Are there any dive shops near Belize City who do not contract with the cruise lines? I have sent emails to four operators and only received one reply from someone that has a contract with the cruise lines and cannot take individual reservations. We have had bad experiences signing up for tours through cruise ships in the past and prefer to make our own arrangements

As I understand it you would have to go ashore, meet the operator there and then head out diving. Operators not contracted to the cruise lines can't pick you up at the ship so you'll end up with significantly less dive time than using a contracted operator. Private shore excursions are a bit easier to arrange with companies like Belize Expeditions (www.bzexpeditions.com) but are also much more costly.