Dive Review of Amigos Del Mar/Mayan Princess in
Belize/Ambergris Caye

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Amigos Del Mar/Mayan Princess, Jun, 2003, by Dick Sziede, VA, USA . Report 969.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Ambergris Caye: ten years after. When I was a new diver, me bride and I spent a romantic week on Ambergris Caye. I feared returning after such an interval would be a disappointment: that our romantic getaway would have been paved over with development. Instead we were delighted. Yes there is development. The south end, where Harrison Ford filmed "The Mosquito Coast," is now filled with McMansions. There are more cars. But San Pedro retains its charm, and traffic is still mostly golf carts. And the diving is much better! Barb's Belize made flawless travel arrangements. Tropic Air ran on time, didn't lose our luggage, and to show progress from ten years ago, we never heard the stall warning alarm once on landing! The Mayan Princess rooms are all beachfront. There is always a breeze. We never turned on the AC. Our 3rd floor room had a kitchenette. The center of San Pedro is a little noisy, but if they had sidewalks they'd roll them up at 10:00. No trouble sleeping. The week before Lent is Carnival, but San Pedro is not quite Rio! Elvie's is arguably the best resturant. Fish a la Elvie is still as good as I remember. Stella is still slinging hash at Stella's. Stella's wasn't open for supper when we were there, but a great breakfast! As a British colony, Belize didn't attract the many Germans that used the rest of Latin America to put distance between themselves and British hit squads after WWII. As a consequence Belizian beer and the bread are nothing to write home about. But fresh fish abounds, veggies are cooked al-dente, and Marie Sharp's habenero sauce will put the right level of ty-yi-ti in any dish. Me bride kept a strict regimen of no raw stuff, bottled water and such. I didn't. Neither of us brought home any intestinal "souvenirs." Amigos Del Mar is right in front of the Mayan Princess. Two-tank dives are two-trip dives. Dive sites are within fifteen minutes of the dock. So my surface interval was spent on the porch with my non-diving bride. Amigos Del Mar boats lack wind and sun protection, but have more horsepower than my sports car. Runs to and from the dive sites were at speeds that would do a cigarette boat proud. Cool weather made me glad for my Gore-Tex for the upwind leg. All dives were guided. Back roll in. Undress in the water, handing gear to the crew before essaying the ladder. No dive platform, so climbing in with gear not possible. Dives are on healthy-looking coral fingers, depth 50-70 feet. Water temperature was 79 F, visibility 80-100 feet. Top of the coral is about 50 feet, so there were no shallows to loiter in at the end of the dive. Air or bottom time held most dives to 50 minutes. There were plenty of small critters, including streams of Creole Wrasses al la Bonaire. A half-dozen semi-tame Nurse Sharks lurked about the coral fingers. The dive-master brought them a gallon jar of chum. Fifteen minutes later I had the best footage I've ever videoed. The sharks held a brief melee to dismantle the chum jar. Calm after the chum was consumed, they consented to petting by the divers. One raised his chin like a kitten being scratched. I swear I heard him purr! A loggerhead turtle and a flotilla of groupers, also seemingly accustomed to divers hang about. We saw a few large 'cuda, but they didn't approach divers.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Most of Carribean
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-79°F / 26-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Guided Dives
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	No camera tank on boats

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Dive Review of Amigos Del Mar/Mayan Princess in Belize/Ambergris Caye

Amigos Del Mar/Mayan Princess, Jun, 2003,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Amigos Del Mar/Mayan Princess in
Belize/Ambergris Caye