Hello,
I'm going on a 12-day backpacking trip (mostly urban travel) to Belize in a month. From what I have read, I'm definitely going scuba diving.
Any personal recommendations on must-see dives? I've never been diving before - should I (or do I need to) get certified before I go?
Any insight is much appreciated! Thanks.
You have to be certified before you can go diving. You can get certified in Belize, but would take a couple of days. Ambergris Caye would be a good spot, but quite pricey. Placencia would be nice. There are a large number of dive shops in Belize so check around and even haggle for the best deals. Check online also, but checking around the shops in person would be better. If you want to dive to see the barrier reef, Tobacco Caye would be best as it's on the reef itself.
Edited by: feuysbelize
You can do what is called a resort course, a short period of training and then a dive or two, without being certified, but otherwise you will need to be certified either before you go or in Belize. Since a basic dive course in Belize (you are limited as to depth of dives) takes at least a couple of full days, and a full Open Water course requires three or four days, depending on your travel plans you may want to try to get certified before you go to Belize, or at least do the classroom work.
Caye Caulker is another popular destination for divers -- not as many dive operators as Ambergris, but CC has more lower budget accommodation.
You can do the majority of the studying and course work online prior for the Open Water certification on the PADI website, then once in Belize, or even a local PADI dive course, take the classroom portion, though much if it is under water, so its always nicer to learn in a beautiful marine atmosphere than in a swimming pool or lake. Its also more realistic, as the majority of training is safety, safety devices, and safety procedures in the event of a problem underwater with you, or your buddy when diving.
Resort Diving is fine, but you will be limited to about 25ft depth, vs 50-60ft, and also will be limited depending on other conditions like currents, water clarity, and how controlled the dive area is for you and the divemasters to ensure your safety.
I highly recommend getting your PADI OW certification, not only will be able to enjoy many wonderful places to dive in the world, it is also another great way to learn and understand marine biology, marine protection and also marine bio diversity. If you dont remember everything after a few years, you can go online to refresh yourself, or even take a quick refresher PADI course when you arrive at the dive destination to review all the safety drills/procedures.
The diving community is a lot of fun, all sort of people from all walks of life, all ages, from around the globe, always a nice time, and everyone looks out for everyone when diving.
Enjoy!
re: Any personal recommendations on must-see dives?
... Belize recreational diving is a very visual experience. there isnt much point to it, if you can't see. Perhaps you meant "must-dive"?
Hi, at this time you already know that you must have a certification before you can go to dive.
I've just arrived after been in Belize for 16 days doing lots of dives... I recommend you Tobacco Caye, in particular the Reef's End Lodge. They have good packages including acommodations and meals and the dives are great and not very deep, so for you that will be starting are a great option (another advantage is the short distance to the reef).
Another excellent dive is the Whale's Shark, but you have to go to Placencia (try to go in a date close to Full Moon).
I've done also the Great Blue Hole dive... but in your case I don't recommend it.... that dive includes 3 tanks... the first is at the Blue Hole, but you will not be able to go to the best spot, at 130ft, so you will go down only to 80ft, and there is not much to see there... the other 2 dives (Half Moon Caye and The Aquarium) are good but not better at all than the ones in Tobacco Caye.
If you want more information about prices or how to go just ask me, I will put a detail trip report later in another post.
Have a nice trip!
Regards
Pablo
Actually a OW Certification is only allowed to dive to 60ft, 20 meters, for anything below that, you need Advanced Certification, easy enough to get, a 2 day course, but with a standard certification, 60ft will be your limit.
130ft is not for the novice IMO, need to have your wits about you...and a very clear sinus due to the pressure. I get a tad edgy past 60ft, 100ft is a lot, for some reason I get clostaphobic and uneasy fear can creep up that deep, I like to tail the divemaster at those depths...guess I am a wuss...
Hi Solohoboo, yes that's the theory... but actually almost all of the dive agencies let you go deep than that in spite of having only an OW Certification (In my case as I had more than 25 dives they gave me the option to go or to 80ft or to 130ft).
However I have to admit that when I was at 135 ft I started to feel "strange" (Narcosys?) and I decided to go up just a few feets and then everything went well.
But as I said, that deep dive in the Blue Hole is not very nice... you only see stalagmits and you are there 4 mins, with a total of 28mins into the blue hole. Too expensive (I paid 225 USD including National Park fees and Gear rental).
Regards
Pablo