Scuba Diving Locations

Ambergris Caye is the most popular dive location in Belize. It's about an hour and half ferry ride from the coast and it's location puts divers within 15-20 minutes of a multitude of dive sites. While in Ambergris Caye I stayed at the Sunbreeze Resort. It was little more expensive than some other places, but it great and it was physically connected to the dive shop I used -- Aqua Dives Belize.

I've been researching Belize quite a bit recently. That's because I'm going to be spending almost 2 weeks there. And, of course, and self-respecting scuba diver is going to check out what many consider to be some of the best diving spots in the world. As part of that research, I've compiled a list of scuba dive operators both on the mainland and out on the cayes/atolls.

Belize, the country, is awesome. Belize, the city, can be skipped. But if you do find yourself in Belize City, look up Hugh Parkey's Dive Connection. Assuming there are enough divers, they'll take you out to sites around Spanish Bay Caye. Hugh Parkey's is a little pricey, but they have the newest equipment I've used and their boats are fully equipped. Service is above average too -- they'll even tighten your fin straps for you on your way off the boat!

I had the good fortune to be on Tortola (one of the British Virgin Islands) for several days and spent much of my time diving. As is my preference, I booked a hotel very close to the dive shop and dock and it worked out well. This time around I did my diving with Blue Water Divers out of Nanny Cay. These folks had OK equipment, but I had to use a dive belt which I don't like as much as integrated BCDs. The dive masters were great and the dive shop went the extra mile with e-mailing their database to find additional night divers so I could hit the 4 diver minimum. If you're good with your air usage, the divemasters will stay under for more than the usual 45 minutes -- more bang for your buck! There are a lot of dive sites within 30-35 minutes of the dock and I certainly didn't make it to all of them. Here are the ones I did get to.

I recently added St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands to my list of diving locations. I spent about 4 days diving with St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (notice the clever alternate for the SCUBA acronym) based out of Christiansted. My hotel (Hotel Caravelle) was less than 50 feet from the dive shop and the dock which made it really convernient. This dive shop was pretty good -- their equipment was fairly new; they provided integrated BCDs; boats were in good condition with plenty of shade; and the dive masters were competent, very friendly, and had fresh pineapple for us during the surface interval. All trips had a divemaster and a boat captain. They also had morning, afternoon, and night dives making it possible to do a total of 5 tank dives a day.

The island of Roatan is part of the archipelago of the Bay Islands of Honduras. Honduras is in Central America, bordered by Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The Bay Islands consist of three large islands -- Roatan, Utila, and Guanaja; three small islands -- Morat, Barbareta, and St. Elena; and more than 60 cays a mere 10-40 miles from the Honduran mainland.

Roatan is a relatively short and direct flight from Miami, Houston, or Atlanta, offers reasonable rates for weekly dive packages and has a variety of activities to enjoy between dives and off-gassing the before your trip home.