Belize City
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Fishing and Snorkeling
Liz is having no luck contacting any of the catamarans in Belize. I’m starting to wonder if these companies close down during the off season. It’s starting to become painfully clear that some of the downsides to going in the off-season will be fairly significant.
If you’ll recall, Liz had originally talked about Unity Tours but quickly decided we should go with Me Too because they offered the same package for a better price. Remember – we’re still trying to think budget. So far, neither outfit has responded to her emails. We’re not crazy about calling, but will resort to that if we must.
We did, however, get some leads on a couple of other boating services. A Good Samaritan offered some guidance in the form of a comment, to which Liz replied. Mary Toy of destinationbelize.com suggested we try some other options. To quote her:
For the catamaran trip Seaduced and Searious are both great and run day snorkel trips, or for a smaller catamaran I would recommend Geraldo / El Gato. They all go to Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley and then on to Caye Caulker for lunch.
She did warn us further that, because this is the slow season, our options are largely hit or miss. So we’ll see what comes up. Neither of these options offer fishing, but they would give us the snorkeling opportunities that I am eager for. If we want to really stretch our budget, she suggested we contact a gentleman, Steve at fishingsanpedro.com who represents most of the fishing craft. But that’ll easily cost $200+ per person.
I don’t know why open water fishing is so expensive. What’s the difference between taking a boat full of fishermen out and a boat full of scuba divers? Diving usually costs $100 for the day. Fishing is exponentially higher. But it doesn’t seem as though the service is anything more substantial. Fishing crew set your bait and help you land the trophy, but dive master’s babysit the entire dive crew for the full time they are submerged – and, they must be certified to do so!
Well, Liz and I will figure out our boating trip. Or we’ll take kayaks out, a little fishing line and some hooks, and we’ll catch our own fish. Check back for a later post on this crazy scheme.
[...] who runs a catamaran and snorkeling tour around Ambergris Caye. So far we’ve contacted three different outfits. It’s been a couple of weeks and we haven’t heard from two of them. The third was just [...]
I will check with one of my friends and get you some information. My friend is a regular visitor (almost moved there) and she’s been dating one of the dive instructors on and off for awhile. He hooked us up last year with an awesome trip. I usually use Seaduced or Searious for all my tours which are booked through our friends at the resort. Always had good luck with them. The catamaran trip we did last year went to Hol Chan, Shark Ray Alley, and Caye Caulker. It’s a nice day trip. And some stuff is slow during the off season, but the worst you will find is restaurants are closed. I prefer the off season because it’s not the crazy crowds you get in Mexico and other parts of the Caribbean. The main thing about off season is you need to be flexible with your tours. Stuff is usually booked the day before and when you are there, you can get a better idea of what tours are running. Last year I ran into the issue of problems getting to the mainland for certain tours due to flooding.
As for fishing in the area, Ambergris is not really known for deep sea fishing and you’d likely be wasting your money. I have that on authority from long time locals. Reef fishing is the best and much cheaper. Go for 1/2 day and you get to cook your catch too which is a blast. One of the best recommendations to cut down on your budget is to hook up with another couple or a group from your hotel and take a private boat to save on costs.
I will get the dive instructor’s contact info for you guys and let you know. If you have any questions or need recommendations for Ambegris – let me know. I go every year and know a number of people on the Caye, including the owners of the resort we usually stay at. They are very well connected to info and people – San Pedro is a small town so everyone pretty much knows everyone else – the people there become like family over the years. It’s a great place and probably my favorite place in the world over all the other countries I’ve visited.
Awesome. Thanks, Erin. We’ll be in touch. We’re open to any suggestions from anyone.
Courtney, I have all his info and he’s running private dives now as well which may be something you might enjoy. My friend is has several levels of dive certs and he’s the only person she really trusts to take her diving. Didn’t see a way to contact you privately here, but email me at poohstanggt@yahoo.com and I will send you all the information. I just don’t want to post it here since it’s his private cell number I think.
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