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Dive Review of Ramon's Village Resort/The Palms in
Belize

Ramon's Village Resort/The Palms: "Business seems close to normal again -- nice, easy diving in warm wate", Nov, 2021,

by Leslie Russum, CO, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 11794 has 2 Helpful votes.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Ramon's runs a good operation, very organized and customer centric. On my last visit in Dec 2020, things were just opening up so we were only able to do 2 dives/day. The tourists have returned and most days had 3 dives/day and about 1/2 the days offered a night dive (at HolChan Marine Reserve). Rick runs a good dive shop and coordinates everything. The DMs are all good, but AC is my favorite. He goes very slow and looks for the small critters. There were tons of nurse sharks begging for lion fish (which we few and far between) and the reef sharks have become much less shy, circling closer than in the past. The soft corals are still healthy and abundant. We saw quite a few nudibranchs (all of the same 2 types - lettuce slug and red tipped sea goddess). There are a lot of crustaceans (lobster, crabs of various types) and a few shrimp. The winds can be bad but this trip the weather was calm and warm and very little current/surge. The night dives are always fun since they are the the Hot Chan Marine Reserve and it's a controlled environment (big loop of the horseshoe shaped reef in depth of 5-29 ft). We were visited by many Spotted Eagle Rays and the stingrays were all settled into the sand for the night. We saw 5 octopus on the night dive and 2 were relatively unafraid. My 19-yr old niece got certified on this trip with Ramon's and Adolfo did a great job of doing her 4 open water dives. She was comfortable and ready to do more. Adolfo continued to check in with her the rest of the week to make sure everything was going well and to answer any questions. AC took special care to point out various marine life to her. This was my 4th trip to Belize and Ramons and I will continue to return - it's a nice, easy and relaxing trip. All the dive sites are <10 min so you return to shore for the surface interval and snack if desired.

We had to move from Ramon's to The Palms (directly next door) mid-week due to space availability but it worked out great. We still did all our diving with Ramon's and it's right next door. The room at the Palms was even better due to much more room -- we had a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath suite with kitchenette and outdoor patio for drying gear. The staff was helpful and the rooms kept clean and well stocked with towels. You definitely will need to bring bug spray since it was the wet season and they like to hang around in the bushes near the beach. We didn't seen to run into any sand flies, thankfully.
Websites Ramon's Village Resort   The Palms

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Cook Islands, Galapagos, Guadeloupe, Tortola, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Dominica
Closest Airport San Pedro Getting There Southwest Airlines has recently started direct flights to BZE from both Houston and Denver. Then you take a puddle-jumper from BZE to the San Pedro airport on Ambergris Caye.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 84-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions To start, they keep to 45 min and 1/3 tank left, but once your DM knew your abilities, he let you dive longer and use up more of the tank.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Ramon's boats all have a rinse bucket just for cameras and they always help you with your equipment (handing your camera after entry and taking it from you before you exit the water). You return to shore between dives which makes it easy to swap out batteries, memory cards, etc. (nice bonus)
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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