Bannister Island-Who's Been????

[Hogladyrider]

Thinking of Bannister Island for our port stop in Belize in September.

 

How will the water temp be in Sept? Looking to snorkel and enjoy the beach and this looks like it would fit the bill but I'd love to hear from those of you who have actually visited the Island.

 

I have looked at the Bannister Island web site and seen the prices from Coral Breeze and thru Carnival, both within $5 of each other.

 

The views from the Bannister Island web page make it look somewhat similar to Half Moon Cay which we thoroughly enjoyed, except the water was a bit chilly in January.

 

Thanks.

Susan

[clackey]

Thinking of Bannister Island for our port stop in Belize in September.

 

How will the water temp be in Sept? Looking to snorkel and enjoy the beach and this looks like it would fit the bill but I'd love to hear from those of you who have actually visited the Island.

 

 

Thanks.

Susan

We were there in late Nov. Water temp was around 80. Haggled a price at the tender pier with FAB Tours and got the trip with a snorkel trip to the reef for $45@. The island is gorgeous with plenty of lounge chairs, food, and drinks and the reef snorkel was pretty good. I would do it again.

 

I would think that the water temp would be 5 or 6 degrees higher in Sept.

[skywalker808]

BANNISTER ISLAND

I'm writing to let you know what a great time we had with the crew from

Hammerhead. Mr. Big and James were great. They pointed out things and took

the time to explain any questions we had. Our group asked if we could skip

the manatee watch as it is not a good time of year to see them, so our crew

took us back out for more snorkeling. What a great group. It was amazing to

see them get as excited as us by the large schools of fish. It is easy to

tell they enjoy their jobs and teaching others about their country. I was

pleasantly surprised by this tour and would recommend it to everyone! Thanks

again for a great time.

 

Jeffery O.

Omaha, NE

Carnival Valor

June 11, 2007

 

mmerhead Sports.

[Hogladyrider]

Did you book this on your own or thru the ship with Carnival?

[Hogladyrider]

BANNISTER ISLAND

I'm writing to let you know what a great time we had with the crew from

Hammerhead. Mr. Big and James were great. They pointed out things and took

the time to explain any questions we had. Our group asked if we could skip

the manatee watch as it is not a good time of year to see them, so our crew

took us back out for more snorkeling. What a great group. It was amazing to

see them get as excited as us by the large schools of fish. It is easy to

tell they enjoy their jobs and teaching others about their country. I was

pleasantly surprised by this tour and would recommend it to everyone! Thanks

again for a great time.

 

Jeffery O.

Omaha, NE

Carnival Valor

June 11, 2007

 

mmerhead Sports.

 

Can you tell us how you booked this excursion thru Carnival or online on your own and how did you do the snorkeling, did you book it after you arrived on Bannister Island? It sounds just like what we are looking for!

[blueladybug]

BANNISTER ISLAND

I'm writing to let you know what a great time we had with the crew from

Hammerhead. Mr. Big and James were great. They pointed out things and took

the time to explain any questions we had. Our group asked if we could skip

the manatee watch as it is not a good time of year to see them, so our crew

took us back out for more snorkeling. What a great group. It was amazing to

see them get as excited as us by the large schools of fish. It is easy to

tell they enjoy their jobs and teaching others about their country. I was

pleasantly surprised by this tour and would recommend it to everyone! Thanks

again for a great time.

 

Jeffery O.

Omaha, NE

Carnival Valor

June 11, 2007

 

mmerhead Sports.

 

Do you work for Hammerhead Sports? I notice that at the bottom your signature, it says "mmerhead Sports"- maybe it's missing the H and A? Just wondering.

[janerd]

My wife,son and I were at Bannister Island last March.The Island is small maybe a football field long and about half that wide.The Island is very nice,but there were way to many people on it.They have enough lounge chairs but shade is lacking.They have a small place to eat and I mean small,it's a shack.They serve chicken,hot dogs and hamburgers.They also have a bar which is a whole lot bigger than the cafe.There is no reef to snorkel on the Island,you have to take a boat out to the reef.It was an ok time but won't do it again.We sailed on the Legend of the seas with RCCL.If you have any more questions just ask.Mike.

[czechgal]

Beautiful island, i would go again. We went through Hammerhead and had Mr. Bigs too, they did a great job with snorkel spot, manatee watching, etc. Even made sure we were back to ship ontime as NCL boat made our tour leave over and hour late. They made sure we got everything in and enjoyed our time.

Here are some pics, hope this works, or try my webshots page for more on the Miracle and other ports:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/557735484kGeMKA

 

 

 

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

Beautiful island, i would go again. We went through Hammerhead and had Mr. Bigs too, they did a great job with snorkel spot, manatee watching, etc. Even made sure we were back to ship ontime as NCL boat made our tour leave over and hour late. They made sure we got everything in and enjoyed our time.

 

I am confused, can you help set me on the straight path, what is Hammerhead?

 

And who is Mr. Bigs?

 

Did you book Bannister Island thru your ship or directly on your own thru the internet?

 

Did you have to tender to shore first or did the excursion leave right from your cruise ship?

 

Thanks again and your photos are AWESOME!

Susan

[comdoc]

We went out there last Nov. with Hammerhead sports. We didn't pre-book it. We booked it on the pier when we got there. We paid $30 per person for just the Island. We were looking for a beach day! There was only about 20 people on the island when we went, so it was great. It has a good sandy beach and a reasonably priced bar...it was a great day! I'll probably do it again in Feb. '08.

[jeff33436]

Just got home from our cruise on Carnival Glory and we did the Bannister Island excursion through Coral Breeze tours. Mr. Big is a member of the crew on the boat you take to get to the island and also to do the snorkeling. He's a BIG guy, but a sweetheart. They were very cool about watching the time to make sure we got back in time. We did actually see 5 or 6 Manatees too, which they said was pretty good.

[Hogladyrider]

Just got home from our cruise on Carnival Glory and we did the Bannister Island excursion through Coral Breeze tours. Mr. Big is a member of the crew on the boat you take to get to the island and also to do the snorkeling. He's a BIG guy, but a sweetheart. They were very cool about watching the time to make sure we got back in time. We did actually see 5 or 6 Manatees too, which they said was pretty good.

 

Thanks for the info Jeff, just what I was looking for.

 

Did you book with Coral Breeze on line before sailing or when you got to the port of Belize?

 

Thanks.

Susan

[cruiseplannertoo]

We were on the Carnival Glory and did this fabulous excursion with Coral Breeze last week! My husband, three daughters (ages 8, 11 and 14) and I all had a great time!! Bannister Island is absolutely beautiful - one of the most beautiful beaches we'ver ever seen! Mr. Big, Justin, and the crew from Coral Breeze were great. About 1/2 way through snorkeling my 8 year old bumped into the coral and was very upset so Justin put her on his back and swam her back to the boat and treated her 'wound' with vinegar and she was happy and feeling much better when we got back to the boat. We snorkeled about an hour and then went back to Bannister Island for 2 hours. When we left the island, we went to look for manatees and we saw about 6 different ones within about 15-20 minutes and it was so cool! I highly recommend this excursion!! I booked it on their website only 6 days before we were there because we changed our mind about cave tubing. I'm so glad we switched to this excursion!! http://www.coralbreezetours.com/

[blueladybug]

We were on the Carnival Glory and did this fabulous excursion with Coral Breeze last week! My husband, three daughters (ages 8, 11 and 14) and I all had a great time!! Bannister Island is absolutely beautiful - one of the most beautiful beaches we'ver ever seen! Mr. Big, Justin, and the crew from Coral Breeze were great. About 1/2 way through snorkeling my 8 year old bumped into the coral and was very upset so Justin put her on his back and swam her back to the boat and treated her 'wound' with vinegar and she was happy and feeling much better when we got back to the boat. We snorkeled about an hour and then went back to Bannister Island for 2 hours. When we left the island, we went to look for manatees and we saw about 6 different ones within about 15-20 minutes and it was so cool! I highly recommend this excursion!! I booked it on their website only 6 days before we were there because we changed our mind about cave tubing. I'm so glad we switched to this excursion!! http://www.coralbreezetours.com/

 

Thank you so much for posting your experience. How was the water at Bannister and snorkeling? My kids will be 10 and almost 7 when we go! I can't wait. Did Bannister seem too small or was it a good size.

[cruiseplannertoo]

Hi blueladybug,

Bannister Island was close to perfect in size (not too big and not too small and there were plenty of chairs. We didn't snorkel there - we stopped there and got off the boat for about 15 minutes or so to drop off the non-snorkelers and then we got back on the boat and drove about 5-10 minutes to a wonderful snorkel location near a reef. The water on Bannister Island and the water we snorkeled in were great - nice temperature and smooth on the island and just a little choppy that day at the snorkel location. As long as your kids are comfortable in the water, they will love it. Just explain to them to be on the lookout not to swim to close to the coral! : )

[momofzeke]

We did Bannister Island on our Miracle cruise March 2006. It was a Carnival excursion (Private Island Beach Break); we were picked up by a tender right at the ship and taken to the Island ~ about 20 – 30 minutes by boat. There were other cruise lines there using the Island that day as well.

 

We had a fun day on Bannister Island. There is an open-air restaurant/bar with a roof. Clean bathrooms. Plenty of lounge chairs on the beach. The beach is nice, and there is a swimming area roped off that is good sized. Not terribly deep, we went all the way out to the ropes and the water was about neck-deep out there. The water was nice a warm. It was a little cloudy and windy the day we were there, but still nice.

 

Waitresses came by our lounge chairs and took orders of drinks and/or food all day and would bring it out to you in the lounge chair. We had some chicken strips that were quite tasty. The menu isn't huge, but they offer hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, bar-b-q chicken, etc.

 

There are float mats that you can use for free. They have kayaks and paddle boats that you can rent, for an extra fee.

 

We really enjoyed our day on Bannister Island. Happy cruising! :)

[jeff33436]

Hi Susan-

We booked with Coral Breeze the week before we cruised.

 

The island is not huge, but tons of chairs and a nice swimming area. Not a big choice for food- just a small hut with basic hot dog, burger, or chicken. But pretty good.

 

We were on the boat with the family above when the little girl got stung by the coral. The crew did a really nice job making her feel better. The water was very choppy that day and we were a little nervous about how we would snorkel, but amazingly, when you are in the water snorkeling, you barely notice how rough it is on top. There were not as many fish as I am used to when snorkeling, but I have never seen so much coral, fans, etc. It was like a fantasy underwater garden. The water was crystal clear.

[czechgal]

Sorry it took me so long to reply, but the other posters above seem to have answered the questions you had. We booked through COral Breeze too, and had Hammerhead Sports is the group who took us on the Bannister Island and Manatee watch adventure. WE left from the pier, and the ride to the island was about 25". My mom stayed on the island and we went snorkeling, saw many fish and coral was amazing. I love to see the sea creatures, but am not completely at ease in the water. This crew did a great job and kept watch on everyone. I think we were out snorkeling for 45", not sure, time flew by! Went back to the island and rested about an hour, looked for manatees and returned to the pier. We did not buy anything on the island, so I can't give an opinion there.

There are more Bannister island pics on my webshots page...if you'd like to check it out. (see link in my first post)

I did write to Coral Breeze about the problem of waiting over 1 hour for the NCL group to get there. They said "this is a recurring problem they were working on". Don't know if it's gotten any better.

 

Thanks everyone else for helping answer all the questions I couldn't get to in a timely manner!

 

Lisa

[stunned]

When you saw the Manatees were you snorkeling or in the boat?

 

If on the boat were you able see them clearly and take pictures?

 

How crowded was the boat for the Manatee watch?

[cruiseplannertoo]

We were on the boat when we saw the manatees. They take you to the manatees area right before they take you back to shore (after you spend the 2 hours on the beach). My husband "got lucky" with his picture taking because it was so sunny that he couldn't see the screen very good, but he still got about 6-8 great shots! I'm not sure of the exact count, but the boat was not crowded and almost all of us stood out on the front of the boat to look. It was awesome! :)

[Schmuppie's Mom]

We were on the same tour with cruiseplannertoo and jeff33436, and we also had a wonderful time on Coral Breeze's tour. I've posted a long description of the experience on a different thread, but I highly recommend Coral Breeze. I had my 11-year-old daughter with us and she did great on the snorkeling, but the waters were a bit rough and my hubby got seasick!

 

The two big hints I have about this trip are: if you don't want to go snorkeling, then just pay for the beach break. You get to see the manatees on the way back to port, and my inlaws (who just paid for the beach break) got to see them too.

 

The other hint is to be careful ordering the food from the little shack at Bannister Caye. I ordered the beans & rice plate, and found maggots crawling on it. Yes, maggots.

 

The person who started this thread was asking whether they should take the ship's tour or an independent operator. If all you want to do is go to the beach, then you should take the ship's tour, simply because they went straight from the ship directly to Bannister. Those of us on Coral Breeze had to take the 15 minute ship's tender into Belize City, and then a 25 minute boat ride to Bannister. Just my two cents.

[skywalker808]

Hello All-

Sorry for the delay ... Been busy catching up with work- I believe hammerhead tours operates.. the tours for coral breeze. The guys did a great job and we had a great time. Very perfessionally and highly knowledgeable about the area. Great time all around ... Hope this helps!