Overview
I spent a week at Victoria House Resort November 3rd to 10th, 2019. The resort is located in San Pedro—a town on Ambergris Caye—in Belize. This was one of the places in Belize that was on my “must see” list, and I planned on exploring the area for the remainder of my week stay after my dive days. During the first two days of my stay I completed my checkout dives to become a PADI Open Water certified scuba diver.
Before I left for Belize, I completed my course work for the PADI Open Water certification (this is the basic entry-level certification you need in order to go diving) online through PADI’s elearning portal. Through PADI, I found Belize Diving Adventures who I used to complete my checkout dives. One of the reasons I chose BDA was because they are based in San Pedro not far from Victoria House. They are also a smaller operation which means I’d get more one-on-one attention.
The checkout dives consisted of 3 checkout dives where I had to show ability in basic skills underwater, and a final “fun” dive where I was able to dive as a newly-certified individual with other divers and our guide.
You can read more about my trip overall in this blog article I wrote about the trip. This is my report on the dive experience.
Location and conditions
I went on 4 dives on the “local” reef off the shore of Ambergris Caye. Visibility was excelent at 80+ feet and the surface was calm to small waves. Water temps were in the mid 80º’s F and I only needed a rashguard for warmth/protection.
Diving consisted of a one-tank dive in the morning, followed by a return to shore for lunch and the surface interval. That was followed by a second one-tank dive in the afternoon. Exiting the boat was done via back-roll off the side, and entry was with a detachable ladder hung off the side of the boat. You attached your BCD and regulator to the tank and did an equipment check on the dock before getting on the boat. The assembled tank/BCD/regulator were then stored in a rack in the rear of the boat for the short (just a few minutes) trip out to the reef.
Dive Operator and instructor
As mentioned above, I dove with Belize Diving Adventures. The dive shop is located on a dock right in the heart of San Pedro. My instructor and dive guide was Enes Ramirez.
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