Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,273
Offline
Costa Maya is beautiful. If you want to be out of town and more privacy, stay there. If you want to be close to everything in town, then stay in town. Use Island Ferry to get to Costa Maya if they won't pick you up and to and from town, they run until 2am on Wed, Fri, Sat.

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 367
Offline
Dizi-B,

Usually I snorkel in Florida mostly, but my favorite places there are still in recovery from hurricanes. (yeah, and Katrina is on the way this weekend...)

I did the Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan Reserve trip twice with Alfonso Graniel, a terrific guide. He knows every creature on the reef and is an animated and energetic fun guy. He is careful to pace for the group if there are older folks or children. The Alley had bigger creatures (nurse sharks, sting rays, groupers, blue tangs, parrotfish. Hol Chan has a huge mix of fish, morays, sea cucmbers, urchins. Alphonso also took us on a detour to see loggerhead turtles where the conch fisherman harvest their catch. If there's time, you might get to retrieve a shell when they're done. (You can take 1 per person cuz it's outside the Reserve boundaries.) He has a nice webpage if you google his name.

On the Mexico Rocks trip we did a drift snorkel. The fish were smaller and more timid types. Lots of sergeant-majors and I just loved the Rock Beauty. We saw lobster there, too. I can't remember the two guides names. It was a quieter trip. Still lovely.

Lots of the shops have field guides to identify fish and corals. I enjoyed having that to show folks when I arrived back home.

Each trip has it's own special qualities. Definitely do SRA and HC. Add on other trips for more fun. You are gonna have a blast!! I still have vivid dreams about being in the crystal clear waters there, with so much to see!

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 33
D
Dizi-B Offline OP
OP Offline
D
Thanks Snorkelgirl,
All that info is priceless. I just went snorkeling in Key Largo this past May. It was great there! I know what you mean about the clear blue waters!
I've been watching katrina!!! I live on the east coast and we don't want her to visit us! Right now it's not looking too good for the gulf coast states tho!
thanks again, we'll try to find Alfonso, he sounds like a blast!


Dizi-B
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 222
G
Offline
G
There are some new additional charges fostered by the credit card firms in USA that hit foreign charges. They can hit 3% as an exchange rate fee.

Might be worth your while to take some big US bills to pay major charges locally.

There are local foreign exchange firms that give a slightly better exchange rate than the retail establishments.

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 717
Offline
I had occasion to use the money exchange booth at Goldson last year to break a large US bill for small change and requested US change to avoid getting stuck with BZE bucks, on my way out, They were very accomodating. smile

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,123
Offline
I thought they closed down the money changers????


Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,337
Offline
gbz39 Where are the local money exchangers located, what are they called, and lastly have you visited them within the last month?
Thank You,

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 222
G
Offline
G
Sorry was there in Jan and Feb.

There were two or three....two were on the main street...both on corners... and there was one on middle street. Don't remember what they were called. They seemed to be established businesses not back street operations. These were NOT black market operations.

The Banks MIGHT even give a better exchange rate than the stores..

I'm not talking big differences...BZ$203 for US$100. BUT for US$ 10,000 it makes a difference and you eliminate the credit card fees.

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,479
S
Offline
S
Casa de Cambios were supposed to have shut down last month //ambergriscaye.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=010676

The banks give worse exchange than the stores, the stores are all 2 for 1.

In the past you could exchange up to $500BZ into US dollars at the airport without a permit. That may have changed.

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 222
G
Offline
G
From today's WSJ

Although Visa and MasterCard have, for the time being, backed off their plans to charge card issuers fees on such transactions, consumers may still get hit with fees from their credit-card company. Earlier this year, for example, MBNA Corp. changed its policy to charge a 3% foreign-transaction fee for any purchase outside the U.S., regardless of whether the purchase was converted to dollars by the merchant. A spokeswoman for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said the company isn't planning to charge a 3% foreign-exchange fee (which includes the 1% charged to the banks by Visa and MasterCard) if the currency is converted at the point of sale by the merchant.

Page 2 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Cayo Espanto
Click for Cayo Espanto, and have your own private island
More Links
Click for exciting and adventurous tours of Belize with Katie Valk!
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 308 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums44
Topics79,199
Posts500,011
Members20,460
Most Online7,413
Nov 7th, 2021



AmbergrisCaye.com CayeCaulker.org HELP! Visitor Center Goods & Services San Pedro Town
BelizeSearch.com Message Board Lodging Diving Fishing Things to Do History
BelizeNews.com Maps Phonebook Belize Business Directory
BelizeCards.com Picture of the Day

The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members
and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5