What a PADI Open Water Course Costs in Belize: Six Dive Shops' Published Prices
Re-checked on 24 September 2026, on the published price pages of six Belize dive shops — two on Caye Caulker, three in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, one in Placencia — plus a seventh for its nitrox price.
A standard, in-person PADI Open Water course in Belize is advertised between US$460 and US$550. Caye Caulker is the cheap end and San Pedro the expensive one, and the gap is wider than the sticker prices suggest, because the Caye Caulker figure includes tax and the San Pedro ones do not. Scuba Sensation on Caye Caulker charges US$460.00 with tax included; Ramon’s Village Divers in San Pedro charges US$500 plus a stated 12.5% sales tax, which is US$562.50; Ecologic Divers in San Pedro charges US$550 plus the same stated tax, which is US$618.75 (the with-tax figures are our arithmetic on each shop’s own stated rate).
The advertised spread is US$90. The spread once each shop’s own tax statement is applied is US$158.75 — so on this cohort of shops the single largest lever on the price of learning to dive in Belize is which island you do it on. The cheaper of the two islands, Caye Caulker, has its own guide here.
PADI Open Water Diver — every shop we could price
| Shop | Where | Printed price | Tax treatment stated on the page | With that tax applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scuba Sensation | Caye Caulker | US$460.00 | “Our prices include tax” (a banner on its site) | US$460.00 |
| Frenchie’s Diving Services | Caye Caulker | US$480 | not stated | US$480, as printed |
| Ramon’s Village Divers | San Pedro | US$500 | “in USD and are subject to a 12.5% Sales Tax” | US$562.50 |
| Amigos del Mar | San Pedro | US$550.00 (printed beside a struck-through $580) | not stated on its course pages | US$550.00, as printed |
| Ecologic Divers | San Pedro | US$550 | “12.5% general sales tax is not included in the prices below.” | US$618.75 |
The “with tax applied” column is our arithmetic on each shop’s own stated rate. Where a shop does not state a tax treatment we have not invented one.
Amigos del Mar’s course prices are in US dollars, and the second figure beside each is a former price. Its Open Water page prints "$580" followed by "$550.00 USD", and the site’s own stylesheet draws a line through that first figure; its sidebar list marks the higher figure the same way. We read that on 24 September 2026. Its course pages state no tax treatment; its trip pages price in a “Price USD” column and list “12.5 % Government Sales Tax” under NOT INCLUDED.
Against Scuba Sensation’s tax-inclusive US$460, Ramon’s works out US$102.50 more (22.3%) and Ecologic US$158.75 more (34.5%) — our arithmetic.
Scuba Sensation also lists an SDI Open Water course at US$450 USD on its home page — a different certifying agency, and below the lowest figure in the table above. It is not the lowest Open Water figure in this research. Ramon’s prints US$400 for an eLearning Open Water, where the classroom half is done online before you arrive; its own stated 12.5% tax would take that to US$450. That is why the US$460–US$550 range at the top of this page is stated for the standard, in-person course — the eLearning and referral formats sit below it and are not the same product.
Seahorse Dive Shop in Placencia lists a full PADI Open Water certification course but publishes no price for it — its course index carries no figure against any course, so nothing there can be ranked. The only Seahorse course prices we could read are on its individual referral and Discover Scuba pages. See below.
What each price actually buys
- Scuba Sensation (Caye Caulker), US$460.00 — “Price includes rental equipment, e learning code, and PADI registration.” Two days, one confined-water dive plus four open-water dives. The same course page gives two start rules: “2 days starting every day at 8:15 AM” and “Classes can only begin on any Monday, Wednesday, or Friday” — check with the shop. US$100 deposit. “Once redeemed, the e-learning codes are non-refundable.”
- Frenchie’s (Caye Caulker), US$480 USD per person — non-refundable deposit US$95; its course listing adds “Includes $20 Park Fee”.
- Ramon’s Village Divers (San Pedro), US$500 — four open-water dives plus five classes covering gear, marine life and diving physics.
- Ecologic Divers (San Pedro), US$550 USD — instructional video, a multiple-choice test drawn from the first five chapters of the Open Water manual, confined-water skills instruction and four open-water dives, plus a US$40 manual, a US$30 PIC fee and dive gear.
Discover Scuba — the one-day try dive, same pattern
| Shop | Where | Printed | With its own stated tax (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frenchie’s | Caye Caulker | US$150 | not stated |
| Scuba Sensation | Caye Caulker | US$160 | not stated — this figure is on the home page, not the course page |
| Ecologic Divers | San Pedro | US$170 | US$191.25 |
| Amigos del Mar | San Pedro | US$180.00 (its course page strikes through $200, its sidebar $210) | not stated |
| Seahorse Dive Shop | Placencia | US$185 | already included — see below |
| Ramon’s Village Divers | San Pedro | US$200 | US$225.00 |
Seahorse’s US$185 is not comparable to a pre-tax US$170: “Pricing includes all diving equipment, Discover Scuba Diving Course, Try Dive, and one boat dive, Lunch, Conservation Fees fees, 12.5% Sales Tax, and PADI Dive Instructor.” It is the only figure in that column with the tax, the park fee and lunch already inside it.
Ecologic describes its US$170 as “viewing of a training video, learning about and setting up the dive gear, learning basic dive skills, and a one tank dive. Use of dive gear is included.”
Advanced Open Water — where the ranking can flip
This is the case that shows why the printed number is not the answer — and why the answer needs a condition attached:
| Shop | Where | Printed | With its own stated tax (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramon’s Village Divers | San Pedro | US$450 — the lowest printed figure | US$506.25 |
| Scuba Sensation | Caye Caulker | US$460 | US$460 — if its tax-inclusive statement covers this price; see below |
| Frenchie’s | Caye Caulker | US$480 | not stated |
| Ecologic Divers | San Pedro | US$550 (five dives) | US$618.75 |
Ramon’s advertises the lowest Advanced price in this set, and on each shop’s own tax statement it is not the lowest one to pay. At US$450 it undercuts both Caye Caulker shops on the sticker; at US$506.25 after its own stated tax it is dearer than both.
The reversal rests on Scuba Sensation’s tax statement, and on 24 September 2026 that statement covered the page the Advanced price is on. Its Advanced US$460 — like its Discover Scuba US$160 and its SDI US$450 — is printed on its home page, and that home page carries the running banner “Our prices include tax”. Had the Advanced figure been pre-tax, the same 12.5% would have taken it to US$517.50 (our arithmetic) and Ramon’s US$506.25 would have been the cheaper of the two.
Amigos del Mar lists an SSI Advanced Adventure Diver course at US$450.00 (beside a struck-through $480), “Includes 5 Dives”, over 2 days — a different certification, on a page that states no tax treatment, so we are not ranking it against the PADI ones.
Referral courses — and the one shop that puts everything inside the price
If you have done the classroom and pool work at home, the referral is the open-water half:
| Shop | Where | Printed |
|---|---|---|
| Seahorse Dive Shop | Placencia | US$350 USD per person |
| Ecologic Divers | San Pedro | US$375 USD (US$421.88 with its stated tax, our arithmetic) |
| Ramon’s Village Divers | San Pedro | US$375 (US$421.88 with its stated tax, our arithmetic) |
| Amigos del Mar | San Pedro | US$375.00 (beside a struck-through $400) |
| Frenchie’s (“Open Water Training Dives Only”) | Caye Caulker | US$400 USD |
Seahorse is both the cheapest and the most inclusive: its US$350 covers “4 open water dive (2 dives per day), All diving equipment, PADI certification card processing, Marine Reserve Conservation Fees, 12.5% General Sales Tax”, plus lunch and a PADI Dive Instructor. It is the only shop in this set that states both the tax and the park fee are already inside the printed number.
The rest of the published course prices
Printed as published. Ecologic’s and Ramon’s pages both state 12.5% sales tax on top; the others state nothing on these pages. Amigos’ course pages label their prices USD and strike through a former price beside each, shown in brackets.
| Course | Ecologic (San Pedro) | Ramon’s (San Pedro) | Frenchie’s (Caye Caulker) | Amigos (San Pedro) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scuba Diver | US$380 (two open-water dives) | US$350 | — | — |
| Adventure Diving | — | — | US$320 | — |
| Enriched Air / Nitrox | US$150 | — | — | US$200.00 (struck-through $230) |
| Refresher / Reactivate | — | US$140 (eLearning version US$90) | US$150 | US$160.00 (struck-through $190) |
| eLearning Open Water | — | US$400 | — | — |
| Rescue Diver | US$500 (with EFR) | US$400 | — | — |
| Emergency First Response | — | US$250 | US$85 | — |
| Divemaster | US$810 | — | US$2,250 | — |
Nitrox fills on Caye Caulker are US$7.50 USD per tank at Sunrise Scuba, which states it is “Currently the only Nitrox provider on Caye Caulker.” That is the only price published anywhere on that shop’s site.
Snorkelling: there is no certification to buy
Snorkel certification does not exist, so there is nothing here to price. Every snorkel figure below is a guided trip price, not a course.
The cleanest dive-versus-snorkel comparison we found is Seahorse’s local barrier-reef day out of Placencia, where both seats are on the same boat with the same inclusions — “2 guided dives or 2 snorkel session, All Diving and Snorkeling Equipment, Belizean-Style Lunch, Bottled Water, Juice, Beach towels, Marine Reserve Conservation fees, Hotel Transfer (some restrictions may apply), 12.5% Sales Tax”. Minimum 5 divers; departs 9:00 a.m., returns 3:00 p.m.
| Same boat, same day | Price |
|---|---|
| Scuba diving | US$150 USD |
| Snorkelling | US$100 USD |
A US$50 difference. Frenchie’s shows a wider one on its long-range trips: Turneffe North US$245 diving against US$125 snorkelling, and its Lighthouse Reef package US$355 diving against US$190 snorkelling — though the same site’s detailed Lighthouse Reef listing prints the diving price as US$335.
For a shorter San Pedro half day, Amigos del Mar prices the Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley snorkel trip at US$50.00, with the marine entrance fee and the 12.5% sales tax both listed as NOT included — "$15USD (Cash) Marine Entrance Fee", “paid directly at our office in cash”.
Day trips, for scale against the courses
| Trip | Shop | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Local 2-tank dive | Amigos del Mar (San Pedro) | US$90 per person |
| Local 3-tank dive | Amigos del Mar | US$125 |
| 1-tank combo dive | Amigos del Mar | US$75, + US$15 cash marine fee |
| Local reef dive | Frenchie’s (Caye Caulker) | US$130, “Includes $10 Park Fee” |
| Night dive | Frenchie’s | US$95, “Includes $10 park fee” |
| Esmeralda diving tour | Frenchie’s | US$160, “No park fee” |
| Spanish Bay tour | Frenchie’s | US$170 |
| Turneffe Elbow | Frenchie’s | US$285 |
| Turneffe Atoll day trip | Amigos del Mar | US$235 per person, + US$10 cash marine fee |
| Great Blue Hole dive trip | Amigos del Mar | US$285, + Blue Hole US$30 and Half Moon Caye US$10 fees |
| 3-day overnight camping and diving | Frenchie’s | US$1,650, “Includes $80 park fee” |
For divers who are already certified, San Pedro dive shops’ fun-dive prices are compared on our Ambergris Caye diving prices page.
Every Amigos del Mar trip page read on 24 September 2026 prices in a “Price USD” column and lists the 12.5% Government Sales Tax as not included, so each Amigos row above is before tax. Its Great Blue Hole trip is covered in full on that page. Its 3-tank dive was US$120 when we first read it on 26 August 2026.
The park fee: US$15 at Hol Chan, and a separate US$10 that is not it
The marine-reserve fee is charged separately, in cash, on the day. The Hol Chan figure is US$15 per person, and three things point at it together:
- The last announcement traceable to the reserve itself. Hol Chan Marine Reserve issued a press release dated 27 July 2024, reported by The San Pedro Sun, setting the fee at “US$15 for all 15 zones” effective 1 August 2024 and quoting Executive Director Ian Pou. Pre-booked tours before that date were honoured at the old price.
- The operators collecting it in 2026 publish the same number. Amigos del Mar prints "$15USD (Cash) Marine Entrance Fee" and Belize Diving Adventures prints “Park fees for: Hol Chan US$15.00 p/p”, both re-read 24 September 2026. The reserve’s own online shop prices its day pass at BZ$30.00 — US$15.00 — for a non-Belizean aged 13 or over.
- The two figures that are not the current fee. US$10 is the fee the 2024 increase replaced — “a US$5 increase from the previous cost of US$10”, in the same report — and it is still widely repeated in travel writing. A rise to US$20 was proposed in 2024 and never took effect; it was settled at US$15.
Frenchie’s on Caye Caulker prints a separate “$10 Park Fee” inside its local reef dive price and does not name the reserve it is for, so do not read it as a Hol Chan rate.
The reserve’s own site, holchanmarinereserve.org, returned 404 when we checked on 26 August 2026 and was online on 24 September 2026, with a day-pass shop whose booking calendar ran only to 31 July 2026. Our Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley page carries the reserve’s full price list, the fee history and both operators’ tour prices. Carry US$15 per person in cash, and ask your operator which reserve the fee is for.
What the dive shops don’t publish
- Splash Dive Center (Placencia) publishes no prices at all. We checked both its own course pages and a partner listing; both direct readers to phone or email.
- Blue Wave Divers (Caye Caulker) could not be read: its TLS certificate has expired, so the page will not load cleanly.
- Belize Diving Services (Caye Caulker) now redirects to another operator’s domain, whose dive-courses page returns 404.
- Sea Sports Belize’s course price page returns 404.
- PADI itself publishes no price. Its own Open Water Diver store page lists no figure for the eLearning component; PADI routes pricing through individual dive centres, so there is no national list price to compare against.
- Whether Ramon’s dive courses are taxed the same way when booked as part of a stay. Its rate page states the 12.5% sales tax on courses but does not restate it on the resort’s accommodation rate table.
- Amigos del Mar’s tax treatment on courses. Its course pages state none, so its course figures appear here as published with no tax added; its trip pages, by contrast, list the 12.5% sales tax as not included.
- Why Amigos del Mar struck through its former course prices, or since when. The pages show the old and new figures side by side and give no date.
- Any Seahorse course price beyond two pages. Its course index lists nine courses, including a full Open Water certification, and prints no figure against any of them. Only its referral and Discover Scuba pages carry prices.
How we researched this
Scope: this page reports source research, not an on-site test. We checked the booking systems, timetables and official sources named below on the date shown; calculations, unresolved disagreements and information we could not verify are labelled explicitly.
Every price on this page was read on 26 August 2026 from the dive shop’s own website — course pages where the shop publishes one, home-page price lists where it does not — and re-read on 24 September 2026. Between the two readings Amigos del Mar’s 3-tank dive went from US$120 to US$125; everything else in the tables matched. On the second reading we also read Amigos del Mar’s individual course and trip pages, which is where its USD labels, struck-through former prices and tax note are printed. We name the shop and the town against every figure, because “diving in Belize costs X” is not a fact that exists: it varies by island, by agency and by whether the shop puts tax inside its number.
Tax treatment is quoted from the page that states it. Where we apply it, the arithmetic is ours and the rate is the shop’s own stated rate; where a shop states nothing, we print the figure as published and say so. Comparisons were computed at every price in the range rather than at the endpoints — which is how the Advanced Open Water ranking turned out to reverse.
Four of the shops we tried to include could not be priced at all, for the reasons listed above — Splash Dive Center, Blue Wave Divers, Belize Diving Services and Sea Sports Belize. That is why this page prices six shops, plus Sunrise Scuba for its single nitrox figure, and not ten.
Last verified: 24 September 2026. Course prices, deposits and park fees change without notice.
Sources:
Figures on this page labelled our arithmetic are calculated by us from the sourced inputs cited below — comparisons, percentages, multiples, differences, per-night and per-person conversions, running totals and currency conversions. Every other figure is reproduced as its named source published it. Where an operator or authority publishes a per-person or per-night rate directly, that is their figure and it is attributed to them at the point it appears.
Sources
- Scuba Sensation, Open Water course and home page — Caye Caulker Open Water US$460.00, its inclusions and tax statement, Discover Scuba, Advanced and SDI prices
- Frenchie’s Diving Services — Caye Caulker course and trip price list, deposits, and the “$10 Park Fee” inside its local reef dive
- Ramon’s Village Resort, scuba courses — San Pedro course list and the 12.5% sales tax statement
- Ecologic Divers, PADI courses and home page — San Pedro course list, inclusions, the GST-not-included statement, and the shop’s location
- Amigos del Mar, Open Water course, course table, home page, Hol Chan trip, 3-tank dive and Great Blue Hole trip — San Pedro course prices in USD with their struck-through former prices, dive-trip prices, the snorkel trip, the marine fees and the tax-not-included note
- Seahorse Dive Shop — Open Water referral, Discover Scuba and local reef trip — the Placencia prices, and the only figures found with tax and conservation fees stated as included
- Sunrise Scuba — the US$7.50 nitrox fill and its sole-provider statement for Caye Caulker
- The San Pedro Sun, 1 August 2024 — the Hol Chan press release of 27 July 2024, the US$15 fee, the “all 15 zones” wording and the 1 August 2024 effective date
- San Pedro Sun, 29 June 2024 — the US$10 fee the increase replaced, the paused US$20 proposal and the guides’ US$15 position
- Belize Diving Adventures — rates — the “Park fees for: Hol Chan US$15.00 p/p” line
- Hol Chan Marine Reserve — Day Pass — the reserve’s own BZ$30.00 non-Belizean price, read 24 September 2026
- PADI Open Water Diver store page — no published price for the eLearning component
Written by Estuardo Enriquez. This site is independent, carries no affiliate relationship with any dive shop named here, and is not connected to any previous owner of this domain.