Family excursion in Belize

[SailingBird]

Can anyone give me any advice on an excursion to do in Belize either with Royal Caribbean or independently. It is for a couple with 1 son of 11 and a daughter of 7. They are already doing a ruin excursion in Costa Maya so something different would be good. Thank you.:D

[MamaParrotHead]

Head over to Bannister Caye...it's a really nice beach, you can get there with Coral Breezes. Although I wouldn't recommend the snorkeling...we made that mistake and it was scary.

 

Not much to see or much shopping in Belize City, IMO. Head to the beach.

[sbhdmh]

I was also looking for something that would appeal to both my 5 year old dd and my 74 year old mother that would be different from the Mayan Experience we have booked in Costa Maya. I looked at cave tubing - even found a company that offers a special tour for kids under 10. There is no way my mother could do it, though. I almost sent dh and dd tubing alone but decided on RCL's excursion that combines a river boat ride with a visit to Altun Ha. I figured dd and dh could climb more than 1 set of ruins and it would be great for her to see wildlife in their natural habitat. I also looked at the zoo and the baboon sanctuary. We're on IOS January 3 - I haven't come across many families with kids on our sailing. Any chance you are on this one with us?

[Jan_In_Maine]

Head over to Bannister Caye...it's a really nice beach, you can get there with Coral Breezes. Although I wouldn't recommend the snorkeling...we made that mistake and it was scary.

 

Not much to see or much shopping in Belize City, IMO. Head to the beach.

 

 

So ... why was the snorkeling scary? Also did you do the Manatee watch with them? Thanks, Jan

[MamaParrotHead]

Well, I tell you this as a "Cautionary Tale"...not to say anything bad about Coral Breezes themselves (now Hammerhead Sports, on the other hand...:rolleyes::eek:).

 

I emailed before, telling them that we had some kids with us that weren't real swimmers, and wanted to make sure that the snorkeling portion was safe for them. I was assured it was. Fine, awesome, sold.

 

So we arrive in Belize City (and as big of a fan of independant tours as I am, it was a REAL pain in the butt to tender ALL the way in from the ship, meet our tour, then head all the way back PAST the ship towards Bannister).

 

The ride out to Bannister was a wild one...our crew stunk. Literally, those of us under the covered portion of the boat were hitting our heads, the ride was so rough and the crew obviously weren't concerned about our comfort or well being.

 

Before that, all of our party was booked (and paid for) to go snorkeling. After the boat ride, my sister had had enough and opted just to stay at Bannister and kept my oldest (10), another child in the group (15) and her son (4). Turns out she had the best day of all of us (the brief time we were there, basically just enough time to hit the restrooms and have ONE drink).

 

The rest of us loaded back on to the boat (which was kind of junky, to be honest) and headed out to the snorkel spot.

 

We got to the spot, and I was informed that the only flotation device they had for my 6 year old was an adult life jacket that was to be twisted around his tiny waist. That made me really uncomfortable, but the guide assured me she'd keep him safe, and I figured between the rest of the adults in our party, he'd be OK. If I'd have known then the actual conditions in the water, there's no way I would have done that and I would have stayed with him on the boat.

 

Well, the waves were ROUGH. I mean, on top of not being able to see a THING (which annoyed me, because they obviously knew this before dragging us out there for nothing), the level of physical activity was EXHAUSTING, trying to swim against the waves. They were rough to the point of them crashing over you and water going down your snorkel.

 

We swam out maybe 150 yards...and after 30 minutes of not seeing LITERALLY even ONE fish, we all decided to head back to the boat. Which took us probably a good 45 minutes to an hour. We were all struggling. The guide literally had to TOW most of us back to the boat...while the other crew members were jacking around on the boat, rather than noticing that we were having difficulties and bringing the boat around. So we finally make it back on the boat, and wait for a few minutes. And then they decide to go get the other half of the group, the problem with that being that they couldn't get the crappy boat started, EITHER of the two engines.

 

Once they finally managed that, we went over to the other half of the group, and they had to actually get on the boat with the engine running, sucking in the exhaust fumes from that. Then the LARGE snorkel guide attempts to get in the boat, and the back end of the boat is literally IN the water, and taking on water. That was great (not).

 

So we're puttering along on one engine, limping back to Bannister, and they finally get the other engine started. We arrive at Bannister, as I said, almost sick from physical exhaustion (my dad, who's in good shape, but is in his 60's) literally was throwing up, THAT'S how exhausting it was.

 

In all fairness, I reported back to Mark at Coral Breeze (who contracts Hammerhead Sports to conduct the tours locally) and he was very apologetic and made it right with us. He said that the they had more tours than crew, and hired a less experienced crew and had to rent a boat, which is what we got stuck with.

 

I'm not blaming them for the water conditions, or visibility, but those are things that are easily checked (especially when I'm shelling out $70 pp for the tour) and they should have just been upfront that we shouldn't waste our time because we wouldn't have been able to see anything. My other gripes are the condition of the boat, the professionalism/expertise of the crew and the fact that my child was given substandard safety devices for the snorkeling. And the fact that they could have slowed the boat down, have the trip to Bannister taken an extra 5-10 minutes, and not had all of us slamming our heads on the roof of the boat.

 

As I said, it wasn't the greatest way to see Belize, didn't leave the best taste in our mouths in general. I spent I'd say 75-80% of my time there on a crappy boat or a tender boat.

 

As for the manatee portion of the tour, we didn't see a thing after about 30 minutes of looking. And although they suggest they had another spot to see them, those of us who were kind of peeved about the slamming-of-the-heads portion of the tour, those of us who were peeved about the crappy snorkeling portion of the tour, and the rest of them who were peeved about having to enter the boat with a moving prop and sucking in boat exhaust, we ALL just wanted to head back to the city rather than trying another spot to look for them.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for the info, I'll check with DH to see what he thinks. I would enjoy just going to the island, but DH loves to snorkel and DD really wants to look for manatee's. (she's 27 and did a report on them when we was 9 and has always wanted to see one!). Thanks again, Jan

[2112]

If I can make a recommendation, I would switch it around and go to the Mayan ruins in Belize and go to the beach in Costa Maya. Really, the beach in Costa Maya is fantastic and free - no excursion needed - only a $5 round trip cab ride to town. Belize beaches are not the best but Belize has some very impressive Mayan ruins and I'd bet you would enjoy an excursion to Lamanai much more than any Mayan ruin experience you might have in Costa Maya.

[SailingBird]

Many thnaks for everyone's input - gratefully recieved.

 

We have read another review regarding Coral Breezes - Captain your own boat - this looks perfect for the family - who are used to RIBs and would like to see some wildlife - so I think this is the way to go.

 

They are going with David and Ivan in Costa Maya - as I have personally recommended this to them. Their other port of call is Cozumel where I think they may have a beach day.:rolleyes:

[Travel Crazy]

Hi - are you saying that if we dock in Belize, it is only a $5 cab fare to Costa Maya??? I just love the Cat's Meow on the beach and would love to go back. Is this a beach in Majuhal?? How long is the drive?

[SusieQT]

Hi - are you saying that if we dock in Belize, it is only a $5 cab fare to Costa Maya??? I just love the Cat's Meow on the beach and would love to go back. Is this a beach in Majuhal?? How long is the drive?

 

 

It's close, but not that close! This info is if you dock in Costa Maya and want to go to Mahajual!

[SusieQT]

I was also looking for something that would appeal to both my 5 year old dd and my 74 year old mother that would be different from the Mayan Experience we have booked in Costa Maya. I looked at cave tubing - even found a company that offers a special tour for kids under 10. There is no way my mother could do it, though. I almost sent dh and dd tubing alone but decided on RCL's excursion that combines a river boat ride with a visit to Altun Ha. I figured dd and dh could climb more than 1 set of ruins and it would be great for her to see wildlife in their natural habitat. I also looked at the zoo and the baboon sanctuary. We're on IOS January 3 - I haven't come across many families with kids on our sailing. Any chance you are on this one with us?

 

 

Hi! We are with you, I think we are doing the Ivan and David tour together. I have a 6 yr old boy & 8 year old girl. I think most of the 'kids' will be college students. Mine are missing a week of school.