Snorkeling in Belize?

[MamaMicki]

Hello all,

My husband and I are trying to figure out which excursion to go on in Belize. We will be coming in to Belize in Jan. on the Carnvial Miracle. My husband seems to think that Belize has really great snorkeling. We have been to the Western Caribbean several times and the snorkeling is usually ok. Is there any place in Belize where it is great? Thanks for your time. Take Care!

[Will in sunny FL]

Hi

Look into going snorkeling with Coral Breeze Limited at http://www.coralbreezelimited.com

We have been with them several times & always had a super time & we are going again on 12/06 !

Good luck.

[Cozumel-Ian]

These guys do snorkeling, snuba, power snorkel and Shark/Stingray snorkel from modern 65 ft catamarans: www.belize-paradise.com

 

Ian

[TravelWorks]

MAMAMICKI

I PREVIOUSLY POSTED THIS:

But since you didn't find it on another thread here it is again:

 

I have been to Belize 3 times in the past 5 years. I am also going to be stopping there again this year on the Valor on Dec 11 -18th, 2005 sailing (come to the Roll Call for those dates and say hi-if you are coming along with us). If you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

For snorkeling from a beach I recommend Goff's Caye...

WARNING: The tour boats will often try to get you to snorkel from off the boat about a 1/4 mile from the island~ to its left~ for around 2 hours and then let you sit on the beach for 20-30 minutes(Do not do this unless you are a good swimmer & are in good health! When the waves get rough on the reef to the left of the island ~it can happen fast! I saw an older woman nearly drown here~when the currents got rough!)

RECOMMEND: Just get off your boat on the dock at Goff's Caye and snorkel from the beach~swim out 30 yards on the deep right side of the island...it is calmer...you can see it when you go there yourself. There is some sea grass close to shore but head out further and you will see great coral and fish-your tour guides will show you where if you ask them. When you get tired you can swim back and relax under some palms. They sell BBQ Chicken and beans on the island for around $5. Bring your towels here to lay on~ there is no chairs.

 

If you want to snorkel from a boat...Rendevous Caye is better. Less crowded but smaller island(no dock)...not easily accessed from the boat... you have to swim/wade in to the island. Palm trees were messed up here from 2004 storm last time I was here. But the coral formations are great! There are a couple different tours going here including a nice catamaran tour!

 

MY RESOURCE!

I am going to go out on a limb here and give you my secret weapon...Tom *****... who also owns ***** just bought a new snorkel boat in Oct of 2005 and is now going to offer snorkeling tours for larger private groups to where ever they want to go...I arranged an Exclusive day there in Dec for my group of 20 people giving us 5-6 hours on the Goff's Caye island for less than what the ship charges for 3 hours- plus he gave me the boat for just me and my friends...

IF YOU USE HIM>>>TELL HIM

AMY LOVELESS SENT YOU! His email is info@*****

 

Bannister Island is not great snorkeling. It is mainly a nicely groomed beach and you can rent kayaks there. It is pretty though-Just not very adventurous! I think it is nice enough for some down time and to some people it is exactly what they are looking for. It just isn't what I would choose to do on the world's second largest barrier reef.

 

I haven't been to the Cucumber Beach (Man made marina & beach...but no snorkeling) or the new "Belize Museum" yet (5-10 minute taxi ride from the pier) so I hope to have enough time to get a peak at it when I go there in December (You pay for a museum pass and get into the beach for free with the pass) ...I'll let you know if i see it~ Maybe someone else has already gone and can leave a post.

 

AMY

 

PS PICTURE BELOW IS OF THE SANDY AREA ON GOFF'S CAY...trees and bbq chicken "hut" palapa is out of the photo just to the right.

[LabloverinCa]

We leave in one week for our cruise, with Belize as a stop. We will be taking the Goff's Caye snorkeling and beach excursion thru Princess. Thank you for the information, sounds like it will be a nice day !

[photocruiser]

Goff's Cay is a great snorkle spot off the boat and from the Island.

 

Enjoy,

Photocruiser

[sharks48]

We loved the Goff's Caye tour we did thru Carnival Miracle in early October. It was our favorite part of the trip - well, there was also Rum Point in G.C....!

[Chalker Guy]

Did you see sharks or rays at Goff's Caye? We are on NCL in January with another couple who are enthusiastic but less experienced snorkelers. Have been to Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray alley with EcoTours (good trip, great guides, but not enough snorkel time). Looking for the ideal new snorkel experience this trip. My idea of ideal is:

1. See lots of fish including sharks and rays

2. mild or no current

3. Water depth sufficient to make it easy to avoid contact with coral

4. Maximize time in the water. Skip the beach time, rum punch, shopping.

5. No "follow-the-leader" tours.

6. Reasonable cost for a group of 4.

 

We are on NCL Dream with 4:00 CST departure time, so time in port is relatively short and I don't think any ship excursions go to Goff's Caye (one might go to Sargent's Caye though)

 

I've read all the posts from the last 2 months, but none really address all my preferences. New advice welcome. Also interested in similar information for post-Wilma Cozumel. Please post on new thread under Cozumel topic if you answer.

[bermuda05]

Goff's Cay sounds great. It's not listed as an excursion on my cruise - how can I get there independently?

Thanks!

[Croozer2005]

Does anyone know the key diffferences between Goffs Cay and Turneffe Cay? I was looking at this and wondering which others best snorkeling. I'll be in Belize in January with RCCL.... http://www.belize-paradise.com/snorkel.htm

 

Thanks

 

Gene

[Croozer2005]

Sorry - I meant Turneffe Atoll! :D

[bermuda05]

Hello - the turneffe atoll trip that RCCL offers has you snorkling off that atoll and the goes to an island called Bannister Isalnd (i emailed the tour company to ask). I'm going to start a new thread to see if anyone has been there.

[Kingston Kid]

Hello all,

My husband and I are trying to figure out which excursion to go on in Belize. We will be coming in to Belize in Jan. on the Carnvial Miracle. My husband seems to think that Belize has really great snorkeling. We have been to the Western Caribbean several times and the snorkeling is usually ok. Is there any place in Belize where it is great? Thanks for your time. Take Care!

Any recent info on snokling in Belize?

[mazda]

Belize has excellent snorkeling, worlds second largest barrier reef. We have gone with http://www.ecotoursbelize.com once already and are going again next week on the Shark Ray Alley snorkeling by air. You take a very short plane ride, and then they take you out snorkeling to two places, one for sharks and the other for reef. Great snorkeling and we have snorkeled in many places in Mexico, Caribbean and Hawaii. You have time for lunch on beach on your own in San Pedro, then flight back. We loved this trip, and the view from plane is great.

[Will in sunny FL]

We cruise to Belize twice a year & prefer Coral Breeze Tours to the ships tours by far.

The local lunch on Caye Caulker is a real treat.

Look up their web site for the entire story.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[jettech]

Great website - Will in Sunny FL! Thanks for the link - http://www.coralbreezelimited.com.!

[Geology_Rocks]

What would you all recommend for someone who has their own snorkel gear and wants to spend the whole day snorkeling? I'm leery of booking the ship's snorkeling excursions because they seem awfully short and I have no desire to be kicked in the head by 249 of my fellow passengers.

[wadethegringo]

What would you all recommend for someone who has their own snorkel gear and wants to spend the whole day snorkeling? I'm leery of booking the ship's snorkeling excursions because they seem awfully short and I have no desire to be kicked in the head by 249 of my fellow passengers.

 

You need to get to the Cayes first. You will not be able to get to the reef from the shore. However there are great snorkeling off some of the peirs on both islands an the Split on Caye Caulker.

[Geology_Rocks]

You need to get to the Cayes first. You will not be able to get to the reef from the shore. However there are great snorkeling off some of the peirs on both islands an the Split on Caye Caulker.

 

Thanks!

[gold1959]

We will be on a Celebrity cruise in March 2012 & on past cruises we've always booked the cruise line's tours, but we were VERY disapppointed in RCCL's last year which was no fun at all: awful bumper-to-bumper snorkling... We will be in both Belize & Grand Cayman and the tours by ShoreExcursions.com in both places look excellent; is any one familiar with them? Most interested in the Wave Runner (and snorkeling) tours in Grand Cayman, & the Shark Ray Alley Snorkeling tour in Belize... We have snorkeled in great places like Eilat, Israel, and the most important thing for us is to sea lots of beautiful, colorful fish! :-) The other place I am trying to find a really interesting tour for is Puerto Limon, Costa Rica... Thanks!

[Smurray]

We will be on a Celebrity cruise in March 2012 & on past cruises we've always booked the cruise line's tours, but we were VERY disapppointed in RCCL's last year which was no fun at all: awful bumper-to-bumper snorkling... We will be in both Belize & Grand Cayman and the tours by ShoreExcursions.com in both places look excellent; is any one familiar with them? Most interested in the Wave Runner (and snorkeling) tours in Grand Cayman, & the Shark Ray Alley Snorkeling tour in Belize... We have snorkeled in great places like Eilat, Israel, and the most important thing for us is to sea lots of beautiful, colorful fish! :-) The other place I am trying to find a really interesting tour for is Puerto Limon, Costa Rica... Thanks!

 

Hi,

Going on Carnival Glory 11/27 and booked with Nativeways watersports, their Rays,Reef and Rum Point tour is great!2 snorkel stops and a great beach break at Rum Point.

It will be the 3rd time we're going with them! It's $62.50 pp with a great grilled lunch at Rum Point. It's a small group, no more than 25 onboard,crews are very personable and helpful, Sharon will email you back if you go to their site and use their booking form. No money or cc needed up front! Just google them for their website

Hope this helps, I'm still looking for a snorkeling tour in Belize...

Steph

[Cecethekittencat]

We were in Belize earlier this year ... LOVED Goff's Caye. However, it's not listed as one of our excursions this time, nor is Bannister Island. We are super bummed.

 

I'm concerned at this point about going off on our own ... because the tender situation is so awful ... Doesn't anyone else have this concern?

 

Tendering all the way in ... only to board a private tour ... and then all that back again to the ship - is very time consuming! This is one port I'd be worried about making it back to the ship! Caye Caulkner seems super far? !! :eek: