ariving ac on 4/4-staying at paradise villas.wondering if we should book dives before we leave or will it be ok to wait till we get there? want to do the blue hole day trip, night dive, and several local 2 tank am dives. thinking about amigos del mar-they were highly recommended. any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Amigos is great--I highly recommend them. I would email them ahead of time to be sure you can get the Blue Hole trip in--the trip to the Elbow at Turneffe is also worthwhile

We just returned from AC last Saturday. Try Barefoot. We made 11 dives in a week with Roberto including Blue Hole, Half Moon, Long Caye and several Ambergris sites. They were outstanding to work with and the boat was excellent.

scubahooters-were is Barefoot located?

WE STAYED AT PARADISE VILLAS OVER CHRISTMAS AND I PREBOOKED ALL OUR DIVES, 7 DIVERS, WITH AMIGOS. E-MAIL MELINE AND SEE IF THEY WILL CUT YOU A DEAL, THEY DID FOR US.
TELL HER BILL SAID HI

BIGMOMMACHRIS,
BAREFOOT IS RIGHT ON THE BEACH NORTH OF THE YACHT CLUB. IT'S CALLED BAREFOOT WATER SPORTS. ASK FOR MIKE OR DAWN (OWNERS) OR ROBERTO (DIVEMASTER). GUARANTEED YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME.

Amigos are friendly and have a professional feel to them. They tend to have full boats which is something I personally avoid. Whern I say "full" I mean maybe ten clients which is not excessive and they will break into two groups for diving.

Local dives can be had without a pre-book. day trips might be harder. However, I'd bet a Belikin from Estel's that with one day's notice (12 hours) you can book any trip by walking up to an operator.

There are many good operators. I ended up using Aqua Dives: great boats and not crowded. They took great care of beginners and were aware of what people were up to.

I did Amigos for a night dive. Everything went well great but it was a little crouded with ten clients and two Amigos. Waiting for all those people to get on the boat while fighting a current was tiring. But, they are a nice operator and well equiped.

Have fun.

you may or may not want to "pre book" dives. Daily diving in AC is not guaranteed. There are often times the ocean conditions don't allow boats to go out beyond the reef. I have never had a problem paying daily for diving. If conditions don't permit,or for some reason I can't or don't want to dive I am not financially obligated. Amigos is good for blue hole. also check out Bottom Time, they are excellent for local dives and very reasonable in their prices.

E-mail Mike at Barefoot Watersports. My wife and I booked 40 two tank trips with them and they were fantastic. Roberto is an excellent divemaster and is also an Instructor. Mike and Dawn (the owners) are the most accomidating dive operators I've ever dealt with. We went to the Blue Hole, Turneffe Elbow, and many sites outside the reef. They are both divers and it really show that they love what they do.The staff is first rate and the boats are top of the line.Say hello to everyone for us.

Ron and Deb
Located 2 docks north of the Belize Yacht Club

[This message has been edited by diverdeb1 (edited 04-03-2001).]