Xaman Ek offers only the best in Scuba instruction, dive and snorkeling trips.

Our Instructor Steve Bowen, better known as Scuba Steve, is among the very best and has over 16 years of instructor experience working with all ages. At all times Steve is appraising your skill level and conditions to assure safe & enjoyable diving. We offer instruction and Certification up to & including Assistant Instructor. We offer instruction under PADI, NAUI, & Universal Courses.

Xaman Ek has evolved a unique concept of family diving instruction. We have discovered that diving, as well as the process of learning to dive, provides a lasting bond between parents and teens. After receiving Certification the family is set for a lifetime of vacations together exploring the more exotic parts of our planet. It is something that everyone can share. We have provided Certification for children as young as 10 and adults as old as 53 although no age is too old. You can teach old dogs new tricks.

All dive trips and snorkeling trips leave from and return to our dock. The large number of nearby dive sites, none farther than 20 minutes and some less than five minutes from Xaman Ek, and our incredible biodiversity make this a vacation spot you can return to time after time and never cease to be amazed.

Xaman Ek is located near several dive sites and is only 1 ½ miles from Mexico Rocks and is 5 miles south of the UNESCO designated World Heritage Site that encompasses the north tip of the Belize Barrier Reef. This reef is second in size only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In Australia you must travel for several hours to reach the reef. Here you are so close you can hear the waves breaking on the coral reef day and night and it is only a ¾ mile kayak trip to the reef where you can spend the day exploring the reef with your kayak & snorkel.

A must for all visitors to Ambergris Caye is the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The reserve focuses on a cut through the reef which is about 25 yards wide and has water depths of up to 30 feet. It is located about 4 miles southeast of San Pedro. It is only a 20 minute boat ride from Xaman Ek.

Over 160 species of fish have been identified in the reserve, along with nearly 40 species of corals, 5 sponges, 8 algae's, 2 sea grasses, 3 marine mammals and 3 species of sea turtle.

The Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley are the most popular diving/snorkeling sites in all of Belize. The large amount of fish and diverse marine life found within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, it's accessibility by snorkelers and beginning divers, and the excitement and novelty of swimming with large numbers of nurse sharks and sting rays make this a must for all visitors.

A trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve is part of the itinerary included in all our dive courses. Please join our message board and live chat with Scuba Steve.

Scuba Diving Classes

Discover Scuba Diving (Resort Course)
This is a non-certification course which is done in a day or two. It entails classroom instruction; confined water instruction and a shallow dive with maximum depth of 40 feet. This course can be upgraded to a full Open Water Certification if you should choose to do so.

Referral (Universal Referral)
This course takes of two days and consists of a two-tank dive each day and the opportunity for an optional dive. This course is used by those who have previously held Certification but need a ‘tune up" as well as beginning students who have chosen to do the classroom portions and all paperwork in their home area and do the actual diving with us.

Open Water Certification
The Open Water Certification Course is a three to four day course taking about ½ day for each session. Upon completion you will be Certified to dive anywhere in the world.

Day 1: Class room and confined water
Day 2: Classroom and two dives
Day 3: Classroom and two dives
Day 4: Final Exam

Dive Master Course
This course is a leadership position. To enroll in this course you need to have at least forty logged dives and a current medical first responder certification. At the end of the course you must have sixty logged dives. This course takes at least 7 days.

Nitrox (Enriched Air)
This course is for any certified diver of any agency. This course takes one to two days. The course includes classroom instruction, a test and two open water dives. Our blends are 22% to 40%. We also have available other specialty dive course including night diving and search & rescue. Please feel free to live chat with Scuba Steve, just sign up on our message board.

Belize hosts 185 miles of Barrier Reef (the largest in the Western Hemisphere), three atolls, and the famous Blue Hole, largest such ocean sinkhole in the world and the only one visible from Outer Space.

Offshore Belize and the Cayes along with our British heritage is what gives the country its Caribbean element and makes it distinctly different from our Central American neighbors. The Caribbean boasts four oval atolls unique in the Western Hemisphere; three of these huge coral formations (Turneffe Island, Lighthouse Reef, and Glovers Reef) call Belize home. Lighthouse Reef and Turneffe are easily accessible to our guests who don't mind a little extra travel time. These are all day trips. You will be picked up at our dock. You will be provided with breakfast and lunch as well as drinking water and sodas on board and will be returned to our dock. The atolls & Lighthouse Reef in particular are truly pristine and very unique.

Lighthouse Reef is the home of the Great Blue Hole made famous by Jacque Cousteau. Measuring approximately 1,000 feet in diameter and over 450 feet deep, Belize's Great Blue Hole is best described as a dark blue circle in the middle of a turquoise sea. The Blue Hole contains a variety of incredible stalactites, some of which reach 35 feet in length. It is inhabited by gray, reef, silk, and bull sharks. The nearby wall dives at Half Moon Caye and Long Caye make for a memorable day of diving.

Northern Ambergris Caye Dive Sites

Palmeros Point
This is one of the most northern dive sites located at about 12 miles from town. Because of it's distance most dive shops don't do this dive, but we do. Because of our location we are 15 minutes from the site. The beautiful untouched reef starts at about 50 feet and then slopes of into steep cannons and drop down to a wall with over hangs that go down to 110 feet deep. Here we find a lot of Horse Eye Jacks and Nassau Groupers since the deep drop off and its overhangs give them very good habitual surroundings. This area provides a lot of beautiful reef creatures and fish that will take the photographer into scuba heaven. This is a beautiful drift dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 50 and 90ft deep and last for about 50-25 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Love Tunnels
These tunnels got their name because some people have chosen to get married under water right here. The dive starts out in a beautiful canyon that ends in a big cavern which has an opening in the roof that lets through a lot of light. Here we have some Spotted Drums that have made this their home, a variety of Sea Fans like the Wide-Mesh and the Deepwater Sea fan which gives this place a very romantic setting. This is a beautiful drift dive.
Profile : The dive will reach 80ft deep and last for about 30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Angel Flats
The reason for the name of this dive site is that in this area you find a lot of different species of Angel Fish, such as the Rock Beauty, Blue, Gray, French and one of the prettiest fish in the ocean; Queen Angel. This area has some magnificent canyons that are very flat at the bottom, due to white sand that has filled up the bottom of them. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be 60ft deep and last for about 50 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Renegades
This is a drift dive that has beautiful formations and where the Black Groupers come to spawn. There is a very high possibility to see many big Black Groupers and Horse Eye Jacks. Here you also find a lot of different kinds of colorful and beautiful corals, such as Branching Vase Sponges and Yellow Tube Sponges. This dive is only a few minutes away as it is located right in front of Xaman Ek on the other side of the reef.

M&M's Caverns
These caverns are located also only a few minutes away and is a set of three caverns that are laid out like a big M, thus its name. The first cavern starts out at 60ft and you go in there through the cavern, come back out and go into the next one, once through the second one you turn around and go into the last one. The maximum depth of this dive is 90ft. Inside of the caverns you will see a lot of lobsters, crabs and sometimes you might even get to see a Nurse Shark taking a nap. This is a very interesting anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be 90ft deep and last for about 25 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Happy Hour Reef
We gave this name to this site a late afternoon when we just stopped at this unmarked spot, got into the water only to find that large Barrel Sponges that was spawning, that was a happy hour to us. This dive which is a drift dive is very pretty with a lot of marine life and a lot of different kinds of corals. Because it is not a very known dive site it is very untouched and undisturbed.
Profile : The dive will be 60-80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Southern Ambergris Caye Dive Sites
(all within 20 minutes of Xaman Ek)

Amigos Wreck
This is a 40ft cargo ship that sunk about 5 years ago. It sits in about 70 ft of water, and inhabits a lot of big groupers, yellow tailed snappers, and a lot of nurse sharks. The dive starts out as a drift dive where you submerge to the depth of the wreck gradually and then you have half the dive to explore the wreck and what might have been going on at this ship when she used to be in service.
Profile : The dive will reach 70ft depth and last for about 40minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Eagle Ray Canyon
The canyon is part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The canyon is formed by Stag Horn and Elk Horn corals and is a very delicate balanced area, with a lot of Eagle Rays and a wide variety of marine life. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Pillar Coral
As the name suggests you will find a lot of Pillar Coral on this site, which has evolved into castle-like formations. The dive starts out in 30ft of water and climbs down gradually to about 60ft. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 30 and 60ft deep and last for about 50 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Cypress Garden
This is a dive when we usually feed fish...this leads to a possibility to see a lot of different fish like big Black and Nassau Groupers, Barracudas, Red Snappers and many more in big quantities. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Tackle Box
This is one of the most famous sites, due to its canyons and swim trough arches, Silver Sides in big schools and amazing formations. It is also very common to spot turtles on this site. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.

Lighthouse Reef Atoll (Half Moon Caye)

55 miles offshore, 2+ hours away
40 feet with a clear drop to 800 ft and beyond
Depart: 5:30 AM
Sites:

• Blue Hole (1000 ft in diameter, 130 ft)
• Half Moon Caye (40 - 60 ft dive )
• Long Caye Wall (40 - 60 ft dive)

Turneffe Island is the largest and closest to shore. It offers a huge variety of marine life and provides Belize Ocean Divers with 2 tours each of which have 3 distinct dive sites.

North Turneffe Atoll

21 miles offshore, 1 hour 10 minutes away
Wall starts at 30 ft - gives direct drop to 800 ft.
Depart: 7:00 AM
Sites:

• Rendezvous (60-80 ft dive profile)
• Black Coral Mtn (60-70 ft dive profile
• Barrow's Camp (50-60 ft dive profile)

South Turneffe Atoll (Elbow)

60 mls offshore, 2 hours away
90 feet slope wall
Depart: 6:00 AM
Sites:

• Elbow - drift dive (80-90 ft dive profile)
• Front Porch (50 - 60 ft dive)
• Wreck of Sayonara (50 ft dive profile)

Xaman Ek Retreat & Spa San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize Email info@xamanekbelize.com or xamanekbelize@btl.net Fax: 011-501-220-5678     Phone: 011-501-226-4455