excursion help for newbee, please

[omgitstime]

Well I finally booked our cruise. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. Were off to the Western Carribean in January aboard the Dream. First family cruise and the kids don't know-xmas present. Just wanted to reach out to season cruisers and ask for help with excursion ideas. My kids are 11,12 and 14. I really thought they'd like Mr Sanchos in Cozumel but also told they'd probably like a dolphin excursion as well. Any recommendations? Are there any good dolphin excursions in the other ports-Belize, Mahogany Bay or Costa Maya. Any advice on anything cruise related is welcome!

Thanks :)

[jacmo24]

Welcome!

 

For Mahagony Bay - check out Victor Bodden Tours. You get your own driver and they'll do whatever you want for the day. Great way to see the island and they can take you to Victor's estate where you can zip line and see his monkeys. We loved it!

 

Cozumel has so much to do, it is hard to pick. We've done the dune buggies thru carnival with beach time, snorkeling and some sight seeing. It was a blast.

 

Costa Maya - we haven't been there but there are some nice All Inclusive places you can go and relax at. We were originally going there but switched cruises last minute.

 

There is a section of this forum that is divided up for each ports of call. You can get a ton of info in each one of those.

 

Have fun!! Our family loves holiday cruising.

[brookeq]

We are on the dream on January 18th.

 

Portt info:

 

Cozumel. Maybe check out paradise beach. Or chanknaab park.

 

Roatan-- check out west bay beach and snorkle. We are going to do this or go to little French key

 

Belize-- cave tubing and zip lining are popular. We are probably going to see the Mayan ruins.

 

Costa maya -- beach day for us. They have Mayan ruins also.

[loxley]

Do the Sancho thing. The dolphins are amazing but the interaction IS VERY VERY SHORT. And expensive.

[realtrip]

Belize go for cave tubing. Our girls were in their early teens and they loved it.

 

Cozumel we love Paradise beach. beautiful. lots of water toys. super easy to get to by taxi. Inexpensive.

 

Costa Maya great beach day for the kids. Fabulous beach massage for mom ( 25$)! The Tropicana is owned by an American ex pat. He lets you use phone and internet for free.

 

Paradise beach and tropicana have web sites you can check out.

[texancruzer]

Cozumel has a great dolphin encounter at Chankanaab (sp?) My daughter and I did it there and it was amazing. They limit the number of participants and the number of encounters so they dont overwork the dolphins. Best dolphin encounter of the ports you will be going to. We also have done the dolphin encounter at Anthonys Key resort on Roatan (while on a week stay there) and it was good but Cozumel was better.

 

Belize - have done the cave tubing - an amazing experience and also a snorkle off the reef there - Roatan has much much better snorkeling.

 

Costa Maya - did Chachoben (again the spelling is wrong I know) and altho small ruins - we really enjoyed our day.

 

Whatever you do - dont stay at Mahogany Bay while on Roatan. This is one gorgeous friendly island and way too good to stay at a man made port area that was built to keep the tourists close and the $$$ in the cruiseline pockets. Roatan is poor but a wonderful place to spend the day ( or more as we have done after visiting on a cruise)

 

Also - there is another option on Roatan - there is dune buggy tour that is absolutely FANTASTIC. I believe you can combine it with a beach visit with one of the more known tour companies - I can give you the name ONLY IF YOU ASK FOR IT. Definately something I would do again on Roatan !

Edited December 13, 2013 by texancruzer

[mitsugirly]

I have been to these ports several times. I have several of my reviews listed in my signature line if you are interested in reading any of them. They have TONS of photos included. I know you said you don't have a lot of time, so maybe skim through the pictures and see if they are anything you'd be interested in. :)

[omgitstime]

Thanks for all your responses. Will try to narrow it down over the weekend. Texancruzer would you do the dolphin excursion in Roatan again? Just thinking the kids would really like one of the beaches in Cozumel with water toys so maybe doing the dolphins in Roatan. Could you share the tour co. for the dune buggy tour-that sounds like a lot of fun! Mitsugirly I have enjoyed glancing at your reviews, thanks for taking the time in doing them, they really do help people like myself with planning.

[texancruzer]

Thanks for all your responses. Will try to narrow it down over the weekend. Texancruzer would you do the dolphin excursion in Roatan again? Just thinking the kids would really like one of the beaches in Cozumel with water toys so maybe doing the dolphins in Roatan. Could you share the tour co. for the dune buggy tour-that sounds like a lot of fun! Mitsugirly I have enjoyed glancing at your reviews, thanks for taking the time in doing them, they really do help people like myself with planning.

 

Yes, I would do the dolphin encounter at Anthonys Key again......but we did the more expensive one where we had "play time" with them after the encounter. We would dive down and get a piece of seagrass off the bottom and they would come over and want to play with it and snatch it and run off with it...... very friendly and we (5 of us) were the only ones to do the extra time so quite cool.

 

I will add, that if it were me, I would do the dolphin encounter at Cozumel and the dune buggy/beach visit in Roatan. Reasons: the dune buggy tour is absolutely amazing !! and the beaches in Roatan have the ones in Cozumel beat by a mile (especially West Bay)

 

The dune buggy tour company is Sandblasters

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1759941-d3606173-Reviews-Roatan_Sand_Blasters_Dune_Buggy_Tour-French_Harbour_Roatan_Bay_Islands.html

 

They will include some beach time too so that would make an awesome day !

 

Have fun and enjoy Roatan. We have been to almost every Caribbean island and Bahamas and it is our favorite !

[#1TravelMom]

If you want the kids to really have an awesome experience - this is my opinion. We've been to these ports many times - always with kids.

 

Cozumel - H2O tours - fabulous snorkeling - sooo much sealife(colorful fish, sea turtles, coral, eels, stingrays, etc.) $60pp

 

Cozumel - Coba Mayan Ruins - 2nd highest in the Americas that still allow climbing. Incredible experience climbing to the top of a Mayan Temple. $100+/-pp.

 

Belize - Cavetubing with cavetubing.bz. This is a great company - the first to meet very strict safety standards. Hike through the rainforest(taste a termite/hold a tarantula) - then tube down the river through very large caves. $50pp

 

Belize - Lamanai Mayan Ruins. Ride a speedboat through the mangroves and rainforest to reach a spectacular Ruin Site. Climb to the top of a Mayan temple for incredible views over the rainforest canopy into Guatemala.

 

Roatan - Private Freestyle tour with Ronystours.com He is a really friendly guy who takes great pride in his business. Visit one of the 2 monkey parks(one the monkeys are caged - the other, they roam freely). South Shore Canopy Zipline - One of the longest in the America's - not scary, just incredibly fun! Take small gifts(pencils, lollipops, etc.) for a brief visit to local children in a village - allow your children to interact with the children(great experience).

 

Costa Maya - make a reservation with Steve at Tropicante. His restaurant serves great, authentic local food. Relax on the beach. Swim in the crystal-clear ocean. Walk the Malecon and browse for souvenirs.

 

These are our family's top choices.