airstrip. It is also immediately adjacent to the town. The rooms were spacious and well maintained. They have a powerful, if somewhat noisy, air conditioning system that will convert a humid 95 degree room into a meat locker if you really want to. No problems with cooling capacity, except for the single day on which the power went out. Backup generators restored water pressure but not electricity.

The hotel supplies drinking water to each room and advises against drinking the tap water. I did not hear of anyone in our group becoming sick from water, food, etc. The hotel has an excellent restaurant, about which I did not hear a single bad comment. I had some outstanding wahoo one night. Food prices were high by third-world standards but not offensive for a resort.

The hotel has a full-time security guard and police are nearby. I heard of no thefts or problems other than those in which I was involved (I'll describe later).

The hotel has a large conference room where the Aquadivers personnel held an informative pre-dive briefing Sunday evening. The only BS was that: (1) You will get out to The Great Blue Hole in an hour to an hour and a half and (2) some groups would have an afternoon dive schedule. As it turns out, if the wind is up (which it was every minute we were there) you can experience a three hour pounding getting to the Blue Hole. With regard to an afternoon dive schedule, there turned out to be none. All dives were in the morning---which most of us preferred because we wanted to do something else in the afternoons. However, if you are willing to risk partying the night before diving, the afternoon dive schedule would have been appealling.

The week was scheduled for two dives per day with the exception of the Blue Hole day, on which there were three. If you wanted to dive more, you could. Aquadivers did not have Nitrox available, but it could be had locally. In fact, there is a shop in San Pedro with closed circuit rebreathers, if you really want to go hi-tech.

 

[swsurgeon]

Most of the dives were very short boat rides to just outside the barrier reef. We saw lots of the major species you would expect to encounter (rays, sharks, groupers, eels, lobsters, 'cuda, etc.). The underwater topography was also quite nice. Lots of different coral and other growth. Several people did not think the diving was as good as they experienced in Cozumel and the Honduras, but I have no experience from which to comment on those comparisons.

Getting through the reef when the swells were high was a bit challenging. We generally had no problems but during one crossing, a boat lost power in one of its two motors and got parallel to the swells. It almost flipped over and several people suffered minor/moderate injuries, some of whom required a visit to a local physician. The boats were about 40 feet long with twin Yamaha 200 outboards. Maintenance of the engines/fuel system could have been better. Our boat suffered a fuel failure in one engine on flat water. When we departed the next day, it became apparent that nobody had replaced the emergency splice (made with part of my buddy's pen cap). It was deteriorating pretty badly because pen caps aren't made to resist gas. The first attempt at a more substantial repair left fuel spurting out of the engine in substantial quantities in at least four locations. The skipper's response to a suggestion of further repair efforts was "This is Belize---just don't smoke." We were nonetheless able to convince the crew to rectify the problem but the boat smelled of leaking gas the rest of the day.

My biggest complaint about the dive operation was that after the first morning dive, which commenced around 8:30-9:00AM, they brought everyone back to the hotel for only about a 15 minute break. I would have liked to rest and drink some water for about an hour before going out again. There were a few people calling to their friend "Ralph" and I think that longer breaks might have helped them. I had to skip one of the late morning dives because I wasn't feeling great (but my physical condition was worse than the average for the group). At least I never summoned Ralph.

 

[swsurgeon]

I expect there's already been a lot written about this, so I'll keep it brief.

The ride to the Blue Hole took about 3 hours. The portions of the trip that were through unprotected waters gave us quite a pounding. I had an inch-thick, high-density cushion I brought, and that helped. I've also had experience running some friends' offshore racing boats so I knew to use my legs as shock absorbers in the worst spots. The only good news was that the wind calmed a bit for the return trip, which took half the time and was a heck of a lot smoother.

We did one dive in the Blue Hole to around 130 ft. The bottom time that we were allowed to explore the stalactites/underwater structure was about 8 minutes. If you really want to dive the Blue Hole, I'd recommend the big live aboard cat that was parked nearby!

We then departed for a nearby island/marine park with a nature preserve. We were served a very tasty and ample island-cuisine lunch on the park's benches. Some people took a short hike to see the booby birds and iguana.

As I recall, there were two wall dives after lunch that were some of the best of the week. Although the ride to and from the Blue Hole was tiring, I was definitely glad I did it.

 

[swsurgeon]

I didn't have a bad meal the whole week, and many were excellent. The restaurant at the Sunbreeze was very good, as noted earlier. A lot of the group especially liked a place called Caliente. I had the ginger rum chicken one night and it was terrific. About $18US with a beer, tax, and tip. One lunch I had some very tasty chicken enchiladas and a beer for around $10US, out the door.

We ate several times at a place called Lilly's. The snapper stuffed with crab, cheese, spices, etc. was outstanding. Lunch was also good. Prices were similar to Caliente.

Lilly's and Caliente were right on the sand. If you went inland two blocks to a local place called Caramba, you could get excellent food at about 30% lower prices. We had a variety of seafood including conch, snapper, grouper, and shrimp. Free conch appetizer and a free rum punch too.

One of my favorite places was a jerk hut (something like Jambel Jerk, I believe). Wonderful jerk chicken, jerk shrimp, and a variety of other dishes. Very reasonably priced. Dine on the open second floor to keep the breeze on you.

Right next to the Sunbreeze (about 50 feet to the right, if you are facing the front door of the hotel) is a modest little place that I believe is called Manuel's. It is very plain with no beach view, but the food is good, cheap, and fast.

That last point brings me to another topic. Most of these restaurants run on island time. If you are a strong "Type A" and need to dine quickly and efficiently, you will not be happy. Meals often take 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so relax and enjoy the local flavor.

Another issue concerns the Belizean federal law prohibiting the use of spoons in dining establishments, except as makeshift door handles (just kidding). But seriously, don't count on ever getting a spoon with your knife and fork unless you order soup---for some reason they just don't put them on the tables. If you really need one, either bring your own or pry off one of the four that are serving as makeshift handles on the sliding door at Manuel's.

Several people went to a restaurant named Celi's and gave a very favorable report. Same with a place called Elvi's. I didn't get any reports of bad food anywhere in San Pedro.

Well, it's 8:41 PM, I haven't eaten dinner, and all this talk of food is making me really hungry. I'll try to add any other comments tomorrow evening.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Great report! More details on the diving please. We visited Belize on an NCL cruise and they used Aquadives for their ship sponsored op. Amen to the poor maintenance and butt pounding/kidney jarring boat rides. The diving was okay but I don't know if it was worth the trouble/pain!!

 

[swsurgeon]

As you would expect with three boats, there were a lot of different personalities and styles. Each boat had a captain, divemaster, and asst. divemaster (who typically acted as a "trail sweep" for the group, if you'll pardon the hiking terminology). The divemasters worked at different paces and had different styles. Not everybody was happy with their divemaster, but nobody complained bitterly. Some of these folks work 7 days a week when divers are in town and they get a little tired of pampering everyone. As a result, a few of them were not quite as accomodating/cheerful/tolerant as one might ideally desire. However, I didn't find anyone's attitude bad enough to spoil the fun and some of the crew members had a very friendly and positive attitude that contributed to the enjoyment of the dives.

I suggest that if you are booking a series of dives with this operation, you ask about the personal styles, pace, and practices of the divemasters that are available and try to pick one who's style suits your preferences. If you don't like him after the first day, ask to be changed.

 

[swsurgeon]

I was using a 3/2mm full length wetsuit and it was more than I needed. Unless you tend to get cold, the people with the skins and 1-1.5mm exposure suits looked pretty happy.

It is a good idea to carry a light because of some dark swim-throughs and the caverns on the side of the Blue Hole.

While I'm on the subject of lights I should mention that our leader, who had been to this area before, recommended skipping the night dive offering. Apparently it is done inside the barrier reef in very shallow (<20 ft) water. According to him, there are lots of divers and snorkelers in the area used for night dives and it looks a bit like a bunch of kids camping in a backyard and going wild with their flashlights. They do the night dives right around dinner hour and some people didn't think that was late enough to get a good sample of night life near the reef.

On the other hand, we talked to a couple people from another group who enjoyed the night dive. It cost $40 for one night dive.

The dive operators don't allow divers to wear gloves, so I left them in the hotel room.

I used a borrowed regulator twice because I hadn't adequately learned the operation of my new Suunto Vytek (I'm not very computer literate). They were Sherwoods and gave one a pretty good lung workout. My Apeks ATX200, recommended by some of the wise folks here, worked great. What a dramatic difference! Eventually I also came to appreciate the recommendation of the Vytek, which works well once you get through the 80 page manual.

A number of divers in the group brought masks with rose/amber lenses, which they claimed accentuated the colors of the reef. I'll have to check one out.

 

[swsurgeon]

The vast majority of people we met were exceptionally friendly and accomodating. I particularly liked the multi-ethnic makeup of the population because you can be of any race or ethnicity and feel like part of the scene. My only negative comments arise from the apparent attraction that my dive buddy and I present to the few drunks/druggies hanging around. We had a couple problems, one of which required police assistance. Fortunately, that occurred BEFORE we had to fight with the increasingly belligerent drunk/druggie. The cop twice politely asked the guy to cooperate, then yanked him off the bar stool, body slammed him into the sand, and put a boot to his neck, backed up with his hand on his revolver. We heard they deported the troublemaker from the caye the next day. The bottom line is that if a cop in Belize politely asks you to cooperate, do so. If you ignore two requests, all hell breaks loose.

Nobody else on the trip reported any problems. The fact that the authorities weed out the problem types leads me to believe that most people are unlikely to encounter any trouble in San Pedro.

 

[likelite]

Hey, thanks. I'm going to Belize next month and staying at the Seabreeze...now I'll know what to expect. Anyone know if there's any nightlife nearby?

 

[swsurgeon]

Hey, thanks. I'm going to Belize next month and staying at the Seabreeze...now I'll know what to expect. Anyone know if there's any nightlife nearby?

Yes, there are a number of night spots. The hotel staff can give you some pointers. I recall a couple that were fairly close to the hotel. One was an open-air place with a small band right on the beach. It was to the left of the hotel's beach and within a couple hundred yards.

If you walk much farther to the left up the beach there was another lively place located a mile or two away, out on a pier. If you're not a big walker, a cab would be a good idea. There were some serious parties at that place. [As I recall there was a closer bar on a pier but it didn't seem to draw as rowdy a crowd.]

About half way to the more distant pier place, there's a huge bar/dance spot under a gigantic thatched roof, also on the beach. Pretty good food there too. However, I think there was a cover charge at night. You can survey the activity at several of these places just by walking along the beach and checking them out.

There's also a big, cavernous, enclosed disco within about a mile or two of the hotel. It was in the opposite direction of the other places and not located directly on the beach. It was quite well known so the locals ought to be able to point you to it. Unfortunately, it was totally dead the night we went.

Sorry I can't recall the names but all of these places were well known and easy to find if you ask. There are undoubtedly a bunch more that we didn't hit.

Have fun!