Victoria House And Fantasea Dive Shop Questions

[Downing]

I can see the value in booking a dive op ahead of arrival, especially if it's your first time there. I'm a planner, and I don't like to leave something as important as my dive op to chance.

So Chilly, katzgar and Yobubba (and why haven't we heard from AMWIII?), are you saying that Willar will have no issues with booked up dive ops in the fall? If there's even a small chance of that happening, I'd rather book in advance.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Probably not. But no guarantee, but checking choosing upon first arrival. He can pick his package then.

 

[katzgar]

I havent expressed an opinion on the topic to the best of my memory and wont express one either.

 

[AWMIII]

Sorry I have been out of the loop. I just got back from Florida. I would not be worried about booking ahead. If you walk up to a dive shop in San Pedro and it is not Christmas week, they will make sure that you go diving if the conditions are acceptable. All of the shops have relationships with other shops and refer people back and forth. In the fall the risk is more that there are not enough people to go than that there are too many. My shop of choice is Island Divers who is down in the same neck of the woods as Victoria House. I recently sent a person from our LDS to Island Divers. He was referred to Ramon's since he was a single diver and ID did not have any other divers that day. He had a nice time diving with Ramon's.
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I personally do not want the biggest boat unless I am headed the atolls. A good captain can get a smaller boat safely out of the reef in lousy conditions. If it is rougher than that, you will not want to go diving at all in AC. Once stopped, smaller boats rise and fall all at once with the waves/swells. They do not roll like a larger boat with a superstructure. Like I said, if its worse than that do not bother to go diving. Surface intervals are spent on shore, not on the boat. So that is not a consideration. The boat rides are never more than 15 minutes unless you are headed to a more exotic site like the atolls.

I am headed back down to AC in June.

 

[Downing]

I'll wave at you on my way to Placencia.

 

[andyoctopus]

My son and I stayed at Victoria House several years ago. It is probably the nicest resort on Ambergris Caye. Used a different dive shop however.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

They do not roll like a larger boat with a superstructure.

Our 46 foot Newton has a superstructure and is very stable - does not roll any more than our small boats (which range from 26 foot to 38 foot). I agree it is best to surface interval on land - so most of our surface intervals are lunches on the kind of caye you see in movies and on post cards. When we have guests who express concerns about sea sickness, we recommend they go on which ever trip our big boat is headed for.

And by the way - all of our destinations are exotic!!!!!!!!

Regards
Ralph