garyw90
Registered
Hi all, for those considering going to Hamansi, I thought I would pass along my own experiences.
First, I have to say it was the best vacation my wife and I have ever had!
The attraction of Hamansi was two-fold: they are a small resort, and they have activities for non-divers (like my wife).
Since this is ScubaBoard, I thought I would report on the diving first.
I dove three days out there. One day we went out to Glover's, and the other two were off of South Water Caye and Tobacco Caye. Of the three days out there, I never saw visibility above 40 feet, but that is because of the time of year and the activities with the current and weather that stirred up some of the bottom. I do most of my diving on Southern California, where 30 feet is a good day.
We dove the wall past south Water Caye, where we could look down and see the barrier reef going deep down, and see a large eagle ray swimming past, while doing a drift dive on top of the coral. Next up was Discovery Reef, a shallower dive, also very nice. I was forced to take the next two days off, because I did not pay attention to my computer and deco-locked it. A few days later down to Glover's and the Southwest Caye Wall, Middle Caye Wall and Long Caye Wall. I can only say that all three were fantastic dives, although I think I liked Middle Cay Wall and Long Caye Wall the best. Last day of diving was out to Tobacco Caye, where we dove the reef out there, and then down to Parrot wall. Didn't see many parrotfish on that reef like I was expecting, but still a nice reef.
In all of the sites, there seemed to be plenty of lionfish (boo!!!). We also saw some scorpionfish, eagle rays, sting rays, parrotfish, schoolmasters, trumpetfish, nurse sharks, red hind, trunkfish, pufferfish, hogfish, butterfly, angel, a few spotted drum, blue hamlet, moray eels, and many others. On one of the dives, my buddy got a little scared, and I could see it in his eyes, when a ramora was pursuing him. We had to fight it off while we were doing the safety stop, but he did not nibble on us.
For those of you with non-diving spouses, Hamanasi also offers inland tours and they are all fantastic. One day we did a hike to some falls, another trip out to Mayan ruins, a kayak trip down the Sittee river in the jungle. The jungle is beautiful. My wife also did a cave trip, but she also enjoyed sitting by the pool or laying in a hammock and feeling the warm breezes.
The food there was excellent. The dinner menu is changed every day, the breakfast buffet was different every day, the only constant was the lunch menu, and that had so many good things on the menu that you want to try everything.
The staff there was also excellent. They knew everybody's first names there, what they liked and disliked, and made sure that any special dietary requirements were met. My wife is allergic to tree nuts and lactose intolerant, and our waitress sent one of her dinners back before bringing it out because she knew the sauce would be a problem. The dive masters there are all very knowledgable, the inland guides who do the land tours are very knowledgable.
After our first two days there, we felt like we had already been there a week, we were so relaxed and happy.
We made many new friends during our week there. The many different activites there brings opportunities to share your experiences with others and provides an excellent way to make new friends.
During the week we were there, there were no children. There were two newlywed couples, a couple celebrating their 10th anniversary, and us celebrating our 20th anniversay (the oldweds), and a couple who had a marriage ceremony there.
If you are looking for nightlife, sorry, this is really not the place for you. They don't even have TVs in the rooms. I think many couples were probably asleep by 9:00 or 10:00.
In the end I asked some of our new friends if they would return to Hamansi and every one said definitely! Some of my experiences may be a little skewed, because we came just a few days after they had reopened for the season, so there were very few guests there. My wife and I would rather stay at a small place and get a more personal touch than staying at a big resort.
First, I have to say it was the best vacation my wife and I have ever had!
The attraction of Hamansi was two-fold: they are a small resort, and they have activities for non-divers (like my wife).
Since this is ScubaBoard, I thought I would report on the diving first.
I dove three days out there. One day we went out to Glover's, and the other two were off of South Water Caye and Tobacco Caye. Of the three days out there, I never saw visibility above 40 feet, but that is because of the time of year and the activities with the current and weather that stirred up some of the bottom. I do most of my diving on Southern California, where 30 feet is a good day.
We dove the wall past south Water Caye, where we could look down and see the barrier reef going deep down, and see a large eagle ray swimming past, while doing a drift dive on top of the coral. Next up was Discovery Reef, a shallower dive, also very nice. I was forced to take the next two days off, because I did not pay attention to my computer and deco-locked it. A few days later down to Glover's and the Southwest Caye Wall, Middle Caye Wall and Long Caye Wall. I can only say that all three were fantastic dives, although I think I liked Middle Cay Wall and Long Caye Wall the best. Last day of diving was out to Tobacco Caye, where we dove the reef out there, and then down to Parrot wall. Didn't see many parrotfish on that reef like I was expecting, but still a nice reef.
In all of the sites, there seemed to be plenty of lionfish (boo!!!). We also saw some scorpionfish, eagle rays, sting rays, parrotfish, schoolmasters, trumpetfish, nurse sharks, red hind, trunkfish, pufferfish, hogfish, butterfly, angel, a few spotted drum, blue hamlet, moray eels, and many others. On one of the dives, my buddy got a little scared, and I could see it in his eyes, when a ramora was pursuing him. We had to fight it off while we were doing the safety stop, but he did not nibble on us.
For those of you with non-diving spouses, Hamanasi also offers inland tours and they are all fantastic. One day we did a hike to some falls, another trip out to Mayan ruins, a kayak trip down the Sittee river in the jungle. The jungle is beautiful. My wife also did a cave trip, but she also enjoyed sitting by the pool or laying in a hammock and feeling the warm breezes.
The food there was excellent. The dinner menu is changed every day, the breakfast buffet was different every day, the only constant was the lunch menu, and that had so many good things on the menu that you want to try everything.
The staff there was also excellent. They knew everybody's first names there, what they liked and disliked, and made sure that any special dietary requirements were met. My wife is allergic to tree nuts and lactose intolerant, and our waitress sent one of her dinners back before bringing it out because she knew the sauce would be a problem. The dive masters there are all very knowledgable, the inland guides who do the land tours are very knowledgable.
After our first two days there, we felt like we had already been there a week, we were so relaxed and happy.
We made many new friends during our week there. The many different activites there brings opportunities to share your experiences with others and provides an excellent way to make new friends.
During the week we were there, there were no children. There were two newlywed couples, a couple celebrating their 10th anniversary, and us celebrating our 20th anniversay (the oldweds), and a couple who had a marriage ceremony there.
If you are looking for nightlife, sorry, this is really not the place for you. They don't even have TVs in the rooms. I think many couples were probably asleep by 9:00 or 10:00.
In the end I asked some of our new friends if they would return to Hamansi and every one said definitely! Some of my experiences may be a little skewed, because we came just a few days after they had reopened for the season, so there were very few guests there. My wife and I would rather stay at a small place and get a more personal touch than staying at a big resort.
