Hi, My husband and I are coming to AC on March 6th. I have been diving 15 years, (but not in the last few) and he snorkels. My question is after my first orientation dive to get acclamated, where do you suggest I go. The Blue Hole has alot of comments about the length of time to get there, as well as some choppy surf that is sometimes annoying. I prefer a small group.

I think that Shark Alley and Coral Gardens should be a good first dive. But I don't think I'm up to getting up at 5:00 a.m.???????

Thanks for any tips. Also heard that Amigos and Protec are the top. Do they take small groups.

De2

Most local dive boats go out at around 9 am,we use Everette & Enes Anderson from belizedivingadventures.net,they are a husband/wife team and have a good reputation on San Pedro,although there are many good dive instructors on Isle Bonita

Do your orientation at Hol Chan. Easy to get to, and an extremely pretty 30 foot dive. Then, hit one or two of the dive sites just outside the reef. Not spectacular, but very nice. At that point you can think about the boat trip out to the blue hole or Turneffe. The boat trips can be long, but it is an adventure and the dive sites are well worth the trip.

i agree with bobber... nice easy way to get "wet" again.

ps.. The only boats I've seen leaving at 530-600 are for the blue hole or atoll dives.. most of the reef dives leave closer to 9ish.

for a dive company try amigos del mar... consistently a favorite here, at least in the 5 years I've known about SP.

went out with them monday... saw lots of big grouper, nurse sharks, lobster, and one large sea turtle.

Protech and some others do take out small groups, from 2-6 people.

Hol Chan makes a good first dive. Shark Ray Alley is a snorkel-only place where you can play with nurse sharks and sting rays, and is a common second stop on the Hol Chan trip. Your husband can snorkel at Hol Chan while you dive. It's a local trip and you don't need to leave before 9am!

The Blue Hole is a good dive "if you like that sort of thing", and the other two dives in the day trip are world class open ocean wall dives. Your husband can snorkel at all three, though it's an expensive day out for snorkelling. For this trip you typically leave your hotel at 5:30am.

ps.. I forgot to say that Protech is supposed to be a great dive shop as well.

( no personal experience with them, but the general buzz on the board seems to be a positive one )

I keep meaning to stop by and say hello, but haven't walked by yet.

Thanks for the input. Hol Chan will be great to get my neutral bouyancy set.

My last dive in the Caymens was great. A lot of tunnel dives and for a few it was just the DM and me. Picked me up on the beach and away we went. Picking a couple of others along the way.

How's the weather been down there?

In Michigan it's 26 and holding. A little cross country skiing, but I'm ready for some diving. The count down begins.

I agree with all the others, Belize Diving Adventures is a good small dive operation, Also Protech is one of the more established one who has Nitrox.
you might want to look into ecologic Divers as they are new with experienced local DM's

www.ecologicdivers.com
have a great time
svl

I have been very happy with Protech. The staff is wonderful!

My experience has been that different sites are good different days. Wind, waves, viz, etc. Since you are not already familiar with any of the dive sites why not let the dive master make the decisions. Some people do not like to do caves or tunnels; others do. Expressing what you are interested in will help him/her make the decision but I urge you to trust them. Sometimes people come with set things in their mind and think the operator is not listening to them when they “so and so told me to be sure and go to . . . “
It sounds like you have had a lot of experience and you may find the diving different here. I was accustomed to dives where I and my buddy (when I had one) and other buddy teams simply went in the water on their own. The D.M.’s were on board to handle emergencies. It is not like that here.
Also, operators who knew me well would let me solo dive. In California we photographers would go down, find a spot and spend the whole dive photographing the critters there.
All the dives here are guided dives. I like small groups so I can go slow and get the pictures I want.
There are other topics on this board where the reason for the 9:00 departures is discussed.
Good luck, have fun.