Diving in Belize

[newcruiser915]

Does anyone know what dive company Carnival uses in Belize? Thanks!

[I&MsMom]

You might want to try posting this on the "Belize" port of call board, if you haven't already. Someone there may be able to help you.:)

[bcb241]

Does anyone know what dive company Carnival uses in Belize? Thanks!

 

their web site is cruiseops@beliezediving.com

I dove with them in November off of the Glory. You need to be aware that if you go diving you won't have enough time to see the city. The dive boat will pick you up on your ship and take you to their shop ( out on a cay ) and then on to the dive site. We got back to the ship around 3ish and the tenders were all starting to return from Belieze city. I think we departed around 5PM. It was a good operation in my opinion but one very important item to remember. When the divemaster is organizining the groups, be SURE and let him know if you are an experienced diver otherwise you get to dive with all the "newbies" in 30 feet of water or so. If you only have 10-15 dives under your belt, forget that last sentence!

Brent:)

[newcruiser915]

I'll take a look. Thanks! Did you book with them directly or through Carnival? If so, was there a substantial savings?

[Middleager]

Some people who dove with Hugh Parkey said they had good experience with them. There are two other options for diving from cruise ship. One is Sea Sport in town, but they need 4 divers to go, and sometimes there aren't 4 then you're out of luck.

 

A third option, which I will be going with, is quite unique (and some people who went on it also had good experience), is with http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/tours.html

Their charge is less than booking thru the cruise line, and includes rental gears if you need them. They'll meet you at the pier as you tender in, then take you to the Belize Municipal airport, fly on Maya Air to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. They've arranged with Maya Air to fly over the reef system first (usually they don't fly over the reef as it is just to the east of the caye), then have you dive there. You get to see the reef system you'll be diving there. They require 3 divers minimum, but they said they have not had to cancel due to not enough people yet. After the dive you can see a little of Ambergris Caye. After flying back to Belize you get to see a little of Belize City. I thought that is quite a unique tour. You get to see Belize by sea, air, and land.

 

Note that Hugh Parkey indicated they go to the Turneoff Atoll. It's a long ride out there 40-50min after you get fitted at their shop (10-12min from ship). Diving should be good there, but you won't get to see Belize.

[bcb241]

I booked with Carnival directly because of the distance to the dive destination. ( Turnerofe Atoll ) As was indicated in the last post, it's a LONG boat ride out there and my thoughts were that if there was a problem either going or coming, then the Glory was NOT going to wait for me if I booked independent. You may be aware that if you book thru Carnival and the dive operator encounters a delay, then the ship will wait for you. YES, it's more expensive but worth it in my opinion.

Brent:)