Belize... where should I stay

[tx.lakerat]

ok... need some help guys... a group of us want to head to Belize... where should we stay and who should we dive with?? Let's here why you recommend and who!
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<DIV>Thanks!</DIV>

[rainmaker]

I was at Ambergris Caye in June 2006 for a week, had a very nice experience divingwith Protech. Concerning lodging, I stayed at Ruby's, and probably wouldn't stay there again.

[Itsjustme0770]

Lakerat-
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<DIV>My wife and I were married at the Victoria House two years ago. It may not be the right place for a group, but its a wonderful place to stay (and priced accordingly).</DIV>
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<DIV>Lots of places to stay on Ambergris. I'd head over to www.ambergriscaye.com and see what some of the lodging descriptions look like and what the folks there are saying. If you want hard partying, there's Ramons, if you want fairly quiet and kitchens, there's Banana Beach, there are intown places, house for rent and places north of the cut that are pretty much boat access only.</DIV>
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<DIV>As far as Dive Ops, Peter, the owner of Protech, is one of the most experienced divers I have met. He's also a super nice guy who runs a truly great dive op. Once you demostrate you know what you are about, they will pretty much let you dive your plan. Belize is great. Make the trip out to the Elbow if you have the time and skip the Blue Hole.</DIV>
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<DIV>Cheers!</DIV>

[tx.lakerat]

skip the blue hole? why??

[jacewindu]

i was on the peter hughes liveaboard.
let's just say it was hands down the best vacation of my life. GREAT diving, awesome boat, friendly and helpful staff, the works!

i wouldn't recommend spending any time in belize city (home port for peter hughes &amp; aggressor) because there's pretty much nothing there, but i've heard that areas north of there are much better suited to land based adventures.

[thesmoothdome]

Originally Posted by tx.lakerat

skip the blue hole? why??

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<DIV>Blue Hole is a dive for the log books. It's really just a bounce dive to 130' (or deeper). It's also a long 2 hour boat ride out there for most land based operations. In terms of life, about the only thing we saw were reef sharks, which were cool, but not guaranteed to be seen. Is it worth doing? Sure. Are you going to be "wowed," probably not. </DIV>
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<DIV>The question I would ask is "Is this an experience you want to have?" Not many divers are going to dive Belize and go "Damn, I never did the Blue Hole and I never want to." Afterwards, you can tell those who haven't done it, they don't need toor you cantell everyone you've been there, done that and don't really need to do it again. It's easy to say there are better dives, but very hard not to want to do one of the most famous dives in the world. </DIV>
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<DIV>The upside is that the best diving most land based tours do is that day because they include 2 more dives at Lighthouse Reef. </DIV>
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<DIV>\</DIV>

[Itsjustme0770]

What the others have said....

BOORRINGGG. The other dives on the Atolls are the best. If you and your guys can swing it and are interested in really seeing the best diving that Belize has to offer, I'd recommend...

www.turneffelodge.com

or

www.slickrock.com

Been to both and the best diving I've done in the carribbean.

Cheers

[cutter77]

Agreed....Belize City is kind of grundgy....we stayed at the Great House before boarding our liveaboard and it was VERY nice. I think I would do Belize as a liveaboard if I go again....hard to beat.

[sks77]

My wife and I have been to Belize 4-5 times now. I agree tospend aslittle time in Belize City as possible. Here is where we have stayed and a little commentary:
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<DIV>Xanadu - This is probably my favorite place that we have stayed. We have now stayed there twice and will probalby stay there in the future. It isn't the cheapest butwe really like it. It isfar enough out of townto be peaceful and quiet but close enough to walk in for dinner.The owners and managers are very nice and helpful also.</DIV>
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<DIV>Ramons - Stayed here on our honeymoon. Nice place with nice people but a little too in the middle of things for me.</DIV>
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<DIV>Blackbird - Really neat secluded place on Turneffe. Lots of great diving close byand we had a great time with the other guests and managers ofthe resort at the time. Hot water was an issue in our cabana throughout the trip but I do not know if that is common. The only real negative in my opinion is that the price is very high.</DIV>
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<DIV>I can't remember the name of the other place we stayed butit was up north and I would not highly recommend it.</DIV>
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<DIV>Also, regarding the Blue Hole...I think it is a fun 1 time experience. The dive is not that amazing but it is interesting and different.You most likely will see sharks from what I understand. I have seen a bunch both times I did the dive (Reef and a Bull or 2). The real thing about the Blue Hole trip is that the 2 dives after the Blue Hole dive are absolutely incredible. </DIV>
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<DIV>Enjoy Belize!</DIV>

[Texas Girl]

I will second the recommendation for Blackbird Caye. Short boat trip to most dive sites, good food, relaxed setting.

For the weekly trip to the Blue Hole, they take the big boat and the whole resort goes, including the kitchen staff. After the Blue hole, which I agree is an "only need to do it once in a lifetime" dive, you drop non-divers and the staff off at Half Moon Caye and do a second dive. When you go back, lunch is ready, and you can walk around for a little while. On the way back to the resort, you do a third dive.

The only time we wore shoes was on arrival and departure. There is no night diving, as there is a large resident croc named Jack. The resort is about an hour boat ride away from Belize City. When we departed, we ended up having to spend some time at the port as it was too early to go the airport. We walked around the few shops, and then just sat at a restaurant there, rather than spend a lot of time at the airport. They will also drop you at a hotel to spend the time by the pool.

http://www.blackbirdresort.com/