Actually with PADI you can do three training dives in a day, though usually I still restrict it to two as beginner divers get cold and tired very quickly.
To the OP. Since you're leaving from Belize City on Monday there is NO WAY you can fit in a visit to Tikal as well as diving, let alone learning to dive. Put it out of your mind. If you want to visit some Mayan ruins (and I would if possible) I suggest your best bet is a day trip to Lamania. That would have to be on Sunday, as there probably wouldn't be time to get to the airport after the tour if you did it on Monday. That's not a TOTAL impossibility, but at best it would be a hell of a rush with the sword of Damocles hanging over you (in case you missed your flight).
Although HP is an excellent dive operation, I really think you'd be better off seeing ANY part of Belize rather than just staying in Belize City. It is very quick (20 minutes in the air) to get to San Pedro (on Ambergris Caye, where I'm based) and this is the area I know best, so I'll describe how this could work out if you came here. Going to Caye Caulker instead would be similar though a bit less convenient; going to Placencia would also be a possibility but I think it would be difficult to fit everything in in the time.
You don't say how your friend is travelling. She could fly to Belize City from Flores, but most people don't, opting for much cheaper but also lengthier road travel instead. If she's flying in she'll go to the International Airport, and I suggest she gets on the next flight to San Pedro. I would suggest you fly here directly from the IA on arrival the day before and meet her here when she arrives. That will be some time during Thursday morning. She could start the water portion of her course that afternoon, and all being well she could do the first two course dives on Friday morning. She could if she's feeling up to it do the third dive that afternoon. Either way, she would then finish the course dives on Saturday morning. Assuming she has completed the eLearning material and exam before she gets here, that would be all she'd need. She could then simply go diving that afternoon if she wanted. You could obviously be with her on all the dives if you wished.
On my proposed schedule, you'd both take a tour by boat from here to Lamanai the following morning (Sunday). You'd leave at around 7am and return by maybe 4pm. Lamanai are very impressive ruins so don't think you'd only be getting second best. Not in the same class as Tikal of course, but a worthwhile Tikal trip really requires that you spend at least one night there, and with all the travelling involved that can't happen this trip.
You'd both be off-gassing on Sunday and Monday morning, and I doubt whether you could leave the island much later than noon for your international flight. Your friend could fly directly to the IA, then on to Flores, or she could take one of the express buses that go all the way to Guatemala City. Presumably this would be at the same time that you had to leave, but if she wanted to do any more diving on Monday morning then she could leave on Tuesday. Either way you wouldn't be travelling together.
I'm sure there's a comparable arrangement you could take from Placencia, visiting a ruin down there, but I don't know enough about the area to comment. But even from there I see no way that you can visit Tikal this trip.
If you choose San Pedro there are several suitable dive centers you can use. There is also cheap accommodation available here. PM me if you decide to follow this option.
To the OP. Since you're leaving from Belize City on Monday there is NO WAY you can fit in a visit to Tikal as well as diving, let alone learning to dive. Put it out of your mind. If you want to visit some Mayan ruins (and I would if possible) I suggest your best bet is a day trip to Lamania. That would have to be on Sunday, as there probably wouldn't be time to get to the airport after the tour if you did it on Monday. That's not a TOTAL impossibility, but at best it would be a hell of a rush with the sword of Damocles hanging over you (in case you missed your flight).
Although HP is an excellent dive operation, I really think you'd be better off seeing ANY part of Belize rather than just staying in Belize City. It is very quick (20 minutes in the air) to get to San Pedro (on Ambergris Caye, where I'm based) and this is the area I know best, so I'll describe how this could work out if you came here. Going to Caye Caulker instead would be similar though a bit less convenient; going to Placencia would also be a possibility but I think it would be difficult to fit everything in in the time.
You don't say how your friend is travelling. She could fly to Belize City from Flores, but most people don't, opting for much cheaper but also lengthier road travel instead. If she's flying in she'll go to the International Airport, and I suggest she gets on the next flight to San Pedro. I would suggest you fly here directly from the IA on arrival the day before and meet her here when she arrives. That will be some time during Thursday morning. She could start the water portion of her course that afternoon, and all being well she could do the first two course dives on Friday morning. She could if she's feeling up to it do the third dive that afternoon. Either way, she would then finish the course dives on Saturday morning. Assuming she has completed the eLearning material and exam before she gets here, that would be all she'd need. She could then simply go diving that afternoon if she wanted. You could obviously be with her on all the dives if you wished.
On my proposed schedule, you'd both take a tour by boat from here to Lamanai the following morning (Sunday). You'd leave at around 7am and return by maybe 4pm. Lamanai are very impressive ruins so don't think you'd only be getting second best. Not in the same class as Tikal of course, but a worthwhile Tikal trip really requires that you spend at least one night there, and with all the travelling involved that can't happen this trip.
You'd both be off-gassing on Sunday and Monday morning, and I doubt whether you could leave the island much later than noon for your international flight. Your friend could fly directly to the IA, then on to Flores, or she could take one of the express buses that go all the way to Guatemala City. Presumably this would be at the same time that you had to leave, but if she wanted to do any more diving on Monday morning then she could leave on Tuesday. Either way you wouldn't be travelling together.
I'm sure there's a comparable arrangement you could take from Placencia, visiting a ruin down there, but I don't know enough about the area to comment. But even from there I see no way that you can visit Tikal this trip.
If you choose San Pedro there are several suitable dive centers you can use. There is also cheap accommodation available here. PM me if you decide to follow this option.
