Coral Breeze cancelled my excursion- what now?

[tinkerbell_82]

We woke up to an email this morning from coral breeze tours. They cancelled our snorkeling excursion to shark ray alley because only 5 people booked. :(

 

We sail in a week, and are scrambling to find a new shark ray alley excursion in Belize- does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

We just took this tour..They changed up the boat crew after we booked it , and got stuffed into a small boat that was so overloaded that it would not plane out, thus we were drenched the whole way and back. NEVER AGAIN...The snorkeling was fine once we got there , but it is 1 hr and 20 min ea way with hard fiberglass to sit on..They also meet outside the gate now..The Wet Lizard is doing this tour also now from the tourism village. I would check with them ..Good luck. I hope it is better for you and you would be glad that Coral cancelled. Photo of boat..

 

http://www.thewetlizard.com/

 

 

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[tinkerbell_82]

That's great info- thanks so much!! Didn't the wet lizard offer their tours through coral breezes? I just want to make sure I don't book with them.

[Will in sunny FL]

Look into Island Marketing as well for a snorkel trip to Goff Cay which includes all the rum punch or water you want to drink & a fresh grilled lunch on Goff Cay that you pay a reasonable price for. Their tour leaves from the Tourist Village & I think it costs $40 PP

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Coral Breeze used to use Hammerhead as their boat crew, and they were great.Hammerhead is doing something else now , and Wet Lizard and Coral offer separate tours with separate boat crews. Wet Lizard is inside the village, and Coral meets outside the village, and you go through security. We did not feel unsafe there , but when we returned from Caulkner we docked way to the side and there were some kind of port agents waiting to inspect the boat, so I do not know what that was about..I am now fairly leary of Coral, but Mark, the guy in the states that books it, is great.

That's great info- thanks so much!! Didn't the wet lizard offer their tours through coral breezes? I just want to make sure I don't book with them.

[tinkerbell_82]

Look into Island Marketing as well for a snorkel trip to Goff Cay which includes all the rum punch or water you want to drink & a fresh grilled lunch on Goff Cay that you pay a reasonable price for. Their tour leaves from the Tourist Village & I think it costs $40 PP

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

 

Thank you Bill. I've read great things about island marketing. We're really hoping to get to shark ray alley and I don't think they offer a tour there. This will definitely be our backup though!

[tinkerbell_82]

Coral Breeze used to use Hammerhead as their boat crew, and they were great.Hammerhead is doing something else now , and Wet Lizard and Coral offer separate tours with separate boat crews. Wet Lizard is inside the village, and Coral meets outside the village, and you go through security. We did not feel unsafe there , but when we returned from Caulkner we docked way to the side and there were some kind of port agents waiting to inspect the boat, so I do not know what that was about..I am now fairly leary of Coral, but Mark, the guy in the states that books it, is great.

 

Thanks so much for the info! I'm going to see if we can book through the wet lizard. I really appreciate your help!

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Bill in Fla may have a good suggestion. I had been wanting to go to Caye Caulkner for several years, and when I finally arranged it , I found out what a long ride it is, especially in the small boat, and if you combine Caulkner with a snorkel tour you do not have much time to explore the island..If I were to go there again, I believe I would just take the water taxi, check out Caulkner, and I would do a snorkel tour as a separate venture. All the water at Belize is beautiful anyway..

[QTPieRye]

I am curious to hear how the Wet Lizard Shark Ray Alley tour is... please be sure to post if you end up booking it :)

[tinkerbell_82]

I am curious to hear how the Wet Lizard Shark Ray Alley tour is... please be sure to post if you end up booking it :)

 

I will indeed. I heard from them today- they are checking to see if they have enough people to go. Fingers crossed.

[QTPieRye]

I will indeed. I heard from them today- they are checking to see if they have enough people to go. Fingers crossed.

 

Hold on..... so the Wet Lizard won't go either if they don't have enough people? That will not work for us!

[tinkerbell_82]

Hold on..... so the Wet Lizard won't go either if they don't have enough people? That will not work for us!

 

I guess not! You'd think these tours would get together and work something out where at least someone gets the business instead of no one.

 

Also, I really wish these folks would keep you posted sooner that your tour may be cancelled. If I'd known a few weeks ago it I would have had time to figure this out. Now I'm running out of time and still no tour. :/

[tinkerbell_82]

Here's the response from the Wet Lizard:

 

Hi Tina:

Sorry about that. I will be sure to let them know about their lack of communication.

He postpones that trip sometimes during the season and maybe he did so without letting me know.

So sorry.

If you want to contact Coral Breeze Limited I know they are running the shark ray alley

trip, and they do an excellent job.

Hope you stop by the Wet Lizard and say hello.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

I think I will not mess with either any more , as they both seem to be undependable..Funny, when it was Coral Breeze with Hammerhead, they were excellent, and always booked up..I know it is very frustrating, as we all want to have our tours set ahead of time, and it is worse when they take your money, only to cancel; later...:mad:

[QTPieRye]

Here's the response from the Wet Lizard:

 

Hi Tina:

Sorry about that. I will be sure to let them know about their lack of communication.

He postpones that trip sometimes during the season and maybe he did so without letting me know.

So sorry.

If you want to contact Coral Breeze Limited I know they are running the shark ray alley

trip, and they do an excellent job.

Hope you stop by the Wet Lizard and say hello.

 

Speechless!!!!!!

[tinkerbell_82]

Speechless!!!!!!

 

Ha! I was too.

 

Here's the best part- it's 5 days later and still no refund from Coral Breeze! ;)

[2manyBagsLady]

We woke up to an email this morning from coral breeze tours. They cancelled our snorkeling excursion to shark ray alley because only 5 people booked. :(

 

We sail in a week, and are scrambling to find a new shark ray alley excursion in Belize- does anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks.

OH NO! I'm glad you shared your experience/problems. My family of 5 will be in Belize in July on the Conquest and this is the exact excursion/tour company I was planning to book an excursion with. How frustrating! Have you made alternate plans? Did I read your post right (the one with the correspondence with Wet Lizzard) that they referred you to Coral Breeze - the same original company that cancelled on you?

[tinkerbell_82]

OH NO! I'm glad you shared your experience/problems. My family of 5 will be in Belize in July on the Conquest and this is the exact excursion/tour company I was planning to book an excursion with. How frustrating! Have you made alternate plans? Did I read your post right (the one with the correspondence with Wet Lizzard) that they referred you to Coral Breeze - the same original company that cancelled on you?

 

Yes! Be very Leary- have a back up plans and don't get your heart set on going to shark ray alley. The next email from the wet lizard said that this happens in "the summer". I'm guessing she means its a slow time for them and the tours get cancelled.

 

I still can't find anyone else who goes to shark ray alley. It's a big bummer.

[2manyBagsLady]

Yes! Be very Leary- have a back up plans and don't get your heart set on going to shark ray alley. The next email from the wet lizard said that this happens in "the summer". I'm guessing she means its a slow time for them and the tours get cancelled.

 

I still can't find anyone else who goes to shark ray alley. It's a big bummer.

Have you made a reservation with The Wet Lizard? (who per their website offers the same tour as Coral Breeze). I'd think that since Wet Lizard is inside the tourism village that they would attract more customers for this tour vs. having to walk outside the gates for C. Breeze. Are the tour companies looking for groups of at least 8 people before they will set out?

Have you decided on a back up plan?

[2manyBagsLady]

tinkerbell - have your checked out Eco Tours? They advertise Shark Ray Alley & Caye Caulker for $60 pp/no lunch included. They're inside the Tourism Village/office in Terminal #3:

http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/snorkeling.html#snorkeling

[tinkerbell_82]

Have you made a reservation with The Wet Lizard? (who per their website offers the same tour as Coral Breeze). I'd think that since Wet Lizard is inside the tourism village that they would attract more customers for this tour vs. having to walk outside the gates for C. Breeze. Are the tour companies looking for groups of at least 8 people before they will set out?

Have you decided on a back up plan?

 

The wet lizard uses an outside company I believe, according to their email. I don't know how many people they need, but we had 5 and got cancelled.

 

As far as a backup plan I'm not sure yet. We're trying to find out if they offer tours at the dock, like Grand Cayman. If anyone knows I'd appreciate the info!

[tinkerbell_82]

tinkerbell - have your checked out Eco Tours? They advertise Shark Ray Alley & Caye Caulker for $60 pp/no lunch included. They're inside the Tourism Village/office in Terminal #3:

http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/snorkeling.html#snorkeling

 

I will check them out! Thanks!

[QTPieRye]

tinkerbell - have your checked out Eco Tours? They advertise Shark Ray Alley & Caye Caulker for $60 pp/no lunch included. They're inside the Tourism Village/office in Terminal #3:

http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/snorkeling.html#snorkeling

 

Hmmmmm... I am going to check that out. Thanks.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

My opinion of what you should consider is do not book, and when you get to Belize you can talk to Wet Lizard and/or Coral and see if there is a tour available. If so , tell them to show you the boat. If it is the rowboat we went in, tell em to stuff it. There were some people that went with us that were not booked, and many times if they get a group together, then they can make the trip. I know we all like it done beforehand,but as far as Shark Ray Alley/ Caulkner, this is about all you can do. The other option is to take a water taxi to caulkner for $20 PP round trip, and hire a snorkel boat there. Shark Ray Alley is 4 minutes from Caulklner..I believe this is what I will do when we go back next march. Good luck...

[thescot123]

The same thing happened to us on our April 14th cruise. Mark sent me an email about a week before the cruise saying that he only had 7 people booked and therefore would be cancelling our Caye Caulker excursion. It also left us scrambling for an alternative. We decided to play it safe and book and ship based shore excursion.

 

While walking around the tourism village, I did see the Hammerhead employees outside the Wet Lizard. Most likely, I will not use Coral Breeze Tours again since they know operate outside the gates and are operating very small boats. Miss the bigger boats that they used to us as they had some shelter form the wind/sun/rain.