Belize in November

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Penopolypants
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Belize in November

Post by Penopolypants »

Hello all,

I am planning a trip to Belize over Thanksgiving. We'll be a mix of my family and Mr. Pants' family (eek! :BDub:), so a few divers and mostly non-divers, including a couple of elderly ladies (our moms). My current plan is to make Ambergris Caye our home base, since non-divers can either be beach bums, go into San Pedro, or take boats to various mainland excursions, and I will have better access to diving (which is my priority!). We will be renting a house, not staying at a resort.

Any info on dive ops/places to go/things to do would be appreciated. I am also planning on Ambergris Caye because I am not finding a lot of info about staying on the mainland with large groups of mixed divers/non, and it seems to be the best option. But...if anyone has any suggestions in that department I would be most appreciative.

Thanks everyone!
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JTBach
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Re: Belize in November

Post by JTBach »

It's been awhile since I've been to Belize, but I'll tell you what I know. The big plus about diving from AC is the proximity to the barrier reef. You do your surface interval in town, relaxing, and then head back out past the reef for your second dive. Then, when you're done, you're back in town for lunch. That said, it is a true barrier reef, so it gets hammered pretty hard from the waves and especially hurricanes. I've read that the reef is coming back pretty decently after the last hurricane and big animals are showing up relatively regularly. I don't count nurse sharks in this because they've been around forever and are basically tamed. Even while I was there DMs were calling the sharks and hand feeding them, holding them upside down, and scratching the sharks' stomachs. Ever since then I've had absolutely no interest in your typical shark dive where a DM feeds them by hand or a chumsicle is lowered from a boat. However, if your nondiver friends might enjoy watching this, taking a snorkel boat to Shark Ray Alley in the Hol Chan Preserve might be a fun thing to do.

An alternative to AC may be Placencia. The diving can be very good, but the barrier reef is a lot further out. There is diving inside the reef, but the water isn't as clear. But there's good fishing, sailing, and kayaking. Also for nondivers out of Placencia are boat trips up the Monkey River and day trips to the Jaguar Preserve. And because the cruise ships don't land here, it's a lot less hectic or oriented to the day tourist. That said, I don't know if the cruise ships come to AC in November.

Hope this helps.

Jon
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