While it can safely be said that Celi McCorkle is the Tourism Pioneer in the hotel industry of San Pedro, Alan Forman is the Tourism Pioneer in the scuba diving operations on the island. Alan and a group of San Pedranos formed the chain of local small hotels known as Coral Beach Hotels. This group offered fishing, snorkeling, sailing, mainland tours, beach parties and anything else that they sensed the visitors would enjoy.
Alan Forman was the first hotelier to offer a bar and entertainment center at the end of a dock and over the sea – The Tackle Box. This place was very popular due to the ambience and spectacular view and also due to its seaquarium with a wide variety of fish, including sharks and rays as well as sea turtles.
However, Alan Forman wanted the visitors to experience the diving spectacles of Belize and the Caribbean Sea. In the early 1970’s Coral Beach Hotels set up the first dive tank compressor on the Island and commenced taking tours to the blue Hole and other fine spots around Ambergris Caye. It was the commencement of what was to become San Pedro’s vibrant scuba diving operations now offered by many resorts on Ambergris Caye.
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