excursions western caribbean

[3shar]

We are on the Getaway in July . Sailing to Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel. There are 5 of us going (Husband , myself, and 3 kids (19,19, and 14). Any input on excursions would be helpful. We don't need to do an all day excursion or need to get off ship every day but would like to plan a few things that everyone might enjoy.

 

Thanks!

[SmitteeB11]

We did Goffs Cay on Belize back in 2011. We still talk about how great that was.

 

As far as the other ports-

 

Roatan has some of the best zip lining.

Cozumel has some fun all inclusive day pass beach clubs. Nachi Cocom, Mr. Sanchos

Costa Maya - have only been here once. Hated it. Nothing there.

 

Have a great trip! We leave Sunday on Getaway and are pretty stoked!

Edited April 7, 2016 by SmitteeB11

[Kfamilycruise]

There are great discussions on the Caribbean boards, but I am doing that same itinerary so I can at least share what we are doing.

 

Roatan -- Little French Key

Belize -- have heard great things about cave tubing and Goffs Kay

Costa Maya -- blue Kay or all inclusives as pp said

Cozumel -- we are doing Stingrays -- but again lots of great beach clubs

 

Enjoy!

[HS_Travel]

Roatan - pirates zip lining or spa baan suerte.

Costa Maya - Maya Chan Beach Resort

Belize - Caveman snorkel tour

[cruisemainiac]

There are great discussions on the Caribbean boards, but I am doing that same itinerary so I can at least share what we are doing. Here's the link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

 

Roatan -- Little French Key

Belize -- have heard great things about cave tubing and Goffs Kay

Costa Maya -- blue Kay or all inclusives as pp said

Cozumel -- we are doing Stingrays -- but again lots of great beach clubs

 

Enjoy!

 

Hope this helps.

Edited April 7, 2016 by cruisemainiac
changed font color

[tropical83]

I'm sailing this itinerary in May.

This is what I have planned

 

Roatan - Tabyana Beach and Snorkel through NCL (I wanted Maya Key but it sold out fast)

Belize - Goff's Caye

Costa Maya - no plans

Cozumel - Cozumel Bar hop

[zackarykeef]

Cannot reiterate Goff's Caye enough for Belize. Talk about a deserted island. It's literally a small plot of sand arising from the ocean with ~15 palm trees and a small shack to grill chicken. The snorkeling was great, and you really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. The unlimited rum punch may have added to that.

 

The Pirate's zipline in Roatan was, indeed, awesome. They took us to the Parrot Tree Resort afterwards for the beach/pool, and it was simply stunning.

 

Enjoy! :cool:

[tropical83]

Cannot reiterate Goff's Caye enough for Belize. Talk about a deserted island. It's literally a small plot of sand arising from the ocean with ~15 palm trees and a small shack to grill chicken. The snorkeling was great, and you really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. The unlimited rum punch may have added to that.

 

The Pirate's zipline in Roatan was, indeed, awesome. They took us to the Parrot Tree Resort afterwards for the beach/pool, and it was simply stunning.

 

Enjoy! :cool:

 

I have a question about Goff's Caye. When you do the snorkeling, I read that the boat takes you out but then you swim back to shore following the guides as part of the tour. Is this true?

[zackarykeef]

I have a question about Goff's Caye. When you do the snorkeling, I read that the boat takes you out but then you swim back to shore following the guides as part of the tour. Is this true?

 

Yes, that's true! You could technically swim out to where you start, but I guess they do that for the not-so-strong swimmers. Don't think you'll have to swim a great distance back to shore. Since all of the waters surrounding Belize are basically reef, this is literally some sand arising out of the reef.

 

In fact, the reef is so large (second largest in the world) that the tender ride in is pretty long, and I remember barely being able to see the ship in the distance (if at all) from mainland Belize.

[tropical83]

Yes, that's true! You could technically swim out to where you start, but I guess they do that for the not-so-strong swimmers. Don't think you'll have to swim a great distance back to shore. Since all of the waters surrounding Belize are basically reef, this is literally some sand arising out of the reef.

 

In fact, the reef is so large (second largest in the world) that the tender ride in is pretty long, and I remember barely being able to see the ship in the distance (if at all) from mainland Belize.

 

Thanks for the info!

[aenglish1609]

I have a question about Goff's Caye. When you do the snorkeling, I read that the boat takes you out but then you swim back to shore following the guides as part of the tour. Is this true?

 

 

 

Yep, that's what we did just a couple of weeks ago. They take you out a little bit, and then you basically one big circle around the island. You are never very fa from shore, and there is always guide right there with you. It is a GREAT excursion.

[tropical83]

Yep, that's what we did just a couple of weeks ago. They take you out a little bit, and then you basically one big circle around the island. You are never very fa from shore, and there is always guide right there with you. It is a GREAT excursion.

 

Thanks. I've never snorkeled before, so I am a little worried lol

[vicocala]

Goff's Cay was excellent for snorkeling but I would think they would also enjoy the cafe tubing. You ride halfway into Belize where you pick up your headband flashlight (for inside the caves) and take a short hike through the jungle. You may see a macaw or a monkey and hopefully not a Jaguar! :p

 

On one of our tours we had the option of just one cave and on the other, two. Both were awesome, you see a lot of nature and have a lot of fun too. Given their ages, either excursion would be a blast.

 

Enjoy!

[3shar]

I just looked at Little French Bay and Nichi Cocum. They both look great. I will probably book them both. I am assuming the 50 dollar excursion credit is only for the excursions offered on NCL online. Unfortunately neither of these are..Oh well thats life!

[OCruisers]

In Costa Maya a fun beach day at one of the places in Majahaul is only a short shuttle away. :)

[JennCandi]

We stopped in Roaton last April and went to Little French Key. Best excursion we've been on in a long time. Highly recommend it.

[mabones]

We did a Western Itinerary this past February.

Cozumel we did the Cozumel Bar Hop. But with teens I suggest Mr. Sanchos.

Roatan we did Daniel Johnsons Sloth & Monkey Santuary this time but in the past we did Little French Key and loved it.

Belize we stayed on the ship but many suggest Goff's Cay or Cavetubing

It has been awhile since we did Costa Maya so I don't remember what we did.

 

Whatever you decide have a great time!

[snooze like a norwegian]

I sailed on the Star this past Janurary 2016 and wanted to share with you the tours that I booked. Really, I got 4 tours for the price of just one through the cruise ship. I booked all these tours except Cozumel over the internet. We just wanted beach days on the different ports of call, so if you like that this is worth a read!

 

Roatan Day I booked a tour with Steve Hamiliton tours. It was approx $80 for the both of us ($40 each) and I booked it through the internet. I wanted a beach day, but got so much more with Steve! To meet Steve, you need to go outside the cruise pier area. You walk through a crazy selling area and go outside the gates. Steve will be there with a sign, as with other tour guys. Steve gave us some options for more than just a beach day. He was not a hard sell or anything like that. It would be an extra $25 per hour to do other stuff.

 

Steve took us to Banarama beach resort. It was nice. He had a man set us up with chairs, an umbrella and our wristbands. Then Steve waited for us for 2 hours. He was right there when we were ready to go and he took us on a small tour of the island and then my better half wanted to go ziplining! Steve knew where to go. (at the pier, they have a zip line Monkey La La Zip 2 rides for $45) This place Steve brought us to had like 15 to 20 lines through the jungle for $45! Well worth it... At the zip line place, there was a little bar and restaurant. The Honduran beer and authentic Honduran food there was awesome! I highly recommend eating there. $15 for an excellent dinner. Steve took us back to the pier with more than enough time to board the ship. He was a gracious and courteous host and tour guide. Steve was a really nice guy!

 

Belize Day I booked the Coral Breeze Tours Snorkle observer tour. $42 each. What that means is that we went to Caye Caulker, an island off Belize City. We took a tender to Belize City. We went out Gate One of the pier building and met Ivar from Coral Breeze Tours where he was right there waiting for us! He was a funny, warm, very nice guy who took us on a short walk to our dock to meet our boat. It is a 40 minute boat ride to Caye Caulker. The observer tour is the boat drops everyone off at Caye Caulker for a restroom break and those not snorkling can stay on Caye Caulker. I'm blind as a bat, so snorkling without prescription mask would be a total waste of money. Caye Caulker is a cool place with dirt roads and no cars! You rent golf carts $12.50 an hour, to get around. We did that and it was fun! Had fresh lobster on the beach and met up with the others later for the boat ride back! Coral Breeze tours got us right back to the tender in plenty of time! Last boat to ship was at 4:30pm, we were brought back promptly to catch the tender at 3:30pm

 

Costa Maya We booked a $23 each non alcoholic beach day at 40 Cannons resort. Took a taxi, $3.00 per person to the resort (fairly close by) where we were met by our server Miguel. He set us up with chairs an umbrella and with this pass you got all the bottled water or soft drinks you wanted.. also nachos snacks. 40 Cannons is a cute hotel/bar on the beach. There is a cool boardwalk in the area, that you can take a walk by other hotels, restaurants, shops. At 40 Cannons, there were massage tables $40/hour and it was very peaceful. At the end of our stay, Miguel gave us a voucher for $2 cab ride back to the pier. Walked outside the resort, got a cab back to the ship in plenty of time.

 

Cozumel Took a $26 one way cab ride to Plancar. It's a nice laid back beach with a restaurant / bar. Paid $5 a person for chairs and umbrella. It was expected you have a drink and some food there. And we did... drinks were great and food was very good Took a $26 cab ride back to the ship in plenty of time and looked around the shops there.

 

All in all, we had a great time at every stop. The people we met were wonderful. We tasted local cuisine. Relaxed and had fun.

 

I hope this info helped in making plans for you time in these great countries!

[strykes]

I have a question about Goff's Caye. When you do the snorkeling, I read that the boat takes you out but then you swim back to shore following the guides as part of the tour. Is this true?

 

We did this excursion ten days ago and took the boat out and back. We booked directly with Exotic Eco Adventures: https://www.exoti*******daytrips.com/tours/goffs-caye-snorkeling-and-beach-break I can't say enough about the guides or Goff's Caye.

[OCruisers]

In Costa Maya a fun beach day at one of the places in Majahaul is only a short shuttle away. :)

 

Just adding ... Tropicante is an especially good place on go in Majahaul. :)