Amigos del Mar

Born on the island of San Pedro, Ambegris Caye, Jose Albino Paz, better known as Changa, saw the need to accommodate tourists who came to the island by offering trips to our natural reserve. Amigos Del Mar Dive Shop started off as a thatched roof structure in the year 1987 that offered snorkeling trips to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley reserves as well as a rental for scuba and snorkeling gear. The vision of providing a resourceful and fun-filled expedition to our Barrier Reef and other National Reserves was something that owner, Changa, has always wanted for his community. It started as a small family venture with the renting of the scuba equipment and booking small local dive tours. Then we slowly went venturing off to other natural and National Reserves of our country which included the Turneffe Islands and Light House Reef and not to mention Belize’s famous Blue Hole. We started off with only two boats and we have slowly been growing and currently in the year 2012 we have 12 boats ranging from 17 foot to 20 foot skiffs to our most prized addition 56 footer the “Papa Changa”. The business is still a family oriented business with brothers working hand in hand with local friends all born and bred on the island of San Pedro. The business went expanding through the word of mouth from past tourists who would recommend us to others. To this point word of mouth is still our best business marketing strategy. The dive shop had been through a series of renovations due to our number one natural enemy, the hurricane, but that is not the only motivation we have expanded and remodeled to accommodate and provide a comfortable ambience for our clients. Our business slowly went growing and now we are currently one of the largest dive centeAmigos del Mar Nowrs on the island and we also assist smaller dive centers with dive rental equipment such as dive tanks, dive masks and any other equipment needed. We are still a freelance business and we work with known resorts on the island. We are also known for our dive to the Blue Hole with the best facilities for this particular all day trip.