Coral Breeze in Belize

This was by far our favorite stop. We booked a tour online with Coral Breeze and we loved every minute of it. The crew are some of the nicest people that we have ever met. We mentioned that we were thinking of coming to Belize to look at retirement property that we wanted to maybe purchase for when we actually get old enough to retire. The captain of the ship said when we decide to come down to give him a shout and he would take us to all the people that we need to talk to about this. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met and the whole crew was equally as nice. We went to Caye Calker and ordered our lunch and then the boat pulled back out and went to Shark/Ray alley. First we snorkeled through the coral reefs and then it was on to the big show. The captain moved a few hundred yards and put the boat in neutral and started gunning the engines. The next thing that you knew, the water was full of Sharks and Sting rays. They were huge and they were everywhere. We were told that the Nurse sharks were harmless so we trusted them and jumped off the boat. It was fantastic! The sting rays and sharks were bouncing off us and pushing against us and seemed to actually like being petted. After about ten minutes the Sharks got a little skittish and swam a little ways away from us and hung to the outside of the group the rest of the time. But not before we got to pet them and swim with them. If you do this tour, bring an underwater camera because no one will believe your story..:)

After the swim with the sharks and rays we went back to Caye Caulker and had lunch. My wife and I had the chicken Burrito and they were great. My Brother and his Wife had traditional Belizian chicken and they loved it too. It seemed to be hard to go wrong on what you chose to eat.

Before I forget, if you like beer then you have to try Belikian beer. It is Belize’s beer and it is fantastic. I wish I could get some here back in the states. After the dive and lunch we headed back to Belize city. We got back there at around 3pm and the last tender back to the ship was around 4:30, so it gave us plenty of time to buy souvenirs before returning to the ship. None of us ever wanted to leave Belize. It was gorgeous and I will be back there as soon as I can. Thank you Coral Breeze for making this a memory that will last forever…

Can I ask when you did your tour? How much? :D

We did the trip on Wednesday February 9th. The whole thing was 69 dollars including lunch and the snorkel. It was worth every penny...The crew on that boat is fantastic, we felt like we met life long friends. We have all their email addresses and such so we can all stay in touch. They were the greatest.

Look up Coral breezes on the internet, they are easy to find and worth the effort..:)

Thank you for a great review. My friend and I will be on the Elation May 8th and we want to do this exact excursion with Coral Breeze. We were worried that they cut it close to getting back to the tender (last one) but I will just email Paul and make sure this is understood!

Does anyone have Paul's email addy at Coral Breeze? :)

Just email them at the coral breeze website and Paul always seems to answer from there. We were worried about the time getting back to the ship also, but they make their living insuring that people get back. They kept a close watch on the time and we got back way early. Our excursion started at 10am and it was scheduled to last 5 hours and they hit it right on the button. We were back at right around 3pm. It was the most fantastic day of my life. There were 10 people total on the boat and 2 of them got off at Caye Caulker for a beach day and 8 of us snorkeled. The boat looked empty on the trip which suited me just fine..:)

We took this tour Thursday 2/10 and it was wonderful. There were about 39 of us on the boat and we all fit comfortably.

We were on the Carnival Elation and had to wait for the general tenders before getting to shore. (Carnival's tendering process is pitiful.) We were on the first non-ship tour tender and it got to the dock at 940am. We were supposed to leave at 10am, but there was another couple from the Elation that were on tender #3 and they didn't get on the Coral Breeze until 1015am.

Everyone was very friendly and professional. We ordered lunch, picked up supplies at Caye Caulker and then went snorkeling at the reef first and then shark ray alley. Shark Ray Alley was unbelievable. We then ate lunch and had about 1/2 hr to walk around (not much to see so 1/2 hr is plenty). We had a couple of drinks (I had 2 Belikin beers-very good!) and then we got back to the dock at 2:45pm. NCL Dream's last tender was at 300pm and ours was at 415pm. This gave us time to shop and buy a few things.

There were 12 of us in our group. The youngest was my 8 yr old neice who had never cruised or snorkeled before. She initially did not want to get in the water at the reef. So my sister figured she'd have to stay on the boat with her. The crew told her to get in the water to snorkel and they would work with Karlie. They got her in the water and snorkeled with her. Truly wonderful people.

At the end we tipped them $10. We put it in Monique's hand at the dock because there was no tip jar/hat/bucket. It was apparent that no tips were expected.

I would not hesitate to recommend this company and this tour to anyone.

$69 for snorkeling with lunch, $49 observer with lunch. Children are $10 less on both.

The website is http://www.coralbreezelimited.com

Kathy

I have them booked for this tour....Now I really can't wait..Thanks all!

We have this tour booked for next month. This is the best review yet! I cannot believe that I have come from the summer of "Jaws" and not being able to get in the water in Michigan to this! Can hardly wait!

We went with Coral Breeze last week. What an awesome experience! I've been on lot's of excursions and this was by far the best. The staff really put their "all" into insuring we had a good time. I would go again in a hearbeat. It's just finding the time/money to go back to Belize.

I just emailed Paul at Coral Breeze a couple of times today! Wow! He is great! He answered every question I had and took the time to calm any concern whatsoever about the timing issue. THIS EXCURSION thru this tour company is JUST FINE! They will NOT let you miss your ship! I can't wait to go...thanks for the reviews...it's going to be a blast! :D

You said that the departure time is 10:00 am - I assume that's local time? We're sailing the Glory in April and still can't figure out the time situation especially since it's after daylight saving time. Right now, eastern time is an hour ahead of Belize time (central).

They were the same time as Houston when we went there. The easiest thing to do is look at the itinerary on NCL's page. Whatever time that is says it docks is the local time of the port. We always double checked ship time compared to our watches before we got off the ship so we knew we were safe. Just tell the crew what time you need to be back by and they will make sure that it happens.

It is my understanding that Belize stays on Central time all the time. So it's possible that if you are currently in Eastern time 1 hr ahead and jump ahead another hour in April that you would be 2 hrs ahead of Belize time.

Just be sure you check with the ships time and keep your watch on that time.

WOW, this does sound like a wonderful. I will be there in July with my mother. We are on the Valor. I want to snorkel, she doesn't. So I could get off the boat and she could just stay on the boat? It looks like tour would be cheaper. This looks like the perfect tour for us.

Susan

We're just back today from Carnival Miracle. We did the Shark/Ray Alley tour 2 days ago and have to agree with everyone else - It was FANTASTIC!! The rays are pretty docile and a crewmember will hold them up to you for touching. The nurse sharks are a bit more shy, but my husband did manage to touch one. Our first stop was actually for snorkeling through some awesome coral. We went single file and were in the water for at least half an hour, so don't forget to put some sunscreen on your back! There weren't a lot of fish, but it was nice to see some healthy coral for a change. On Caye Caulker we had an excellent lunch of chicken with rice & beans, then walked around. This is such an interesting and pretty island, with it's white sand roads and little pastel buildings. Really unlike anywhere else I've been.

Susan, we had two ladies on our trip who did not go into the water, and they seemed to enjoy the trip. Please keep in mind that the boat "Coral Breeze" is very enclosed. There is really no open deck space to speak of. It is open at the stern (where there are three 200 hp outboards) and there is a "door" opening on either side of the boat. Passengers sit below on long padded benches.

gayleanhazel- Hi! We were on the tour with you! Remember me? The short blonde , we ate lunch together! I hope you and DH enjoyed your cruise a little better after we saw you. Wasn't Caye Caulker beautiful? We have some great pictures! Weren't you going to change your user name!!!???!!!:D

To anyone considering this tour...do not hesitate. It was awesome! Words just can't describe how it felt to be the water with sharks! The stringrays were neat, too. And when I saw the video of the ships stringray tour in GC with all those people and all those boats...I was sure glad I did a more personal tour. 4 crew and 8 passengers....huge difference! Coral Breeze was friendly and professional. :)

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEE! This is who I booked with for September 8! I spoke with Paul and I trully think he is going to show us a good time. We are doing the Shark/Ray and Caye Caulker also....Glad to see the enthusiastic post.....I am so very excited.....Weeeeeeeeeeeee!:p

staylor - Hey could to hear from you! No, our cruise just went down hill from the time we saw you. We now know what cruise line we will never go with again!

We loved Cay Caulker too. I loved this excursion. Your right it was much better than going with a lot of people. I've posted great reviews for Coral Breeze.

I just can't change my name! My beloved cat would never forgive me. I will just have to let people think what they want. Besides it amuses DH :)

How was your cruise?

Until we meet in Belize again....

Jamie, thanks for the information. I am going to contact Coral Breeze today. We are on the Valor and our port times are 9-6. That should give us plenty of time. I have done independent tours before and enjoyed them a whole lot more. I feel like with these times we will be back way before time.

Susan

This is to gaylenhazel vbmenu_register("postmenu_3083607", true); ....

Cool Cruiser

Just curious for future reference, What cruise line did you go with and what was so bad? It might tell me what to watch for...:)

Thanks

She went with HAL. They weren't very happy when we saw them in Belize.

Gayle- Sorry to hear it didn't improve! Tell DH we said hello and are thinking of trying Charleston.......We enjoyed your company on the tour......Aren't you surprised about any neg comments about Coral Breezez?.......it was so great! Hennie was so nice to us.....and those sharks....oh so cool! C-ya...

gburau - Yes, we were with Holland on the Veendam. I posted a review on the Holland board called Feb 5 Veendam Cruise from Hell. Scroll down a couple of pages and you will find it. I almost got booted out of the Holland board for posting a bad review. There are some very loyal people of that line. As for me.... we go where customer service comes first. I'm not a complainer but that cruise was awful! Never again will we use Holland. My DH was just whinning about how bad a cruise it was and how his vacation was ruined. We have gone on many cruises and this was our only bad one. Guess it was our turn.

I shall return some day to Belize however! And Coral Breeze. Now that company could teach Holland a thing or two about good customer service. Paul, you got it going on!

Staylor - if you go out of Charleston let me know. I have some favorite places in Charleston I'll share with you. That is my all time favorite city! I go several times a year. Just a couple of hours by car for us.

Ouch, I read your review. It sounds like I may stay away from that line. We went on the Norwegian Sea and had the time of our lives.. I left a review on Norwegians section, I think it was called "Norwegian Sea...Fantastic."

How much time is spent on the boat to take you snorkeling? I have gotten sea sick on past excursions that involve a smaller boat.

It only took about 40 minutes each way. If you are concerned about getting motion sick just be sure to take a Dramamine pill before you get on the tender boat that takes you to shore. Dramamine works great and they hand it out for free at the pursers desk. We took Dramamine the entire cruise and never had any sickness at all, even though we hit a few days of rough seas. We thought the ride was great and none of us (10 total on the boat) felt sick in any way.

Hope that helps...:)