Western Caribbean Itinerary - Excursion suggestions needed

[misterf]

My gf and I are going to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Cozumel this April and are looking for a general idea of what to do at each port before researching each place in depth.

 

My gf isn't a fan of scuba diving or anything involving deep water (including the submarine tour I've heard about), is fine with snorkeling though. Also doesn't want to do the Stingray tour in GC.

 

Looking around Carnival's site as well as some of the posts, it seems the choices available to us would be:

 

Beaches

Snorkelling

Dolphin Encounters/Swims

Ziplines

Cave Tubing

Parasailing

Visiting Mayan locations

 

Am not really interested in city tours...

 

So, I assumed we would zipline in Roatan (everyone seems to rave about it) and go cave tubing in Belize.

 

From the list above, are some of the ports of call better than others for those choices? I know its all subjective, but, for example, does Cozumel have better snorkelling excursions than Cayman?

 

Thoughts? Thanks for any suggestions!

 

I posted a similar thread in Carnival's forum, but someone replied that I posted in the wrong place. I didn't want to duplicate this, but not sure what else to do so am posting in all 4 Ports of Call forums.

[Cruisin 3]

I would check out the dune buggy excursion in Cozumel. I wife and I did it and it was awesome. You get to see a great deal of the island, go snorkling, we went to a agave farm, and had a great lunch on the beach. There were several site seeing stops that were great as well. Sightseeing mixed with activities is a great way to experience Cozumel.

[misterf]

Thanks! Will definitely have to check that out. Did you go through a cruiseline or booked it separately?

[Ants Girl]

Also in Grand Cayman the Jet Ski tour to Sting ray city and snorkling is supposed to be top notch. We are using Fat Fish Adventures.

[ERinke919]

I would check out the dune buggy excursion in Cozumel. I wife and I did it and it was awesome. You get to see a great deal of the island, go snorkling, we went to a agave farm, and had a great lunch on the beach. There were several site seeing stops that were great as well. Sightseeing mixed with activities is a great way to experience Cozumel.

 

I agree - we did the beach & buggy tour through carnival 2 years ago and it was great! We are heading back in late March but I don't see that as an option through carnival anymore....I think we'll so a scuba trip. Still trying to figure out which one.

[boopie1026]

it is all subjective to what you want to do- I am doing the itinerary with my hubby and 5yr old dtr. Grand Cayman has beautiful beaches so you can hit 7 mile beach on your own if you wanted.

 

I have done the dolphin swim before, and we have booked it idrectly with dolphin discovery in cozumel- its a bit cheaper booking online vs ship and then you get access to the park all day.

 

In Roatan we booked directly with Victor Bodden- if you look them up you will see they offer a lot of options of tours ziplining etc

 

Belize We are leaning towards heading to bannister island- which we are going to book with eco tours I think- carnival stopped providing this excursion for some reason-

 

hope it help!!

 

there is alot info on the ports sections to help figure it out-

 

enjoy!!!

[rpurkey]

The beaches are the best in Caymans (also very good in Cozumel).

 

IMO, Belize is not somewhere you want to wander around on your own. If we go back, we will probably book an 'adventure' type excursion there. ZipLining, Rafting/Tubing, etc.

 

We booked an all inclusive beach day in Cozumel at Nachi Cocum. $49 each. They also had snorkeling, wave runners, etc for rent.

 

At Grand Cayman we just took a taxi to Royal Palms (free public beach) and rented chairs and hung out at the beach all day. They have a restaurant/bar, etc there.

[rach528]

Hi Misterf....my boyfriend and I are going on the same cruise/ports at the end of May. I've done a ton of research and have decided on the following. I feel like it's a good mix to experience a little bit of everything just to give you an idea :cool:

 

-Grand Cayman: Fat Fish Jet Ski/Stingray City Tour

 

-Roatan: booking with Bodden Tours and doing the Bodden zipline and

monkey experience

 

-Belize: cave tubing with cave - tubing dot com

 

-Cozumel: Passion Island/Twister Tour (only one booking through Carnival...its $65 all inclusive for the day)

[crewsweeper]

Definitely Sting Ray City. Also find a tour that includes a stop in Hell and at the turtle farm.

[debster818]

Can you go to Stingray City on your own or do you have to go with an excursion? How about Turtle Farm? Thanks

[bookbabe]

Can you go to Stingray City on your own or do you have to go with an excursion?

 

As Stingray City is out in the middle of the ocean (well, a large cove, but still open water, way too far to swim to) you need a boat to get there. This means that if you're visiting the island via cruise ship, you need to take an excursion to get there, since you wouldn't have access to a boat of your own. You can book an excursion via the ship or privately, as a single destination excursion or as part of a longer tour of various attractions.

[TheWog]

Can you go to Stingray City on your own or do you have to go with an excursion? How about Turtle Farm? Thanks

 

The answer above about Stingray City answers that and yes, you can go to Turtle Farm on your own. You can get a cab at the pier for that.