Here is a little info I send out.
Divers visiting the Island and White Sands Dive Shop.
Ambergris Caye/San Pedro Belize
First time visiting any place is confusing so this info might help.
Ambergris Caye is a long narrow island that runs North and South. The Barrier Reef runs parallel to the island on its East side, so that's where we dive. Almost all the development, Hotels, Resorts, Restaurants, bars, Dive Shop etc. are lined up along the East shore. The West Side of the island is mangrove and lagoon.
The international airport is on the mainland of Belize in a town called Ladyville. After you land you will need transportation to the island. It's easy to catch one of the small aircraft to the island from international and they leave every hour. You will land at the airstrip which is in the town of San Pedro on the South end of Ambergris Caye. If you came by boat you most likely dock in San Pedro as well.
Cabs are cheap and easy to use for short distances around the town core where streets are paved.
Tourist and residents travel up and down the island along its East shore either by The Costal Express water taxi or by golf cart. The town core has good road but after you leave town and cross the little bridge headed North the road is a single lane dirt path. Dive shops, resorts and some restaurants have boats that pick up and drop off guest for their variety of activities. Our dive shop has a boat that picks up and drops off at almost all the resorts. Morning pick up times are from 8:00-8:30 .
Snorkeling adventures depart each morning at 9am, visiting Mexico Rocks or The Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley.
These two stop snorkeling trips returns you to your dock at 12:30 pm, just in time for lunch. Trips cost 45.usd. (See price list)
Dive Trips to the Barrier Reef depart daily. One of our boats is always headed out for either a Two-Tank trip or a Single-Tank dive on the Barrier Reef. We have 30 sites we visit and they typically begin on the edge of the wall at 45 feet and range in depths along the Spur and Groove formations from 60 to 80 feet. The sites are approximately 5 to 15 minutes from the dive shop and depart daily at 9am returning at approximately 12:30 (lunch time) from the Two-Tank trip and 10:30 AM from the One-Tank trip. All the dives are led by a Divemaster/Guide. Which dive site we visit is determined by the Divemaster who considers sea conditions such as current and visibility, and also the divers on the trip; his goal is to not show the divers the same site twice.
I hope this helps. If you have more questions I'm at 501-226-2405 in Belize or
[email protected] .