Shark Ray Alley / San Pedro

[lucy1208]

We are booking the ship's tour for shark ray alley and San Pedro in Belize. Has anyone done this thru Carnival? It is 7 hrs long. HOw is San Pedro, anything to do or see there? HOw is the lunch and how is the snorkeling?

 

Thought about doing this with an independant company,but nervous about missing the boat...

[RedSoxWon]

Here's my review of a similar tour with RCI. I'm not sure if it will be exactly the same, but hopefully you will fing the info useful.

 

Belize

 

At 11:45 pm, my wife was awakened (I was in the cigar lounge) by a knock on the cabin door, with a message that our river kayaking excursion in Belize was cancelled due to lack of participation. This was my most eagerly anticipated excursion, so I was very disappointed. Given how late the tour was cancelled, I hoped the excursion desk would make some concession to those of us in the same boat (so to speak) and open early so we could beat the rush. Instead, I found myself waiting in line with everyone else the following morning, anxiously hoping there were two spots open for the shark ray alley/beach tour. Luckily there were, and we were rewarded with a great experience. We were taken by high-speed boat to Ambegris Caye, about an hour away, with one brief stop for a bathroom break (thank God), equipment, and waivers. Seeing Chinese food restaurants along this little strip of beach and town was discordant for some reason. After that we went by boat to an underwater preserve near the barrier reef, where we were led by the guide on a 45 minute snorkel circuit of the area. This was a little too crowded, and I got kicked a few times. Also, one very tall person decided to walk along the bottom wherever possible, which kicks up silt and kills the coral. I was initially very disappointed with the relative lack of fish compared to Cozumel, but as we approached the boat I spotted the first sting ray. After that, it was like swimming in an aquarium. I saw a group of four or five stingrays and dove down to touch one of them. When I resurfaced, it seemed the water was full of yellowfin snapper, blue groupers, and one nurse shark, which I saw from about ten feet away. The last fifteen minutes of this swim made the rest worthy of the trip. Afterwards, we went to a small beachside bar, Crazy Canuck's, and had a pretty good buffet lunch and a few Belikin beers--an odd taste at first, but they grew on me. We had some time left, so we took a five-minute cab ride to the nearby town of San Pedro. This town is very Belizean (dirt roads, colorful buildings) but also very tourist oriented (air conditioned gift shops, credit cards accepted). We both loved it's quaint quality, roadside crafts, and easy walkability. Afterwards, the boat took us back to the pier at Belize City, where we did some shopping at the tourist village and had another Belikin.

[lucy1208]

Thanks for your review. Did you only go to one snorkel spot, or 2? Were you able to get close to sting rays and sharks? I did the stingray city in Cayman, where the water was shallow and they were everywhere and swim up on you, touch you,etc. Is it nothing like this?

[RedSoxWon]

It was only one spot--sort of. We started out near the boat and then the guides led us through what I presume was Shark Ray Alley, a sort of narrow underground canyon. There weren't many fish to see there, but some interesting coral formations. This took about 15-20 minutes. When we got back to the boat, we had another 15-20 minutes--maybe 40 minutes total in the water. It was back near the boat where I saw most of the fish, including the rays. I have read other reviews of Shark Ray Alley where it seemed there were a lot more rays than I saw, exhibiting the kind of behavior that you describe. I'm not sure if my experience can be described as below average or above average. One tip that I have since learned: bring a small waterproof pouch of small dog biscuits or dog food. This is what the guides use to attract the rays. The guides were underwater and the rays were schooling mostly around them. One of them let me in on the trick after we were back in the boat.

 

One quick anecdote: At one point I dove underwater to touch a ray. I'm a beginner snorkler, so I was not entirely successful at reaching them, but I was not nearly as bad as another woman on the tour. One of the rays started heading toward me and I swam away (we were told to avoid their tails). As I broke the surface, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me back under water. I managed to get my head around and see a young woman from the neck down holding on to me. I managed to break free and clear the surface. The woman had apparently seen the ray headed toward her and panicked, grabbing on to me to push herself away. I asked if she was alright (even though I was the one with a nose full of water) but she swam away without a word, not even a thank you. Oh, well.