Hope y'all can help. We have a customer (I own a dive shop now) who will be stopping in Belize City on a cruise ship...he assures me he'd rather not be on a ship but he'd rather stay married, so he is.

At any rate, he's asked me to locate the best dive operator I can for him out of Belize City. He's not been well-served by the cruise company and I'm hoping we can help him out. All my time's been on AC so I've no experience with mainland operators.

He's a little worried about getting to AC and back while in port; hence the need.

Can anyone help with recommendations?

Thanks.

I get several emails a week from cruse ship passengers with this concern.
I highly recommend Sea Sports Belize
there in belize city.
http://www.seasportsbelize.com/

I agree about SeaSports. Very professional. And they do regular snorkeling trips for cruisers so would be sure to get him back to the boat in time.

But beware you may not have a free choice.

.

Comment deleted.

Thanks very much, Elbert and Barbara.

Peter, in this case, our customer does have a choice...but I understand your comment.

Jesse's comment, as usual, isn't topical or helpful.

Let me explain my "free choice" comment. It isn't a dig at different operators in Belize City - far from it - but results from the cruise ship operators' practice of making it difficult for "cruisers" (if I may call them that!) to join tours not purchased from the cruise ship. They do this in several ways. They make it more difficult (and slower) for people doing their own thing to leave and later rejoin the ship. On your return you typically have to make an earlier transfer boat than is available to people on tours they've sold. And once the posted departure time arrives, they will wait for passengers they've booked on tours but NOT for people who booked independently.

I also had in mind that I have been told by people who tried to book independently with one of the two main operators (both of whom do an excellent job) that even though there were trips going (for the customers booked by the cruise ship) they were unable to join them. Whether the boats were full or the cruise ship had given instructions to operate restrictive practices I don't know (I really don't) but the bottom line is that they found themselves unable to get on a trip run from Belize City.

I've never been on a cruise and what I hear from passengers doesn't make me want to try it.

FWIW I would happily go out diving with Sea Sports Belize, a most professional outfit. But there's nothing wrong with "Belize Dive Connection" either.

Our 1st trip to Belize was on a cruise ship and we dove w/Sea Sports Belize. Didn't have any problem getting back to the ship on time! However, that was back in 2002 so things could've changed since then. We've been coming to AC every year since, guess we found our little piece of paradise on that cruise!

According to my customer the cruise company isn't offering a dive opportunity in Belize on this particular cruise, although they normally do. Why or why not is unknown to me and I'm not a cruiser myself, so I'm uncharted here.

According to what I've been told, he's been encouraged to find an operator on his own, so that's what I'm helping him do.

I'll relay these very relevant comments to him and truly appreciate all the help.

An alternative that some people opt for is to hotfoot it over to the municipal airstrip at the east of Belize City (by taxi of course) and take one of the hourly flights with either airline (Tropic or Maya) to San Pedro. Then to go out diving on the local stretch of the barrier reef. Should be able to get two dives in, maybe with lunch in between (depends on exact timings) and then have time to get back to the ship. Because the reef is so close to SP the fuel used by dive boats is much less than from Belize City, so even with the airfare included the cost is about the same. Note that, again because the reef is so close, it's customary here to take surface intervals back on land at the dive shop, so even if you miss the first dive it's easy to catch the second. Best to arrange with a SP dive center beforehand so they can try to gear their operations that morning around your arrival, because you probably won't be in time for the usual 9am departures.

But do note the caveats I made in an earlier post. You MUST ensure you're back by the time the cruise ship operator tells you.

As to flying back shortly after diving, it's a personal judgement of course, but the local planes never go higher than 1500ft and if you ask nicely will often stay much lower than that. Do your dives on nitrox and you really have very little to worry about. But of course it remains your risk.

Peter, I don't think advising people to fly after a dive is wise,
or flying after a dive is wise.
Its definitely breaking all the rules and regulations of flying and diving.
Hopefully these people are intelligent certified divers and know better.

According to the definition of flying used by DAN, Elbert, these don't even constitute flights at all. I've done it myself several times and I know lots of other people who have done it. I've never heard of anyone having a problem. But as I said it is a personal judgement. Inexperienced divers who are not capable yet of making an informed decision shouldn't do it.

Peter that's just wrong, Dan rules are broken by your suggestion also. Read up and get current.
Minimum of 18 hours before flight no mater whose rules your going by and the definition of altitude is above 1000 ft.
Heaver(denser air)is in the lower altitudes, resulting in greater percentages of change in pressure.
Just don't do it.

Elbert - I have just gone to the DAN Americas website to try to find the latest recommendations on flying after diving. I was unable to find a succinct statement of recommendations, so I scanned all likely looking articles. The only one I could find that gave a minimum altitude was this one. You'll see that it refers to a minimum altitude of 2000ft - my memory is of 3000ft. Either is above the heights I mentioned. But if have documentary evidence of a lower recommended height I'd obviously like to see it:-

Provisional Flying After Diving Guidelines
The following recommendations, which apply to recreational divers, represent the consensus reached by attendees at the 2002 Flying After Diving Workshop. The recommendations are based on earlier published work and recent experimental trials as described in the Workshop Proceedings. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The consensus recommendations should reduce DCS risk during flying after diving but do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Preflight surface intervals longer than the recommendations will reduce DCS risk further.

Peter, You need to read that more carefully the test/study its referring to rendered 40 DCS (decompression sickness) incidents (5%), of which 21 were moderate DCS, 18 mild DCS, and 1 serious DCS.
You have misread the 2000 to 8000 figures.
The rule is 18 hours and defined as 1000 feet! Its a test question on the Exam and printed on the recreational Dive Tables every beginner diver is given.

I'll come back to you on this! Much of what PADI recommends tends to be out of date, so I'm more concerned to find what DAN's current recommendations are. I'm damned if I can find them on either the Americas website or the Europe one. Lots of references to it, no actual print. I certainly don't remember 1000ft, though I'm not going to say more until I can find definitive information.

In any case, the rule (per DAN) is not 18 hours. It's 12 hours for moderate diving and 24+ hours for deco diving. I thought it used to say 18 hours for non-deco repetitive diving, but I haven't been able to find that either.

Other readers of this semi-private discussion (I won't call it dispute - Elbert and I know each other too well for that - should note that whatever the numbers are, it's a grey scale and not black and white. It's not safe to go to 999ft and dangerous to go to 1001ft. A lot depends on the individual - his (her) fitness, general health, state of hydration (the biggest single factor in all of this), and history. If you're accustomed say to flying to 2000ft after diving and have never had a problem, well it's probably OK for you. It doesn't suddenly become dangerous because DAN or PADI or anyone else brings down the maximum recommended altitude. Equally, if you're a novice looking for guidance it pays to listen to what people say and then be conservative, in this and in all matters diving.

If your customer hasnt left yet definately have him book with sea sports in Belize city. I had more fun with them than any other dive operator. he might even get to do some fishing between dives..we did. had a blast! John and Linda are great people..

Elbert - I finally got around to looking up the "flying after diving" recommendations. I couldn't find them on DAN's website but I did on PADI's. The bold sections are my emphasis, not theirs.

General Comments
Recent experimental trials indicate the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) decreases as the preflight surface interval increases. Based on these studies, the Workshop reached the following consensus recommendations. These recommendations apply to flights at cabin altitudes between 600 metres/2000 feet and 2400 metres/8000 feet and to divers who are without DCS symptoms. Work by Buehlmann, which was used by the US Navy Diving manual, suggests that immediate ascent to 600 metres/2000 feet altitude is possible with low DCS risk. In 1999, the US Navy adopted more flexible procedures based, in part on Buehlmann and Vann et al. Following these recommendations reduces DCS risk but does not guarantee that a diver will avoid DCS.

For Dives within the No-Decompression Limits
Single Dives - A minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested.
Repetitive Dives and/or Multiday Dives - A minimum preflight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested.

For Dives Requiring Decompression Stops
A minimum preflight surface interval greater than 18 hours is suggested.

Flying after diving recommendations need not be considered for flights to ambient/cabin pressures less than 600 metres/2000 feet.


So your statement above:-
Minimum of 18 hours before flight no mater whose rules your going by and the definition of altitude is above 1000 ft.
appears to be incorrect.

You'll miss the questions on the open water exam if you use the information above.
altitude is defined as 1000 ft.
and not going to altitude is a minimum of 18 hours to prevent decompression sickness.
The point of sport diving rules being different than US Navy is that we the public are not in any comparable condition with a Navy diver.
We the public is old and fat and our circulation and hearts don't respond the same as a fit slim physically conditioned military model.
Its we the public that are reading the message board for advice.

Elbert - the information I quote was taken today from the "Pro's" area of the PADI website, and is entitled "Current recommendations for flying after diving". If the exam answers are different then it is those that are out of date and wrong. It is up to us as instructors to ensure that the material we teach, and the exams we administer, are fully current. If there are deficiencies it is up to us to make appropriate changes in anticipation of new exams being printed.

But I recall the three time limits of 12 hours, 18 hours and 24+ hours as having been around for many years. I must admit to having been wrong myself in that I mis-remembered that flying was defined as starting at 3000ft. That was wrong, but so is 1000ft (see above). I don't recall any time at which 1000ft was the extant definition.

I haven't looked at the OW exam questions & answers, but I don't remember 1000ft from there.

Thinking again, diving at altitude is considered to start at 1000 feet. Could that be what you are thinking of?