Discover SCUBA Belize vs Roatan

[jt_83]

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise in January. We are stopping in both Roatan and Belize and wondered which would be a better spot for us to do a discover SCUBA type dive.

 

I am not certified, but I have dived before. I am a fairly strong swimmer and took SCUBA in college (about 10 years ago), but never did my open water dive to finish my certification.

 

My wife is not a strong swimmer and this will be her first experience with SCUBA. Therefore, if one spot is "easier" than the other, I'd prefer that one.

 

Another thing to consider is our excursion options outside of diving. Our ship is in port for 9 hours on each day, so time shouldn't be an issue.

[Gecko7]

I'd have your wife get to a local dive shop to see about trying it out in a pool to see how she likes it before you spend money on an excursion you may not have fun doing. If all goes well, Belize will likely be the most exciting, but they are all exciting to me.

[Sailfish]

I would recommend you do a discover diving program in Roatan as opposed to Belize. First off, it will probably be less expensive, be closer to shore and you'll have better visibility. There is NO diving in Belize City - all the dive operators have to take you out to reefs that are pretty far. Though the diving in and round Ambergris Cay is excellent, getting there from Belize City is a chore. Local dive operators in Belize City (there aren't many) will all take you to areas where the visibility and reef quality (lack of fish) won't be that of Ambergris Cay.

 

In Roatan, however, the dive sites are in a protected marine park, so you'll see tons of fish. The dive sites will be at most a 10 minute boat ride away, and 90% of the time, you'll enjoy 100+ feet visibility. And it will be cheaper. You can make arrangements to do this through the cruise line (most likely it will be with AKR - Anthony's Key) or you can do so on your own. There are many dive operators on the island that offer discover scuba, so prices are always more competative.

 

I lead dive groups on cruises for Cruise Critic - we have been to Roatan and your itinerary many times - Roatan is by far one of our favorite ports to go diving. We have scuba cruise coming up in February, but not to these ports - after you get certified, look us up. In 2010, we returned to the Wester Caribbean and Roatan - here is the

at Cruise Critic - it will give you an idea of what diving was like in Roatan - it's 8 min long and I think Roatan is towards the end of the video.

[C Cruise Dude]

I'd have your wife get to a local dive shop to see about trying it out in a pool to see how she likes it before you spend money on an excursion you may not have fun doing. If all goes well, Belize will likely be the most exciting, but they are all exciting to me.

 

I agree. I went to a local dive shop a week ago and did a Discover Scuba class for $25. We were with the beginning dive class so it counted as the first class. I signed up, at another dive shop, for a 3 week course (two days a week - they offer weekend courses) to certify for open water. One additional weekend in a quarry for open water certification.

 

Below is my snorkel experience in Belize. The waters were rough and I was not used to that. I suggest that your wife go to the local pool and practice her swimming. In the first scuba class, we had to swim the length of the pool 4 times without stopping, no fins or mask. We had to tread water for about 10 or 15 minutes. The swimming was similar to my Belize reef experience. Butt whupper.

 

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