Belize

[PhD4JC]

I am planning (in the preliminary stages) a dive trip to Belize.

Spots I want to investigate include:

• Ambergris Cay
• Cay Caulker
• Shark-Ray Alley
• possible the Blue Hole--hear it is a long boatride into blue nothingness. THat there is not much to see unless you get lucky with some ocean pelagics and you mainly dive the Blue Hole to say that you have done it.

Any suggestions?

Suggested dive operators?
Suggested hotels/resorts?
Suggested areas to stay/stay away from?
Suggested snorkeling sites?
Suggested packages?

Please let me know
Thanks much.

[Daved]

Well first question--why Belize?
That being asked
Cay Caulker: laid back very relax and well very relaxed. Not an island party place--but still enjoyable. Accomadations range from dormatory at $12 per night to fancy $350\night suites.
Ambergris Cay: Party on--and on and on. Much more developed that Caulker---So it depends on what you want. Ambergris is too busy for me--small town boy.
As for the diving--Blue Hole is just as you described--you dive it so you can check it off your list. Far nicer from the air. Shark\Ray alley nice, dive area.
Getting to a from--you go through Belize City. A third world slum. I often laugh when people complain about the small petty theft that can occur on Bonaire--they should spend a week in Belize City---very scary.

[thesmoothdome]

The best diving in Belize is going to be done by live aboard. Both Peter Hughes and the Aggressor have boats docked out there. You get the best diving possible and no long nasty uncomfortable boat rides.

[caroln]

Belize is a fun trip. I loved Ambergris Caye. You'll get there on a tiny little plane from Belize city, and you instantly feel totally separate from the 'real world' in a very good way. The people there are friendly, speak english, and even though it's a small island, there's plenty to do.

Shark Ray Alley is about a 5 minute boat ride from Ambergris Caye, and I did it usually as a combined snorkel/dive trip, with a snorkel at Shark Ray Alley and a dive at Hol Chan. Hol Chan is a really nice dive, super shallow and easy, so you almost forget you are diving and just notice all the stuff you are seeing. One dive there, we were saying on the boat after that it was almost like we made up a checlist of everything you'd want to see on a dive, and someone just took everything on that list and put it there for us to see. Really nice, and a great night dive (I liked the night dive so much I did it 4 times between 2 trips there). We dived/snorkeled there with Ecologic Divers, and would definitely recommend them.

The Blue Hole is about a 21/2 hour boat ride from Ambergris Caye. IMO it is an excellent day trip and well worth the time and money regardless of whether you even choose to dive the Blue Hole or not. My friend didn't dive at all, just snorkeled, and she agrees that the trip is one of the best memories ever. Our boat was escorted to the Blue Hole by wild dolphins for probably almost an hour of the trip. The Blue Hole itself was spectacularly different from anything else I've seen, and aside from being deep is actually a super easy dive. The other two dives are spectacular, on some of the most lovely sites I've seen, and the SI on Half Moon Caye is fun too. You feel like Swiss Family Robinson or something washed up on a desert island. We did this trip with Amigos del Mar, and again would recommend them and would dive with them again.

Aside from diving, you can do trips from Ambergris Caye to Caye Caulker (even more laid back), to the mainland for Mayan Ruins, cave tubing, etc.

[caroln]

For loads more info on Ambergris Caye, check out Belize Vacations, Tours, Resorts, News, Hotels, Travels, Flights, Weather, Maps, Real Estate

[sk1]

If you really want to get away from it all, check out Long Caye. We stayed at Calypso: Calypso Beach Retreat, Long Caye Lighthouse Reef Belize, Dive and Fishing Resort and there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING on the island. A couple of private residences and that is it. Calypso feeds you breakfast and dinner with lunch on the boat. We had an awesome time, we loved the remoteness, but seriously, there is nothing on this island. That is our thing so we really enjoyed it. The diving was incredible and not too long of boat rides.

Also we did the Blue Hole from here, we didn't go that deep, but my father-in-law went to about 140 ft and saw like 8 bull sharks on the way back up. Visibility wasn't that great, but saw some cool stuff.

[coral cowgirl]

"Getting to a from--you go through Belize City. A third world slum. I often laugh when people complain about the small petty theft that can occur on Bonaire--they should spend a week in Belize City---very scary."
_______________________________
It is a third world slum....we were fortunate enough to be pointed to the Great House (incl. Smoky Mermaid) and I'll be eternally grateful to our taxi driver. I'll take Bonaire's sunglass thieves over Belize City any day!

[PhD4JC]

Why Belize? 2nd largest barrier reef system.

Also, "Save the Rainforest" an ecological touring agency goes there, so I was going to take students and then dive on my freetime (the whole reason why I started exploring Belize), now I'm thinking of going just to dive.

[dannybot]

Belize is cool! The diving was good last year, only a week after hurricane Dean, which was almost a direct hit. I say stay at a hotel in San Pedro on Ambergris caye, if you are cost conscious. There are a lot of decent inexpensive restaurants right there. Don't drink the water though. The dive ops on the beach will have you on a reef in 5-10 minutes. The dives were shallow, and the water was clear. I did Sharkray Alley at night, it was a 45 min swim out against the current, followed by a 5 min drift back to the boat, I really enjoyed it.

If you're staying on land and do the Blue Hole, it is an all day trip, I didn't make this trip, but I will if I ever go back.

I dove with ecologic DIVERS Dive Trips & Tours - Scuba, Snorkel, Fish, Vacation in Ambergris, Belize and liked them, very nice people, good service, safe and fun diving, but I have read about other good ops out there as well. I stayed at Journey's End resort, way up north from San Pedro, it's a nice place for a honeymoon, but not for a dive trip, so I wouldn't suggest them if you are gonig to dive.