Safe and Good Operators in Belize

[LAJim]

My wife has become very interested in diving Belize, and I hear great things. We are currently 20 dives each, and very current - just off a Cabo trip with Catalina and Anacapa trips scheduled. We've done three or four wall dives and own gear. We'll probably be at 40 dives and maybe have advanced and nitrox training before going to Belize in late May.

Surfing the web I find web sites with some disturbing promotional material such as one touting decompression dives in the Blue Hole where having more than "resort diving qualification" is desirable. Without going into more detail I get the impression that there might be some "cowboy" dive operations to be avoided.

Could anyone recommend reputable operators in Belize? We are interested in either a live aboard or a shore based operator - maybe a mix of the two.

This is my first post on Scuba Board - been lurking for a while though and have read all of the Accident and Incident Reports and selected equipment posts. I think this site is a great resource.

Thanks

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

Try Sea Sports Belize

 

[Dive-aholic]

We dove with AquaDives when we were there. They were friendly and on top of things the first couple of days. After the DMs were able to assess skills, we got a little more leeway. The deco dives you read about were probably by Protech Belize. They are a technical shop. They tech train and offer deco dives in the Blue Hole and along the walls. It's not a cowboy operation, it's just an option they offer. They also do offer recreational only dives. Very reputable from what I saw. I'd dive with them if I do another landbased trip to Belize, rec or tech.

You'll get the best diving through a liveaboard. The best sites are too far from occupied land.

BTW, welcome to the Board.

 

[Web Monkey]

Hugh Parkey's was well-run and we had some very nice dives with them a couple of years ago..

http://www.belizediving.com/

Terry

My wife has become very interested in diving Belize, and I hear great things. We are currently 20 dives each, and very current - just off a Cabo trip with Catalina and Anacapa trips scheduled. We've done three or four wall dives and own gear. We'll probably be at 40 dives and maybe have advanced and nitrox training before going to Belize in late May.
Thanks

 

[peterbj7]

We dove with AquaDives when we were there. They were friendly and on top of things the first couple of days. After the DMs were able to assess skills, we got a little more leeway. The deco dives you read about were probably by Protech Belize. They are a technical shop. They tech train and offer deco dives in the Blue Hole and along the walls. It's not a cowboy operation, it's just an option they offer. They also do offer recreational only dives. Very reputable from what I saw. I'd dive with them if I do another landbased trip to Belize, rec or tech.

You'll get the best diving through a liveaboard. The best sites are too far from occupied land.

BTW, welcome to the Board.

While I'm grateful for the positive comment made here, let me correct any impression that Protech endorses decompression diving for people with barely any experience ("decompression dives in the Blue Hole where having more than resort diving qualification is desirable") let alone divers with no qualifications at all. We certainly do not, and indeed if you look at our website you'll see that we go to some pains to dissuade divers without appropriate experience from doing that dive at all.

 

[LAJim]

Below is the a quote from the site I saw - it references no specific dive operation - especially not the one mentioned. The quote makes it sound like the best dive guides do it right but maybe others might not. It reads like there are dive operations that might let unqualified or inexperienced divers go to 150 ft with an overhang and then take their chances on still having enough gas for decompression.

Its just a poorly written but very official looking web site.

"A rare - wonderful dive. However this is truly a techical category decompression dive, not recommended for newbys or resort dive qualified divers. (The bottom of Blue Hole is over 400 feet down and the wall slopes back, such that one must have absolute buoyancy control rather than to depend on something to grasp if starting to plummet while descending. Likewise - ballooning is equally deadly to ones health when coming up from 150 plus feet and requires excellent buoyancy control. Decompression times are around 10 to 15 minutes at 20 feet.). The best dive guides anchor a spare tank and regulator at your 20 foot deco spot, usually at the permanent mooring anchor located around the rim of the Blue Hole, which your boat moors too."

 

[Dive-aholic]

While I'm grateful for the positive comment made here, let me correct any impression that Protech endorses decompression diving for people with barely any experience ("decompression dives in the Blue Hole where having more than resort diving qualification is desirable") let alone divers with no qualifications at all. We certainly do not, and indeed if you look at our website you'll see that we go to some pains to dissuade divers without appropriate experience from doing that dive at all.

Oops, didn't mean to imply you did that. In fact, I don't have that impression at all. That's why I stated you don't run a cowboy operation. I see I misread the original post now. No harm meant or intended. Like I said, I'll dive Protech next time I travel to Belize and stay on land.

 

[LAJim]

Thanks everybody. We ended up booking CoCo's on Roatan. This will be our first Central America trip and we liked what we saw on their web site plus everything we found on the Board. Will probably try Belize in 07 after becoming more experienced with the region.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

I'm taking a cruise at the end of November that hits Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan so I should get some good diving in. I am however Jealous, my next vacation I want is a week at CoCo View, everything I've seen and heard about that place is it's AWESOME.

 

[peterbj7]

Hopefully http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s050623.html was very much a one-off.