Scuba Diving in Belize

[bmsmith521]

So obviously Belize is one of the top 10 diving destinations in the world and it just happens to be one of the ports on my next cruise :D. Can anyone offer answers to the following questions?

 

1. We are going on Carnvial...they offer a shore excursion, but my group would like to have a private excursion. Do you have a reputable dive shop you can recommend that could take us out?

 

2. I will be there Dec 29th; will we need a full body wet suit, a shorty or will we be ok in just our swimsuits?

 

3. Is there a specific dive site you would recommend?

 

Any tips or recommendations are appreciated!

[sunandsnow]

Also interested. Will be there in March. Thanks!

[2112]

Ok, here is the deal with Belize. Belize has some amazing diving. The bad news is that you won't see any of that amazing diving as a cruise ship excursion. The great diving is out at Lighthouse Atoll, which is about a 2.5 hour (each way) boat ride over open ocean from Belize City. I hate to break it to you, but there is no way to do this while your cruise ship is in port.

 

So, what that leaves you with are 2 options. You can go to Turneffe Atoll from Belize City or you can go to the barrier reef from either Belize City or from Ambergris Caye.

 

Turneffe is where the cruise ship excursions go. Turneffe is huge (think of it as the size of Cozumel). From what I understand, there is some really great diving at Turneffe, but once again, they won't take you to the best spots from a cruise ship. What you are left with is average diving - not bad - but a long way from world class. This would be ok, but they really do charge a lot of money for an average dive. You will end up paying twice what you will have paid to dive in Cozumel and the diving isn't as good. I have dove Turneffe as a cruise ship excursion - won't be doing it again. Too many other good things to do in Belize.

 

Your second option is the barrier reef. There are 2 ways to do this. The first is from a Belize City dive operation. I have not done this myself, but I have yet to read a good review about it. What you can do is take a short flight to Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) from the municipal airport and dive the barrier reef from there. I spent a week diving in Ambergris Caye and can tell you that it is far from world class. Most of the reef is dead and bleached and fish are hard to find. The exception is Hol Chan Marine Park which still has a reef in very good condition as well as Shark Ray Alley (which is really a snorkeling site). I would recommend trying to get yourself to Hol Chan. There are some private excursion companies that can set this up or you could arrange the flight and diving yourself. The flights are low altitude so no need to worry about flying after diving. Tell the pilot you've been diving and he'll keep the altitude below 1,000'.

 

As far as wetsuits, my Polartec (equal to a 2 mm) works fine for me in the winter in Belize. If you don't get cold easy, you could probably do it in just a swimsuit unless you are diving multiple days.