Coral Breeze - Captain your own Riverboat

[deb63]

I've seen mixed reviews on Coral Breeze, but most of the posts were talking about their snorkeling excursions. I was looking for a boating one.

 

I wondered if anyone had any experience with this excursion? Or if they have a vendor that has a similiar experience you would recommend - we will be traveling with children (two 8 year olds).

 

Thank you in advance for any information you can share.

 

Deb

[CocoaMom]

We just did this last week. We're a family of 6, 2 adults and 4 teens. It was just the 6 of us along with our 3 guides. At the last minute our 13 year old decided to stay in the guide boat so we ended up using only 2 of their big rubber boats (DH & I, 3 teens with no motor exp in other). They give a quick lesson on motoring and hop on to help if you need it. The person driving will mostly be standing the entire time, wear something comfortable on your feet. Passengers get to view, take photos etc and enjoy the ride ... My DH drove the entire time, this was his favorite excursion and we all loved the adventure it offered!

 

The ride is 30 miles each way, took hours and they made sure we had water, snacks etc before heading off. Unlike other reports, I felt James (lead guide) was very, very talkative, informed us of all kind of things and constantly stopped for all the various animals along the way. At one point we stopped and the 3 guides got off and collected mangos for us all to eat ... best mangos we've ever had. We just had a fantastic time with them and the 6 of us would do this again without question.

 

The closest way for me to describe this trip is .... we all felt like we were part of a national geographic show. It's amazing, we loved our day!

[deb63]

Was there any problems locating the tour guide when you got in port?

 

Did you have any worries about making it back to the boat on time?

 

I'm sure my DH would like to drive the home time. Thank you for sharing your experience. :) I like the looks of this on their website. Tripadvisor shows they have more positive reviews than negative ones.

[CocoaMom]

Was there any problems locating the tour guide when you got in port?

 

Did you have any worries about making it back to the boat on time?

 

I'm sure my DH would like to drive the home time. Thank you for sharing your experience. :) I like the looks of this on their website. Tripadvisor shows they have more positive reviews than negative ones.

 

Prior to this, we had never been to Belize. I had read about people not liking Belize, the poverty, the terrible tender process, the locals who bother you etc and yeah, I had my concerns. In the end, we all loved Belize and every local we encountered was just wonderful and welcoming.

 

You will meet 'hammerhead' (coral breeze local co) directly outside of the wet lizard (local bar / restaurant). They have a small counter desk directly on the water, very very easy to find....now in our case, we arrived way too early. They wanted us to meet at 8 am local time, but we got there so early because I was in a panic about getting tender tickets and dragged my family to the line ... tender tickets were not a problem for us, we arrived on the first tender and of course with the time difference, we had a long wait until 8am.

 

We walked the pier, shops were open at this early hour. Security is very much visable and they did ask us a few times if we needed help. Locals did ask if we wanted a tour etc ... we told everyone that we were waiting for James. We shopped, got a cold drink and about 7:30 am Belize time we were way down the opposite end talking to the local DJ when this guy comes running up to greet us ... he was from hammerhead and the locals told him when he arrived where we were so he came to find us. We walked with him back up to the wet lizard and James arrived about 10 minutes later.

 

Truthfully I had concerns about Belize in general and yes, making it back to the ship in time too. James spoke to me before I had a chance to express my concern and assured me we'd be back in plenty of time. Once I relaxed on that rubber boat with my husband driving it, all worries faded away, lol. James was true to his word, we were back in plenty of time and ended up taking the kids upstairs to the wet lizard for drinks and lunch before we shopped around the pier. Fantastic day!

[deb63]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We are far from cruising experts, so I was nervous about the idea of booking away from the cruise line - but this excursion looks so different & fun. I showed the pics on their website to DH last night, he was sold pretty quickly on it. Thank you for easing some of my concerns.

 

Deb

[mafig]

I'm really confused about this "time thing." The date I'm interested in has a departure time of 9:30 am (Belize time). Now if we're still on Daylight Savings Time isn't that 11:30 am Miami (ship) time. If the tour is 4hrs 45 mins., doesn't that put us back at the port at 4:15 (for a 5pm departure)?

 

Unfortunately, I'm not real comfortable with cutting it that close.......unless I'm not correct about the timing. Help me!:D

[welldone60]

I'm really confused about this "time thing." The date I'm interested in has a departure time of 9:30 am (Belize time). Now if we're still on Daylight Savings Time isn't that 11:30 am Miami (ship) time. If the tour is 4hrs 45 mins., doesn't that put us back at the port at 4:15 (for a 5pm departure)?

 

Unfortunately, I'm not real comfortable with cutting it that close.......unless I'm not correct about the timing. Help me!:D

 

They know what time your ship comes in and leaves. Just remind them what time you want to be back. We had the same concerns when we did this tour. We were back to port with enough time to have lunch at the Wet Lizard and do some looking around at the port, we were still not on the last tender.

 

Here is some pics from our tour.

 

http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/tt25/welldone60/Belize/

[mafig]

thanks.:)

 

very nice pics.

[deb63]

I have yet another question if you don't mind.

 

I have read on another of the boards about people missing excursions they book directly due to the tendering time. They shared that if you book with the ship, you get off the ship first. Since they booked directly, they had later tendering & missed their excursion due to getting off the ship late.

 

I know from her sharing that CocoaMom didn't have a problem with this. Mafig, did you have any problems with the timing of your tendering? Or did the guide wait for/work with you on timing?

[mafig]

I haven't done this excursion yet. I'm still in the questioning phase too.:)

[deb63]

Sorry, Welldone60 is the poster I should have been asking.

[welldone60]

deb63

We were on the Glory. The ship excursions met in one room and they told all the people who booked private tours to meet in a differnt room. They take the ship's first and then the people who have private tours. They used two tender loading locations and we were on the dock in plenty of time for the tour. The tenders in Belize are big and fast, so you get off pertty fast. We never book ships tours and have never missed an excursion or had a problem getting back on time. We take a pocket watch set to ships time with us always and stay very aware of the time. We tell our guides what time "we" want to be back. Do not use a cell phone or such to keep track of time. They auto change to local time, to many people do this and miss the ship or come way to close.

 

mafig

I think the tour is 3 hours & 45 mins. Ours lasted longer as we got an early start and james stopped along the way several times to show us around.

[deb63]

Thank you Welldone for the information & the tip on the watch. We have not been out of the country yet, so in the past have used our cell phone. I will know better now!

 

Thank you again.

[crewsin250]

Has anyone ever booked this excursion (Captain your own boat) at the dock instead of in advance through coral breeze. Thanks for your help and answer on this.

 

Paul

[welldone60]

Has anyone ever booked this excursion (Captain your own boat) at the dock instead of in advance through coral breeze. Thanks for your help and answer on this.

 

Paul

 

 

They require a minimum of four people. If you luck out and they have room they would take you. The minimum of four keep alot of people from booking as they don't keep a waiting list. So when you contact them for two and they don't have anyone else booked they will tell you to contact them at a later date. Most people want to get there excursions booked and not have to wait.

[alaskanforever12]

They require a minimum of four people. If you luck out and they have room they would take you. The minimum of four keep alot of people from booking as they don't keep a waiting list. So when you contact them for two and they don't have anyone else booked they will tell you to contact them at a later date. Most people want to get there excursions booked and not have to wait.

 

 

actually you can book without 4 people on there site. I know it says for but just book 2 and they will still take you. We booked with them last week and searched for 2 more people to book with us. I told coral I couldnt find two more people and he said to go on the website and just book for 2. I think we are the only 2 so far for our trip. Im excited!

[Clay Clayton]

:confused:Now I am confused. From looking at their website, it says the boat will only holds 3 adults...so why do we need to have four?

 

I also see they have a 250lb weight limit. DDP and I are both alot closer to 300lbs...think it is worth asking if we could still go?

[welldone60]

:confused:Now I am confused. From looking at their website, it says the boat will only holds 3 adults...so why do we need to have four?

 

I also see they have a 250lb weight limit. DDP and I are both alot closer to 300lbs...think it is worth asking if we could still go?

 

 

They like to have min two boats (2 people each) to operate the tour. Once they get 4 people booked they will allow others to book as 1, 2 or 3. They have about 7 or 8 boats.

 

As far as the weight, they told us 750 max per boat, so you should be ok.

[crewsin250]

Welldone 60 thanks for all the info on this tour, I am most likely going to book it when I get a little closer to sailing.

 

Paul

[welldone60]

Welldone 60 thanks for all the info on this tour, I am most likely going to book it when I get a little closer to sailing.

 

Paul

 

 

You are welcome, and you will have a great time on this tour.

 

Happy crusin

[KimberlyC]

So long as we are combined under the 750lb max for a boat, do you know if this is permitted? My DS will be 6 if I book a cruise during his February break which I'm strongly considering doing.

[welldone60]

So long as we are combined under the 750lb max for a boat, do you know if this is permitted? My DS will be 6 if I book a cruise during his February break which I'm strongly considering doing.

 

 

You should have no problems with 2 adults and one kid. The way the boats are set up the driver is in the rear, one seat in front off the control tower and one at the front of the boat.

[KimberlyC]

You should have no problems with 2 adults and one kid. The way the boats are set up the driver is in the rear, one seat in front off the control tower and one at the front of the boat.

 

Thanks!

[welldone60]

So long as we are combined under the 750lb max for a boat, do you know if this is permitted? My DS will be 6 if I book a cruise during his February break which I'm strongly considering doing.[/quote]

 

What ship are you thinking about? We will be on the Dream leaving Port Canaveral on the 5th of Feb 2011. We will be in Belize on the 8th and have a small group (6-8) going on this tour.