AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Wedding and Diving in AC

We've been reading this board for a few months and appreciate all the information. We will be there May 18 - 23 and getting married at Ramon's May 22.
The question is, how is Ramons dive shop. We have read a lot about Amigos del Mar, which should we use?? Also, who would you recommend for a trip to Caye Caulker? Can we dive on the way?

well here i go again, and i am way prejudiced, but i have done many dives with amigoes and recently, a week ago, had my 30 year old godson and his friend get certified there. they had a great instructor and got padi in 3 days, he was nervous and was put quite at ease, and very pleased with the instruction and competancy. my wife and i had 11 dives 5 days including the blue hole on their 48 ft boat and everything was first class. don't believe i will dive with anyone else when on a/c . hilmar and the gang george, sabas, et al are very competant and first rate and very knowledgable. as for a trip to caulker, do you just want to visit? just take a water taxito caulker and have fun. john in denver

Thanks for the advice John. We plan on doing the blue hole. Can we book Amigoes when we get there or should we contact them before we arrive?

We just returned from Ramon's and were married there on May 6th. You are going to love it and if Amy is helping to arrange everything you will not be disappointed. Congratulations and have a great trip!

Hey... I will 2nd the opinion regarding Amigos! Have just returned today and did 10 dives with them, including the Blue Hole. Spent the week diving with Rene and Tony, we had a blast. Taking Amigos to the BH is the only way to go! It's a long trip but their big boat makes it comfortable. Rum punch is served on the way back, but since it's a bumpy ride, you may end up wearing it more than drinking it.
As far as booking in advance, they need a minimum of 9 to do the trip, so if you know what day you want to go, they can put your name on the list... otherwise, they go 2-3 times a week and you can check them out when you get there. From Ramon's, it's north a few blocks. Personally, I won't dive w/anyone else but ADM! And if you can, make sure you get in a night dive! That was absolutely fantastic.

Oops... as I re-read your post, you're already there! Well, I hope you have a great time... Congrats on the wedding!

Totally agree with Amigos for the Blue Hole and Atoll trips. For local diving though there are plenty of other excellent options. One such place is right in front of Briannas in Patojo's Scuba Centre who offer small group diving, excellent guides, brand new kit and are cheaper than Amigos (who are an excellent dive shop - but not alone). Who else did you dive with scubalover to say you won't dive with anyone else.

Amigo's deserve their great reputation and they get a lot of supporters here due to their volume of traffic, as the biggest operation on the island - and yet still manage to cater to smaller groups. But new boarders please do not discount the operators close to where you are staying just because Amigos fans shout often and loud.

The websites for Patojo's and Amigos both quote the same price for a two tank dive. So I'm not sure why you are saying that Patojo's is less expensive. Regardless, Amigos (and I'll assume the same is true of Patojo's) give a much better price if you do a block of dives with them (10).

I've never been diving with Patojo's but I've heard very good things about them. They've got a nice dock too.

I have been diving with other outfits and while they were also good and the DM's were fun, Amigos offers little extras that may not immediately be noticed. For one example only, bottled water instead of bags of water. The water is always cold, lots of ice, while some of the other outfits didn't have enough ice in the cooler to keep the water chilled.

From an ecological perspective, it may seem that bags of water are a better bet, but they are a bit difficult to drink from and you can't reseal them to finish your water later.

Seashell - agree with you about the water bottles. The first thing I thought about when I saw those bags was that it seemed like a poor thing to have on a boat where empty bags could blow overboard and the turtles might think they are jellyfish...seems like a bad idea ecologically thinking. JMO.

Casa Caracol... I actually didn't dive w/anyone else, so I can't really compare. Patojo's is related to Amgios (but I guess every dive shop is related somehow), and they let me rinse and hang my gear at their pier. I'm sure they are also a great operaton.
Not to drive the point home, but ADM was prompt w/all their pickups, we went back to their dock for surface intervals and had freshly cut watermelon, oranges and coconut for snacks, plenty of cold bottled water. And I appreciated that, for as much business as they get, each time I went into the office, Gilmar knew who I was.
When you've found a quality operation, why go anywhere else?
Hey... CruisinTigger... it was great to meet you and Greg. Sorry we didn't get to do more dives together other than the BH. Tell Greg I'm definitely interested in the dvd he's got coming.

Tigger, good point. I hadn't thought of it that way (bags overboard) and the damage that might do ecologically. I was thinking more along the lines of disposal. The water bottles would be more of a problem than the bags, in that regard.