Dive Review of Hamanasi/Hamanasi Resort in
Belize/southern coast of Belize

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Hamanasi/Hamanasi Resort: "So good we went twice in 4 months!", Apr, 2018, by Dorothy McDonald, OH, US ( Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 10265 has 6 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We had such a good time at Hamanasi Resort that we went twice in 4 months - first during December, 2017, and again in April, 2018. First about the resort. It is extremely well-run with a staff that is friendly and helpful, excellent food (except for the steak which is fatty), great accommodations, and a variety of activities that will make divers and non-divers happy. One thing to know is that there is no wifi in the rooms - you can go to the main building where reception/dining/bar are and get wifi service there. There are beach front rooms and "tree house" rooms. We stayed in a Deluxe Treehouse on both visits and highly recommend them. They are secluded and very roomy. The shower area is long with a shower head at each end so, after returning from a day of diving, one dive buddy doesn't have to wait for the other to finish showering. While showering we often saw hummingbirds or iguanas in the branches outside our window. The Deluxe Tree Houses also have a Jacuzzi on their spacious deck. Its a great place for relaxing under the stars after dinner. We heard from other divers that they liked the beach front rooms - so I don't think you can go wrong on room choice. The resort offers a variety of "adventure packages" which basically means some activities are included in the resort price, depending on the package you choose. There are also a variety of activities that include an additional charge. You can wait until you arrive to choose your activities or plan in advance. It is the activities that make this the perfect place for divers traveling with non-divers. Our April trip was with a non-diving couple. While we chose the "dive package" and went diving each day, they spent the day on other adventures (hiking through the jungle to look at birds, a day spent at the Mayan ruins at Tikal in Guatemala, a river trip through the jungle, etc. The four of us would meet for dinner and talk about what we'd seen and done that day and no one felt they had given anything up for anyone else. The diving: The first two days of our December trip we went on full day, 3 tank dives. The 3-tank trips have an extra charge and must have a minimum of 8 on the boat. The boat rides were long, but the dives were so good we didn't mind the long rides. On one of those long trips we came across a large pod (about 50) of pilot whales. The captain stopped the boat for awhile as the whales swam, spy-hopped, and fed all around us! The crew provided fresh fruit and cookies between dives and the resort sent along a box lunch for each diver on these long 3-tank dive trips (usually left at 7:00 am and returned around 3:30 pm). The breezy December conditions did make it seem pretty chilly when back on the boat between dives. One couple was from Great Britain and mentioned that it would be nice to have hot tea to help us warm up. I joked that hot chocolate would also be nice. The dive crew always seemed to be looking for new ways to make the divers happy and two days later we did have hot tea and hot chocolate between the dives! However, December also means that there can be stormy weather and there were two days when diving was cancelled. (Divers can go on other "adventures" in place of diving when diving is cancelled). The water temperature ranged from 73 F - 81 F during our December trip. During our April trip, the water was calmer and warmer and the weather cooperated for all our dives. The water temperature ranged from 81 F to 82 F except in the Blue Hole when it was 78 F. The reefs were healthy - with a variety of corals, sponges, turtles, and fish. On our first dive we'd just made our descent when a large loggerhead turtle swam out of the blue right towards us and between my buddy and me! Nothing seemed to phase that big turtle, he was on a mission and just went straight ahead, giving us a close-up look at him as he passed! Nurse sharks were very common and on a couple of dives there were reef sharks and even a couple of curious bull sharks. Most dives were on walls, so divers were able to spread out - some preferred being on the top edge of the wall while others liked to be at different depths on the face of the wall. There was enough space for everyone in the group to be able to poke around and look at things they were interested in as we moved along. Our guide was also excellent at pointing out unusual critters or things some of us might have missed. On both trips, divers were divided into groups of 4 or 6 with a guide for each group. Except for the Blue Hole dives, all dives were drift dives. Most of our dives lasted about an hour. As divers ran low on air, they would ascend with their buddy and the guide would continue with those who still had air. During both December and April we came across dolphins while on the boat and the captain stopped so that we could watch them play around the boat and watch as they rode the bow wave. We did not see any dolphins during our dives. In April, a new diver was doing open-water dives for her basic certification while at Hamanasi. Although she was on the boat with us, her Hamanasi instructor worked only with her. After her first dive she got back in the boat and announced that she didn't think diving was for her - she just didn't think she'd be able to do it! Her instructor was so patient and determined to help her, he figured out what her anxieties were and helped her overcome them. At the end of the week she was a certified diver and so proud of herself - and also said she could not have done it without that instructor who worked tirelessly with her and whom she said she learned more from than she had learned from her instructor back in the States! That level of dedication and helpfulness seemed to be present whenever we were with the dive crew, but the entire staff at Hamanasi seemed to go out of their way to be friendly and to help guests. It is part of what made us want to return with our friends.
Websites	Hamanasi
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Philippines, Caribbean, Indonesia, South Pacific, Maldives, Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There	Fly into Belize City. Hamanasi arranged the connecting round trip flights with Maya Island Air between Belize City and Dangriga (about a 15 minute flight). We were met at Dangriga by a resort driver for the 40 minute drive to the resort. All went very smoothly.
Dive Conditions
Weather		Seas
Water Temp	-°F / -°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Divers were divided into small groups and each group had a guide who determined the max depth the group would go and asked that we keep him in sight and not go deeper than he went.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Electrical outlets in the rooms are the same as in the US. There are no special on-shore photo facilities. They had a large bucket and/or cooler with fresh water on the boat for cameras - but had to watch non-photographers to make sure they weren't dipping their masks in the camera buckets. The crew was very careful about handling cameras and always wrapped mine in a towel before putting it in the bucket so that it would not be bumped by other cameras or bump against the side of the bucket.

Report currently has 6 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Hamanasi/Hamanasi Resort in Belize/southern coast of Belize

Hamanasi/Hamanasi Resort: "So good we went twice in 4 months!", Apr, 2018,

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 Hamanasi/Hamanasi Resort in
Belize/southern coast of Belize