Coral Breeze is AWESOME!

[FriscoLady]

Okay, better late than never. My family and I had so much fun on our 9/4-10/05 cruise, that it took me awhile to recooperate.:D Our cruise was fantastic, but the very best part was our excursion booked through Coral Breeze. I have been on several cruises and booked excursions through both the cruisline and though independent contractors. I realize that booking independently can have it's risks, so I always do my homework! Through my research on this sites and others, I kept hearing about Coral Breeze so we decided to book our "Snawkling" adventure through shark and ray alley with them.

 

I have snorkeled before, but my hubby and kidlettes had not. The staff and crew were wonderful!! At one point I was having trouble with my mask not staying on and our lead guide just swam over and gave me his! "No problem mahn". The coral formations that we swam through were wonderful, but when we went to shark and ray alley, I was speechless. The sharks and rays swam all around you, rubbing up against your legs and ocassionally sucking on your calves. I must say, that was a little wierd, but oh so cool!:p We brought three water proof cameras and it wasn't enough. After "snawkling", we went to Caye Calker. This island (population 1300) was so laid back and wonderful. No vendors, just peace and quiet. My hubby and I sat in a couple of lounge chairs under a palm tree and watched the kiddos swim around the dock collecting pieces of dead coral and sponge. It was just idealic.

 

I loved the fact that our guides and crew all spoke english(as most do in Belize), but also that we were in such a small tour. The cruiseship offers similar excursions, but at almost double the price and with 3-4 times as many people! We only had about 20-25 people on our excursion and got so much individual attention. This is so important when you have first timers participating. The restaurant they chose in Caye Calker was very good and we never ran into one person that treated us like "tourists". Everyone from the guides to the boat crew to restaurant staff were warm, friendly and kind. Next time we are in Belize, it is Coarl Breeze for us. They are the best!:D

[gaylenhazel]

Ditto for me. Coral Breeze treated us great too. I can't wait to go back. The excursion was the highlight of our cruise. I also booked through them before the cruise. No problems at all.

[stacieps]

ldr4girls: I'm glad you enjoyed the tour - we've booked it for early Nov. How old are you kids? We're bringing ours (6, 8) and we've been practicing with snorkels ands masks in a pool, so hopefully they'll do ok.

[Mattj22]

im going to chime in here. I was on the exact same trip and it was awesome! WE ran into one vendor on caye caulker and ended up talknig more about the carribean than her products!!! Coral Breeze and Caye Caulker are fantastic.ldr4grls, I was the guy with the red headed dw, cowboy hat,and oakleys.

[boatbunny]

ldr4girls: I'm glad you enjoyed the tour - we've booked it for early Nov. How old are you kids? We're bringing ours (6, 8) and we've been practicing with snorkels ands masks in a pool, so hopefully they'll do ok.

 

Hi, fellow NH cruiser here. We did the tour with Coral Breeze in April of this year. My daughters were 5 and 8 at the time, they are pretty strong swimmers. The snorkeling area can have a decent current that you have to swim against. My youngest daughter and husband turned back, myself and older daughter went with the group, but one of the tour guides, David (who is phenominal) ended up taking my daughters hand to pull her through the current. I don't want to dissuade you though. The tour guides take you on a tour around the coral heads, if the kids found the swim too difficult (you'll know when you start out, so it is easy to turn back toward the boat), you could stay close to the boat and there is still some amazing coral and sealife to sea.

 

When you get to the shark/stingray area (only a 5 min boat ride from the snorkeling area), it is much shallower, the kids will have no issue. When you first pull into the area, the guides will throw chum overboard to attract the sharks. Make sure you sit toward the back of the boat as this is where they will throw from, the sharks will come right up along side the boat, and the kids can actually lean over and feed them (they are gentle). The sharks only hang out for a short time, then the rays start making their way in, that is when you get into the water to swim with them. The sharks are pretty skittish, so they don't have you get into the water with them so they don't race away too quickly.

 

Caulker Caye is amazing! The sand is soooo white and the water is so blue. If you have fussy eaters like I do, I'd suggest making a peanut butter sandwich before you leave the ship and bring it along. The food at the buffet is tasty for us adults, but kids might not like the unusual flavors.

 

If you'd like some pics, feel free to email me at:

smdbelskis@prodigy.net

 

Where in NH are you? I'm in Brentwood next to Exeter.

Michelle

[stacieps]

Michelle - thanks for the info, we're planning to get to a pool at least a couple more times before the trip to practice with the snorkels. DD8 is having a hard time breathing, DS6 is doing fine. Both are good swimmers, its just the snorkel that I'm worried about. It may be easier to stay by the boat then there won't be as much pressure on DD to keep up, so I'm glad to hear that we'll see things there too.

 

Thanks for the tip about the back of the boat - seeing the sharks is the big draw for this excursion since we'll also be swimming with the rays in Grand Caymen.

 

I have a picky eater and a food-allergic child, so I was planning to bring some food for them but still hoping there will be something for them to try.

 

How many people were on your tour? What ship were you on?

 

We are in Laconia, only about an hour away from you.

[Suesan Jean]

Well, I WAS quite excited to book a tour with Coral Breezes for our day in Belize in February, BUT, when I went to their web site, they are CLOSED on Saturday's...!!!:(

 

Now it is on to "Plan B".......:rolleyes:

 

Anybody have ANY suggestions for a day of "Fun-in-the-Sun"...???

 

Suesan:) :) :)

[seabum]

 

We are in Laconia, only about an hour away from you.

 

Hey NH folks,

 

I too cant recommend Coral Breeze enough - they were great.

 

Just thought I'd say hi - though I'm in the South now - I'm from Laconia as well. Small world huh - and getting smaller every day!!

 

My first "Cruise" was when I worked on the "Mount" years ago.

 

let me know if you have any questions regarding the shark ray alley tour - I'd be glad to give you my two cents.

[boatbunny]

Michelle - thanks for the info, we're planning to get to a pool at least a couple more times before the trip to practice with the snorkels. DD8 is having a hard time breathing, DS6 is doing fine. Both are good swimmers, its just the snorkel that I'm worried about. It may be easier to stay by the boat then there won't be as much pressure on DD to keep up, so I'm glad to hear that we'll see things there too.

 

Thanks for the tip about the back of the boat - seeing the sharks is the big draw for this excursion since we'll also be swimming with the rays in Grand Caymen.

 

I have a picky eater and a food-allergic child, so I was planning to bring some food for them but still hoping there will be something for them to try.

 

How many people were on your tour? What ship were you on?

 

We are in Laconia, only about an hour away from you.

 

Yeah, you are not too far at all! We were on Explorer, loved it. We did Adventure a couple of years ago on the Southern route (out of SJ, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua) and it was awesome too.

 

I'd say there were no more than 25 people on our tour, they don't take big groups at all. If you happen to get David as one of your tour guides, he is great, especially with small children, he will pay a lot of attention to them. Of course my 2 had never seen a real "rasta man" before, so the hair took them a few minutes to warm up to! He is also a great singer, beg him to sing for you on your way out to the snorkeling sight, and when you get to the Caye, he has a cd you can buy, he is really good.

 

The boat ride out from the mainland Belize to the snorkeling site is about a 45 min, boat ride, it was fairly calm, but I have heard others say otherwise. Just in case, if anyone is susceptable to seasickness, the wrist bands work great on the kids.

 

The lunch on the Caye has fish, chicken legs in a spicy marinade (think along the lines of curry), two kinds of rice (one made with coconut milk which was very good), my kids did try the rice.

 

Are you going to Cozumel too? We did Xcaret Park there and the kids absolutely loved it, as did we. Check it out. It's called an ecological park, but don't let dissuade you into thinking it's heavy duty ecology driven. You can swim through an underground river (crystal clear and fairly warm), which is a great alternative to the cave tubing in Belize. It is a huge zoo, an area to snorkel in (a nice cove area with no waves and the snorkeling was very good, both of my daughters did a lot of snorkeling here), turtle farm, crocodiles, butterfly farm where they actually land on you. The website is : http://www.xcaret.com. You can't see the whole park in one day, but you won't be disappointed and feeling like you didn't get your money's worth. We plan on going back again to redo some things and see what we missed. It is a nice alternative to the beach and all the drinking events that we didn't want to expose the kids to.

 

Feel free to email me personally too.

 

Hope this helps.

Michelle

[wmninblu]

How does it work when you book an excursion outside of the cruise line? Do they meet you outside the ship like the other excursions, or do you have to go to them?

I'm looking to find excursions for Key West and Belize, but don't know how to go about doing it...

Thanks for any help!

-Joni

[seabum]

How does it work when you book an excursion outside of the cruise line? Do they meet you outside the ship like the other excursions, or do you have to go to them?

I'm looking to find excursions for Key West and Belize, but don't know how to go about doing it...

Thanks for any help!

-Joni

 

Typically they will meet you on shore - either where the tenders dock, or where the public areas begins once you get off the gangway.

 

If you need something to do in Belize I've used Coral Breeze Limited )coralbreezelimited.com)in the past and thought they were great. There are numerous strings about them here.

 

If you like to snorkel - the offer a trip out to Shark Ray Alley - lots of stingrays and nurse sharks. THe nurse sharks are harmless and in fact tiid or bashfull. Usually after one or two people jump in the water they scatter. The rays are amazing though - just like the famous stingray city in Grand Cayman.

 

What are you looking to do in Key West? I typically just do the duval crawl, hitting my fovorite watering holes.

 

Hope this helps

[wmninblu]

Thank you Seabum!! I will check that site out for excursions. I don't think we are going to book one in Key West. Haven't found one that I like, that the price is right too:)

 

I'm thinking about horseback riding in Belize. Has anyone done this before?

[wmninblu]

Thank you Seabum!! I will check that site out for excursions. I don't think we are going to book one in Key West. Haven't found one that I like, that the price is right too:)

 

I'm thinking about horseback riding in Belize. Has anyone done this before?

[Beverlyf]

We too loved Coral Breeze. We were on the Glory 9/24.

 

Just like everyone else has posted the staff were great. I don't snorkel but was able to enjoy the shark & sting rays (almost as much as if I was in the water) I took pictures of the sting rays & sharks from the boat and the pictures turned out great.

 

We had no problem getting to the meeting spot from the tender and also they made sure we were back on the ship in plenty of time.

 

I would highly recommend this tour.