Bannister Island with Coral Breeze - will we make it back in time?

[supercrunch]

We will be in Belize on November 5th and are considering Bannister Island with Coral Breeze Tours.

 

Our port time is 8-5, and the tour is scheduled to start at 9:30am Belize time and is 4 hours and 45 minutes long. I am really paranoid about missing the ship, and I can't seem to wrap my head around the time difference and figure out if we'll have enough of a cushion or not.

 

(I really wish they were offering this through Carnival. That would save me a lot of trouble!)

 

Does the last tender leave an hour before the ship is to depart?

[MamaParrotHead]

They run tenders as long as they're people standing there to take them...when we tendered in Grand Cayman last time, they ran the tenders up until like 10-15 minutes from departure time. Coral Breeze is very reputable operator on here...just email them using the link on their website and ask them about it, they're really nice and prompt at returning emails. Their making a living depends on knowing the tender times and procedures and getting people back to their ships in time.

[Loucat]

We are just back today off Enchantment and used Coral Breeze tours to go to Caye Caulker. Have always recommended them before, but be careful. They put the snorkelers and Caye Culker day trippers into a 20" open skiff with a Bimini top. It was rough going out and we in the back were soaked to the skin. Late returning due to engine problems. We stalled out twice. Never again!! Others with us were on Carnival ships and they were in a panic as their last tender left before ours. It was a fiasco.

Apparently, they had alot of divers that day and used their large boat for the divers. We got the short end of the stick this week with the skiff. It is 20+ miles from Belize City, so be sure you check your timing.

[wibeachbum]

So, it's 20+ miles on the water? That doesn't sound fun on a 20 foot boat on the ocean. We are boaters at home but the ocean is certainly different than an inland lake. I was considering Coral Breeze tours but doubt I will book it now. Last time we were in Belize it was rough and the tenders loaded slowly just to get from the ship to the port. This slowed everything down from the start. I don't think we'll chance it.

[jku2]

Your post had me worried about the boat being used to do the snorkel, Bannister island excursion. I contacted Coral breeze and heard this back

We have used the skiff on occasion when our other boats are undergoing maintenance or are being used by other groups. Now that the busy season has started, we generally go to Bannister on our 36-footer. If there are mechanical problems, the crew is generally able to deal with them on the spot. If worse comes to worse, we would call in another

 

I am not worried about rough seas or getting wet. It isn't the ocean. And who isn't already wet from snorkeling??