AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye trip to Blue Hole, for snorkeling? not a diver

I was looking at some info on the Blue Hole how amazing the snorkeling is on the reef, the trip out there is pretty steep $150 from AC.
Is the trip worth it if you can't do the diving? or is snorkeling just as amazing on other cayes and not as costly?

185.usd at most places.
is it worth it...Its great snorkeling ,but honestly I send most out that have a partner thats diving the hole and they don't want to be left behind.

In my opinion, the cost is worth it, even if you're not diving. The snorkeling is fantastic, the boat ride is fun and many shops do a picnic lunch on Half Moon Caye which is also very neat. It's an all day excursion and well worth the price. Then again, that's just my opinion.

and i agree buzzbean , but honestly out of 50 sent only 2 are going just to snorkel and don't have diving partners in the hole

&nbsp islabonita,
Part of the value in doing The Hole is having the memory of having done it. The Blue Hole is like one of the Seven Wonders of the Auqatic world, and going to Belize without seeing the Hole is like going to Vienna and not seeing an opera. You should go.

&nbsp The highlight of the trip might not be the Blue Hole itself, but the atolls along the way. I dove the hole on the misnamed "Blue Hole Express", which was one of the slowest diveboats I've ever been on. Since we were so slow, we had what was billed as a "liveaboard" experience-an overnighter. We camped out on Half Moon Caye and dove the Hole at the crack of dawn. The diving and snorkling at Half Moon was great. We had a full day of transit time in each direction and dove sites on Turneffe and Lighthouse reefs both days. It is a great memory.

&nbsp You might want to see if you can overnight on one of the outer atolls and snorkel the Hole from there. The added cost might not be too much, and you won't have to spend hours on the boat, pounding back and forth from San Pedro.

&nbsp &nbsp Dan

Are you sure it wasn't the Offshore Express? Now that was a slow boat. I went on a 3 day trip on that boat and had a great time. Dove turneffe on the way out, spent the 1st night on Sand Bore(sp?)caye. Great view from the top of the old light house. Blue Hole first thing the next morning, Wall dive in the afternoon. Spent 2nd night on Half Moon. Dove the "Chimney" in the morning, fun dive. Another dive at turneffe on the way back. Nothing like breaking the surface in the morning to the smell of Charizo and fresh tortillas. Hard to believe they could make such great meals in that little hole of a kitchen. I would dive the Blue Hole again on a trip like that, but not out and back in 1 day.

It's worth it just to have lunch on Half Moon Caye!

If your a snorkeler prices should be less,,, I know A.C.s a bit more expensive then C.C but its only $50 to go snorkling at the Blue Hole from here. I did not think it was all that great. Better for divers. If you want to go out to the blue to do some great snorkeling with a dive boat go to Turneffe.

From where Cooper? Who do I contact? thanks everyone for all your help .

I always recommend Belize Diving Services, search them they have a website, but they are also our humane society here and do wonderful things with their money. They will take you for an all day including lunch trip to Turneffe with the divers Frenchies will also take you to the blue hole. You may have to email these folks, They are scuba dive tours and may not have the snorkel prices on their websites. I cant believe it cost $185, to go snorkel the blue Hole from San Pedro. That must be wrong and I would check on it.

I highly recommend it.

We went Amigos del Mar and had a fantastic time. There were so many colorful fish in the Blue Hole and so clear you could see many of the divers below us.

We stopped and had a picnic lunch on Lighthouse caye and that was unbelievable. Huge hermit crabs and iguanas plus the red booby sanctuary.

The free dive and snorkel was great and then the ride home with panty rippers was just the topper.

Go if you have a chance.

Well I just emailed both of them..neither of their website have prices though Frenchies did have in their write up that snorkelers are half price.

Amigos del Mar quotes $185 for snorkelers... that's definitely way out of my price range and especially since there are two of us.

I guess I may have to forget about this one, I will keep looking.

No, I just called Belize Dive Services, its $50, they were shocked by the $185.........

Make sure what's included in that $50. There's GST of 10% that should by law be included but often isn't. And there's a park fee of $40 that obviously isn't included. That's almost $100. Still cheap though.

As a diver, i loved the Blue Hole, but there is nothing there near the surface. I agree that a trip to Half Moon Caye or some of the other sites in the atoll may be worth the trip. i would not make the trip to snorkel the Blue Hole.

I'm a diver and I've also snorkelled a bit around the rim of the Blue Hole. I know Marty thinks the snorkelling at the Blue Hole is awesome but I only thought it OK and certainly wouldn't make the trip for it. That said, a couple of hours at Halfmoon Caye (on a nice day) is almost worth the price of admission. However, if the weather isn't perfect, it seems to me that it would be one helluva long day for a snorkeller(s).

You're right. You could spend a whole day on HMC and still have lots more to discover. It's a shame that most of the BH trips don't allow much more than an hour there. Seeing the booby birds is certainly fun, but a slow amble along the south shore (the one facing the reef) with its multitude of fossils - you can't move without treading on them - is fascinating.

On the park fee, only US$10 is for landing on HMC. The other US$30 is for visiting the BH, so if you haven't done that you needn't pay.

Thanks again for all your comments and advice... I will have to look into HMC now... since you have perked my interest.

I'm with you Peter. I always go over to the other side of the island and wander about. Often one can find themselves feeling as though they are the only person there.

And then on my way back to the lunch site, I pick up trash. Is it getting worse? Or perhaps there had been a storm? I was surprised that the ranger(s) wouldn't be picking up here and there, when there are no boats at dock. There can't be much else there to keep them busy during the quiet times. Maybe they just get looking out to sea and forget.

Last time I was there three of us got three large bin bags and filled them with as much trash as we could carry. Barely made a dent in what was there. Of course, we put them on the boat and disposed of them back in SP.

I haven't a clue what the wardens there do, nor where the very considerable sums of money collected go. If anyone can convince us that this isn't just another scam to separate tourists from their money, here would be a good place to say so.

At the time the new fees came out, my opinion was that there should be one fee paid upon entry to the country and then tourists should be able to go anywhere they want without paying extra fees. It would take far less administration to manage the monies and that would actually be good for the government because there would be less administrative waste.

As for the trash out at HMC, how does one lobby to get that place kept cleaned up. Like you said, what could the rangers possibly be doing with their time other than place holding?

I like the system Bonaire uses - charge on flat fee for the privilege of diving - good for one year. Hard plastic tag is attached to your BCD - I consider mine a great souvenir! No room for corruption (oh - that may be the problem here???) as each badge has to be accounted for with $$$.
Or - as the US does with the Golden Eagle Pass - high price - good everyplace for one year.
The system here certainly is open for improvement - HEY - not that I (god forbid) want to change anybody (snicker).

Honduras has a one time reef fee divers pay for the year, even if its just one dive.
The system there is really abused because everyone tries to collect it officials or unofficials, no tags or receipts, I doubt if it going to government.
Our Hol Chan fee collection system is abused a little sometimes, but culprits are caught and changes made every so often. All and all, its working. The fees go to salary, gas , boats, they have developed a cute little museum display at the back street office and when there is a surplus they do nice things like give scholarships to locals who want to become divemasters and instructors.The Hol Chan Park is wonderful and a world class snorkeling area , especially if you get off the beaten path a little with the snorkel trip. A largely over looked spot for interesting snorkeling is the mangroves, all the fun isn't on the reef itself.

Are you saying, Elbert, that most of the fees collected by Hol Chan rangers go to maintaining the system? Seems pretty pointless to me, other than in creating jobs. Do you have any idea what happens to the enormous sums collected out on HMC, because there's no sign of any of it being ploughed back? Even the copious trash on the south beach doesn't seem to be collected.

The fees collected in Roatan are a one time fee that lasts for the year. It's about $5, IIRC and is set up to pay for the marine park patrol and such. I'm sure there's some abuse but for the most part, I found the people involved in the dive industry there to be all in favor of it as a means to attempt to protect the reef.