Shark Alley

[ToddWelch]

We just got back from our Valor cruise and enjoyed our day with Coral Breeze. We were a little concerned just before leaving with all the talk about them being shut down and so on, but I had talked to Paul and he said everything would be looked after. No problems at all. We met them right where they said they would be and off we went once everyone was there. Walked over to the pier and jumped in their boat. Nice boat....shaded and sunny spots available....tip....sit near the back....the bouncing can be a little rough on the back, but near the back is pretty smooth. It is about 45min ride to Caye Caulker and we had a nice talk with the other 10 quests and the 3 or 4 guides. We stop at the Caye to pickup fish and water and drop off lunch orders....then out to the coral gardens for an hour of snorkeling....very nice area. Then a few minutes over to the rays and the sharks.....wow....what an experience....I was in 3-4 feet of water with dozens of rays...small ones....huge ones and 5-8 nurse sharks. Sharks were 4ft to 8ft I would guess and they look huge when right next to you. I even got to touch the rays and the big shark.

 

Back to the Caye for lunch...great food. Then had and hour or so to walk around and see the island. No cars...just golf carts. Met some backpackers from New Zealand on their way from New York to Brazil (very brave kids). Then 45 min ride back to Belize City and had an hour or so to shop.

 

All in all....a fantastic day. Highly recommend them...the guides were very nice and helpful.

 

Todd

[shannonh]

Thanks so much for posting this. I have been concerned about our Feb. 22 trip with them. Now I feel a little better. I am still a little confused...did you actually go with the folks from Coral Breeze or did they hand you off to another tour company?

[luvgreys]

Todd, Thank you for the great review. How do I contact this company? Also what was the cost? Was lunch included? Did they provide snorkel equipment? Sorry so many question!!:o

Thanks

[summeroak]

I hear great things about Coral Breeze ray/shark snorkel 5+ hour tour...but need more info about the speedboat used to Caulker Caye. Does it have a working restroom on board? :cool:

[duskview]

Todd, Thank you for the great review. How do I contact this company? Also what was the cost? Was lunch included? Did they provide snorkel equipment? Sorry so many question!!:o

Thanks

 

Here's the info your looking for. Sounds like a really good deal.

coralbreseslimited dot com (.com)

[sarahcruise]

The boat our group was on was good size for just us. Group of 12, including 2 -40 year olds. No bathroom, though you can go when they stop at caye caulker to drop off lunch order and get bait. The boat ride wasn't bad, went by pretty quickly. The larger boat may have a bathroom I don't know. The rays and sharks were amazing, all around us, touching us, very cool. The reef was beautiful, we had 3 guides for our 12 people. Good food, we were starving, nice guides, good day. www.coralbreezelimited.com

[eangel12]

I just booked this tour. I really hope it comes together because my husband has his heart set on this. I am nervous because of the fact that the company was closed down. This isn't the company that "lost" a snorkler, is it??

[ZGirl]

We booked through Ecological Tours and Services (Feb 7). Great tour! We had a family in our boat that had originally booked through Coral Breeze. Not sure exactly what happened but they were not able to go on that excursion and ended up booking at the pier with Ecological. They were going to try to get a refund from Coral Breeze. Sorry I don't have more info, but I thought I would give you a heads up.

 

Melissa

[scejas]

Can anyone here recommend a spot to grab lunch on the island of Caye Caulker...?

 

I'm considering booking the excursion with CoralBreeze and I'm wondering if their lunch spot is good ? or is there better ?

 

Thanks!

[Snoozeman]

Can anyone here recommend a spot to grab lunch on the island of Caye Caulker...?

 

I'm considering booking the excursion with CoralBreeze and I'm wondering if their lunch spot is good ? or is there better ?

 

Thanks!

I was the only one in my group that did it, but I'd recommend walking to the split. Get some Bilikins at the Wet Lizard. I had a fish plate, it was OK, but the bar is worth the visit!!

[watkins]

Zgirl how many people were on your tour. There are 9 of us. We were considering coral breeze but I am kind of scared to use them. I emailed Tom ********* and he emailed me the Ecological tour website.

 

Teressa

[ZGirl]

Ecological says they want at least 15, but we only ended up with 10. You might end up waiting a bit while they try to find more people to join you. That is what happened to us, but we didn't mind and I am pretty sure the others didn't mind either. We booked in advance but others booked right at the pier.

 

Melissa

[FlaWaterFlirt]

After much discussion about Coral Breeze vs. Ecological Tours - we decided to bookwith Eco. They have answered every one of my many emails within hours. After I booked, I received a detailed confirmation and then an email from them to make sure that I recvied the confirmation. So far their customer service has been wonderful. We will be in Belize on 3/30 and have booked the Shark and Stingray Snorkel Tour. I hope the actual tour will be as good as their customer service thus far!!!!!

[Snoozeman]

After much discussion about Coral Breeze vs. Ecological Tours - we decided to bookwith Eco. They have answered every one of my many emails within hours. After I booked, I received a detailed confirmation and then an email from them to make sure that I recvied the confirmation. So far their customer service has been wonderful. We will be in Belize on 3/30 and have booked the Shark and Stingray Snorkel Tour. I hope the actual tour will be as good as their customer service thus far!!!!!

That's who I ended up with when Coral Breeze cancelled on us. I booked it at the pier. They wanted 15 people and ended up with 30 so we were able to leave a bit early since they sold out the tour.

[erinbunny]

It's good to hear that Coral Breeze seems to be back and up and running, since we have booked this tour with them in a couple of weeks and have already prepaid! I'd also be interested to know whether anyone else has taken a tour with them recently. I am still a little concerned with them cancelling some tours and I don't want to be stuck with no tour! I have e-mailed them with my concerns and they haven't gotten back to me yet. Hopefully it will work out, since a lot of people have had good experiences with them in the past!

[bchbms]

We had a day scheduled with Coral Breeze last Thursday, but unfortunately it didn't turn out so well. Even though others were booked, we were the only two who showed up so they cancelled our tour. I felt bad for them, as they were very nice and the boat looked nice. They said the recent bad-mouthing and misinformation about their company has caused many people to cancel. The tours are being handled by another company now, but someone from Coral Breeze is there to greet you. We received a refund and were promised the return of our deposit.

 

My advice would be to make sure you have a group already going or else have a backup plan in case you are the only ones who show up. There is not much to do in Belize unless you book some sort of tour.

[erinbunny]

There are only two of us that will be taking the tour, so I am a little nervous about it being cancelled. I am hoping to get at least some information from them about whether they think it could be cancelled (based on how many people have signed up so far) before we leave, since we still have a couple of weeks. I don't want to add to their problem by cancelling our reservation, plus we have already paid and I don't want to have the hassle of getting a refund if I dont have to.

If the tour ends up getting cancelled, are there other options for tours available at the port? If we get off the boat and find our tour is cancelled would it still be possible to book some kind of tour there?

[watkins]

I just booked our group with Ecological Tours, I was wanting to go with Coral Breeze but I was afraid it would get canceled and wanted to make sure that we had a plan. I dont want 8 other people asking what do we do now. I only had to pay a 20% deposit so that is not too bad.

Both times that I emailed Eco tours they emailed me back very quickly. It was taking days to hear back from Coral Breeze.

I will let you know how it turns out,

 

Teressa

[erinbunny]

I'm still hoping to hear if there is anyone else who has had recent experiences with Coral Breeze. . .

We booked and pre-paid with them before we were aware of the issues they were having. I don't want to bail on them, since they do seem like a good company to me and if I cancel, it may only make things worse for other passengers who may have booked with them that day. Still, I am worried about being left without a tour or all stressed out trying to find something else to do.

[bchbms]

Erinbunny, when we got to the pier to check in with Coral Breeze last week they had a list of people signed up for that day. No one else showed up, however, so the fact that they think they have plenty of people going is no guarantee that the tour will go on. I felt sorry for the guy who had to start asking people along the pier if they wanted to go with us. We only had to pay a $21 deposit which they promised would be refunded to us. I also decided to go ahead with this tour after reading alot of negative things because I felt they would never get back on their feet if people keep cancelling. I seriously wonder if they can hold it together.

[mrleo33]

Erin, Ecological Tours does a fantastic job and if by chance things with Coral Breeze fall through, just look around you'll see people there holding signs for Ecotours and you can book on the spot with them.

When Coral Breeze stood us up in November we found Ecotours and went with them. We had a great time, and had no regrets and enjoyed every moment. When we return to Belize that is who we'll book with.

[erinbunny]

For the time being, I don't think we'll cancel our reservation, since we've already paid. I would also hate to have there be a situation where us cancelling contributed to them having to cancel the tour for others because they don't have enough. I really want to give them them a chance. I guess I will be aware and just look for Ecological tours if it doesn't work out. Is Coral Breeze good about refunds?

Does Ecological tours require you pay in cash? How much is it? Part of the reason we prepaid for Coral Breeze is that we were trying to limit the amount of cash we were going to have to carry. However, I want to make sure we are able to go, so if they do require cash, I'll make sure I have enough to cover it.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[my4gals]

erinbunny- What date are you scheduled for your tour? We are booked for March 28th and are a group of 6. I wonder how many people they need before they cancel.

[Childbride]

My husband and I are going on the Zuiderdam March 4th. What else is there to do on Belize besides the snorkel trip or is this the best excursion to go on? We both snorkel. What we really like is a sail and snorkel combination. Have you heard anything about this type of trip?

[bchbms]

Coral Breeze told us at the pier that they needed a minimum of 6 to take the boat out, so you should be alright.