Coral Breezes Question

[ortho_rn63]

Apologies in advance if this has been addressed in another post, but I can't seem to find it!

I am looking at booking through Coral Breezes for our stop in Belize with NCL in March. Doesn't seem to be any ship excursions that offer this kind of trip :(. And I know off ship excursions are generally better..... so, does anyone have any experience with this company and what are your thoughts?? I would really appreciate feedback from fellow cruisers!

Thanks so much!

[Will in sunny FL]

We did the snorkel trip with Coral Breeze this past week & arrived in Belize on the Legend.

You will find tons of info on Coral Breeze Tours on this site if you click on search above & type what you are looking for.

Our trip last week with them was as good as it gets. Heni did her usual fine job of leading the party of eight around & thru the reef & she even had her close bud the Morray Eel come out of his hole in the coral & get pretty close to her. What a sight to see !

The local lunch on Caye Caulker was great as it always is.

Look up their site on Google for the tours available.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[emmysmommy]

We've booked with Coral Breeze for the Bannister Island and snorkel excursion in Belize. It was great and certainly a huge discount from any ship sponsored excursions.

[ortho_rn63]

Thanks guys! I'm going to go ahead and book with them. Definitely want to spend less than the ship excursions and nothing like this is offered.

[greenscooter]

We did this tour in September and overall it was a great day. Swimming with the nurse sharks was the highlight of the cruise. Caye Caulker is a unique place to see - no commercialism, no cars, just simple living. The lunch that was included was very good. The crew is funny and very helpful. James is quite the ambassador for Belize and full of information - You can tell he really loves his country. The only negative is the snorkeling. The reef is beautiful and in pristine condition; but, the crew has everyone snorkel in a line and they go FAST! I don't think they even realize it because they are in the water day after day and conditioned to snorkeling. Whereas, us vacationers only snorkel a few times a year. So, be prepared to put some effort into snorkeling to keep up. Also, in one area of the reef, there is a strong current - once you get past that, it is easy snorkeling and so beautiful. I saw my first green moray eel and first nurse shark of the day on the reef. As I said, it was a great day - I would recommend this tour to anyone going to Belize who has decent swimming skills.

Others who have posted that you don't get much time on Caye Caulker: That is because of three things (1) the tender ride from the ship is about 15-20min. each way (2) The boat ride to Caye Caulker is about 45 min. each way (3) the time difference in Belize. So, Going with Coral Breezes allows you to see and do a lot more in 5 hours than trying to catch the water taxis. If you just want to hang out on Caye Caulker; then, taking the water taxi may be the way to go; but, this tour offers you a unique opportunity you will not find in other caribbean ports.

Safe travels and enjoy your cruise ...

[ortho_rn63]

Thanks greenscooter. Nice to hear from someone who has recently done this trip! any concerns you had??? getting back on time, ect??

[greenscooter]

We had absolutely no problems getting back. You meet at the Wet Lizard. Coral Breezes has a booth on the dock and will take your lunch orders at that time. We had time to walk around the pier before getting on the boat. They give you time after eating lunch to walk around Caye Caulker before getting back on the boat to head back to the pier in Belize City. We had plenty of time. The locals rely on cruise tourists for a living; so, they make sure they get you back to the pier on time.

They have water and chips and salsa on the boat for snacks.

If you have an underwater camera, James will dive down and take close-up photos for you - Just ask. The 10 of us on board all had a great day, and agreed that we would recommend this tour to others.

[evandbob]

We had absolutely no problems getting back. You meet at the Wet Lizard. Coral Breezes has a booth on the dock and will take your lunch orders at that time. We had time to walk around the pier before getting on the boat. They give you time after eating lunch to walk around Caye Caulker before getting back on the boat to head back to the pier in Belize City. We had plenty of time. The locals rely on cruise tourists for a living; so, they make sure they get you back to the pier on time.

They have water and chips and salsa on the boat for snacks.

If you have an underwater camera, James will dive down and take close-up photos for you - Just ask. The 10 of us on board all had a great day, and agreed that we would recommend this tour to others.

 

 

Just returned from Valor 12/4 sailing, and a wonderful excursion to Caye Caulker with Coral Breezes. Everything said above is absolutely correct. This tour was the highlight of my cruise, and I've done Belize maybe 10 times so far, so that's saying a lot.

[travelgarn]

I'm a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the snorkeling/swimming. I've only went snorkeling once in Key West & was not very good at it. My DH loves to snorkel & is a strong swimmer. I would love to book this excursion since Belize has the 2nd largest barrier reef. Any suggestions?

 

PS - Our 11 year old son will be with us too. Any children do this excursion?

 

DJ

[Sheal]

We just did the shark/ray tour on Monday. We had a great time with Henny, James and Mark.

 

Due to a tender problem our plan to arrive 1/2 hour early turned into 20 minutes late for the excursion. I was really concerned they would be gone but they were waiting for us and one other couple. We had 11 people total with 2 just going to Cay Caulker. We are good swimmers but they did move quickly. I thought the snorkeling was excellent and the time with the sharks/rays was fun.

 

Since we were so late we only had 1 hour 10 minutes to visit the Cay. We had opted not to do the lunch and wing it on our own. When Mark heard this he decided to take a walk with us (he used to live there before moving to Belize City). He point out a few places to stay and some history on the islands. We stopped at a kebob stand on the roadside and continued walking down to the split. I really wish we had more time there as the water looked so wonderful.

 

We would love to do another trip with them!

 

Sheal

 

BTW, we had a couple of 13 year olds but one already had her diving cert.

[travelgarn]

We just did the shark/ray tour on Monday. We had a great time with Henny, James and Mark.

 

Due to a tender problem our plan to arrive 1/2 hour early turned into 20 minutes late for the excursion. I was really concerned they would be gone but they were waiting for us and one other couple. We had 11 people total with 2 just going to Cay Caulker. We are good swimmers but they did move quickly. I thought the snorkeling was excellent and the time with the sharks/rays was fun.

 

Since we were so late we only had 1 hour 10 minutes to visit the Cay. We had opted not to do the lunch and wing it on our own. When Mark heard this he decided to take a walk with us (he used to live there before moving to Belize City). He point out a few places to stay and some history on the islands. We stopped at a kebob stand on the roadside and continued walking down to the split. I really wish we had more time there as the water looked so wonderful.

 

We would love to do another trip with them!

 

Sheal

 

BTW, we had a couple of 13 year olds but one already had her diving cert.

 

Thanks for your review. I just don't want to slow down the group!

 

DJ

[Sheal]

Don't worry about slowing the group down. I think we had a first time snorkeler with us and it had no real affect on the group. I have a tendency to fall back because I am busy looking around. To be honest, I didn't notice the current at all. Just tell them when you arrive so that they are aware of your concern about keeping up.

 

I forgot about the snacks. The fruit was delicious and the chips and salsa (along with the kebob later) were enough to hold us over until we got back to the ship. The frozen drink at the Wet Lizard probably helped too.;)

 

Sheal

[monicajay]

We just did the shark/ray tour on Monday. We had a great time with Henny, James and Mark.

 

Due to a tender problem our plan to arrive 1/2 hour early turned into 20 minutes late for the excursion. I was really concerned they would be gone but they were waiting for us and one other couple. We had 11 people total with 2 just going to Cay Caulker. We are good swimmers but they did move quickly. I thought the snorkeling was excellent and the time with the sharks/rays was fun.

 

Since we were so late we only had 1 hour 10 minutes to visit the Cay. We had opted not to do the lunch and wing it on our own. When Mark heard this he decided to take a walk with us (he used to live there before moving to Belize City). He point out a few places to stay and some history on the islands. We stopped at a kebob stand on the roadside and continued walking down to the split. I really wish we had more time there as the water looked so wonderful.

 

We would love to do another trip with them!

 

Sheal

 

BTW, we had a couple of 13 year olds but one already had her diving cert.

 

This short time on Caye Caulker is why I hesitate booking with them. Did you get back with a lot of time before last tender?

[Sheal]

We got back about 45 minutes to an hour before I believe. Enough time for me to take a quick peek at some clothing items and for DH and I to have some cold refreshments before getting back in the tender line.

 

Sheal

[cmitch9999]

We have done this trip with coral breezes 2 times, once with sbpnorkeling, once just island. We are going again in Feb and will do just island again. I THINK IT'S ABOUT 45 pp including lunch for island only. the ship leaves portBelizt

E and the stops by the island to drop off the lunch orders. Jenny got off with us and arranged for a golf cart, we rented the golf cart 2 hrs foe $20. Explored all over the island, went to the split to swim and have a drink at the bar there, we returned the golf cart and had a few beers at the restaurant before the snorkel group rejoined us. One of our favorite cruise days of all the trips we have taken.

[Sargent_Schultz]

lots of pictures from the Shark/Ray/Lunch excursion:

 

04 - Wed, Nov 16, 2011, Belize - 8am-5pm

Page1 - Bridge, Tenders, Kicking up mud, Tendering, Ship from tender, Fort Street Tourism Village, Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion,

 

 

 

Page2 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Snorkeling part, Green Moray, Shark/Ray part,

 

 

Page3 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Sharks and Rays, Lunch on Caye Caulker, Tender back to ship

[Malinger]

lots of pictures from the Shark/Ray/Lunch excursion:

 

04 - Wed, Nov 16, 2011, Belize - 8am-5pm

Page1 - Bridge, Tenders, Kicking up mud, Tendering, Ship from tender, Fort Street Tourism Village, Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion,

 

 

 

Page2 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Snorkeling part, Green Moray, Shark/Ray part,

 

 

Page3 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorekling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Sharks and Rays, Lunch on Caye Caulker, Tender back to ship

 

Thanks, this is all I needed to push me over the edge on this excursion!

We are sailing in June, any ideas on when Coral Breeze might have the dates/times out for June??

[Malinger]

Thanks, this is all I needed to push me over the edge on this excursion!

We are sailing in June, any ideas on when Coral Breeze might have the dates/times out for June??

 

Sorry for the double post but I am going to answer myself here as I contacted Coral Breeze today. They dont have the new schedules from the cruise ships finalized yet. They should have tour times for our month (June) up soon. Here is "Marks" email reply (which was very fast!) His reply is the red text

 

Thank you for getting in touch with us. I'm afraid that you're a few weeks ahead of us. We're waiting for the cruise ships to finalize their spring/summer 2012 itineraries before we post our schedule. We'll probably have our calendar for June 2012 online by the end of the month. In the meantime, good luck with your cruise plans.

 

Best,

Mark

 

Hope this helps anyone with questions about the booking engine.

Nate

[Carmelita]

Quick question for those who have been recently...how busy are the snorkel sights? We will be in port with 4 other cruise ships for a total port load of over 12,000. When we were in Belize about 10 years ago and snorkelled shark ray alley & coral gardens there were many boats & people at the sights. Don't find it fun to snorkel with several boat loads as we spend more time worrying about being kicked in the head than looking at the sea life. Comments appreciated.

[Will in sunny FL]

We were at that snorkel spot with Coral Breeze Tours this past mid November & while we were in the water, at both stops, there were NO other boats anywhere near us.

It was a perfect day & only about eight snorkelers in total aboard the boat.

We had a fine time.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[JMHAM1]

Thanks for the info. We were a bit worried about what to do in Belize. I went to the Coral Breeze website and it looks like they cater to the cruise crowd. They even have details on if you are sailing XYZ cruise ship then this is the time you should book so you have plenty of time.

 

I think we will book it for our upcoming cruise. I will be sure to post back with details.

[evandbob]

Dec 4 Valor sailing, we had maybe 8 in our boat, and as we were leaving, another boat with 8 or 10 pax was anchoring........very cool.

 

The CCL barrier reef excursion sometimes has 200 to 250 pax, now that's crowded.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Thanks, this is all I needed to push me over the edge on this excursion!

We are sailing in June, any ideas on when Coral Breeze might have the dates/times out for June??

 

you're welcome and it looks like you found out.

 

there were no other boats where we were other than the second smaller overflow boat.

[Anung Un Rama]

I'll be doing the Shark Ray Alley with lunch in 7 weeks and will have a full cruise review posted shortly afterwards. Mark has been great and very responisive the few times I've contacted him. We are lucky and are the only ship in port so they will be catering to our cruise times. I'm really looking forward to this excursion and snorkeling in the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world.

 

And thank you for the pics Sargent_Schultz. It's nice to have an idea of what to expect going to a new port.

[Sargent_Schultz]

You're welcome!