Dive Review of aqua dives/sunbreeze hotel in
Belize/ambergris caye

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aqua dives/sunbreeze hotel, Oct, 2003, by glen kitchens, nm, usa ( Contributor 18 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 826.
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	My photographer friend & I had been here nine years earlier. The town of San Pedro (right next door to the hotel)has changed little in that time. Estel's Dine by the Sea still makes the best conch fritters in the Carribean, & there is still a talented wood carver on every corner. Sunbreeze Hotel is very good setup for divers w/ tile floors & lots of room to spread gear. Hotel has a restaurant, pool & bar on-site. We did not do the hotel meal package because there are lots of good restaurants in San Pedro (esp. Estel's). The Belize dollar is fixed at 2:1 to US dollar & prices on everything from Belikin beer to fine wood carvings are quite reasonable. Aqua Dive is located on the grounds of the Hotel. Their operation is much improved over nine years earlier, w/ several large well-accomodated boats & very well-trained divemasters, esp. Carlos & Donovan - these guys are very professional. All boats carry oxygen, first aid & cell phones & divemasters give good briefings. When here before, the day trip to the Blue Hole was just that - boat ride over, one dive & boat ride back. Now the package is much-improved w/ 130' Blue Hole dive, lunch on Half Moon Caye where you can observe nesting Booby birds from an observation tower, & two very pristine wall dives - Half Moon & Eagle Ray walls. Cost for this day trip is $185 US. When winds & waves are not bad, boat ride is 2.5 hrs. each way. On a rough day, it can be an hour longer each way. The Blue Hole is an unforgettable dive - stalagmites / stalagtites @ 130' w/ numerous reef sharks & even bull sharks constantly circling in the open water. This is the most sharks I've seen outside of Palau. One of our divers became somewhat narc'd on this deep dive & credits an excellent pre-dive briefing w/ not freaking out @ depth. The only negative comment I can make on the whole operation is the fact that dive management will allow any paying diver to dive the Blue Hole. On our boat, we had 4 inexperienced divers that should not have been allowed to do the dive, in my opinion. Over Belikin beer later, the divemaster Donovan agreed w/ this, as it's his ass on the line if a diver doesn't stop @ 130' & he indicated he's chased more than one into the depths & dragged them back to reality. Overall, I would go back to Belize tomorrow.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	florida, numerous carribean locations, mexico, fiji, papua new guinea, australia, micronesia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, noCurrents
Water Temp	86-88°F / 30-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	75-150 Ft/ 23-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	All dives are guided by divemaster, start @ one point & end at another. Only restriction was depth.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 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
UW Photo Comments	Aqua Dive boats are large & roomy w/ fresh water containers for camera equipment. Divemasters always prompted new divers not to use the camera tanks for mask rinse, etc. As a photog, I appreciated the accomodations.

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Dive Review of aqua dives/sunbreeze hotel in Belize/ambergris caye

aqua dives/sunbreeze hotel, Oct, 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 aqua dives/sunbreeze hotel in
Belize/ambergris caye