Beach Recommendation

[Skyelee]

We are visiting Belize while we sail on the Valor with a group of people 19 and we are looking for a great day at the beach! We would like a beautiful beach, that would have snorkeling if some wanted to do it, a beach bar is a MUST, maybe some shopping and restrooms??

 

I have been reading all these recommendations and now I am totally confused so please give me your recommendations.

 

Thanks,

[Skyelee]

Please help need a beach recommendation!!!!

[JenDalessan]

I am also hoping to get this answer!

[piratesparrow]

Hi there!

 

We haven't been there yet but we are scheduled to go there in 2wks and are booked to go to Caye Caulker, based on the reccommendations and suggestions from others, we decided on going to this Island, you are looking for the same thing we were looking for, a beach side restaurant and bar and great snorkeling possibilities.

 

Other than that I can't tell you much more but we definately did a lot of research, we will be snorkeling in GC. and Roatan as well.

 

Good luck with your search!!

[bellybutton]

I guess most people do the cave tubing deal. Been there done that. I am also trying to find a nice beach with cheap beers:D

[vmom]

You'll have to book an excursion out to one of the cayes or take a water taxi out. I think there are a couple cayes with a bar, not sure which ones. Do a search with the key word Caye Caulker. I've also read about Bannister Island....so that would be another one to do a search on.

 

There aren't any beachs on the mainland that would be what you are looking for.

[HappyChick]

We visited Bannister Island last January w/a large group. We booked the excursion through www.shoretrips.com

 

The beach is absolutely beautiful! Excellent beach bar (really enjoyed the BBQ chicken and the rice/beans cooked in coconut water), good food, clean restrooms. Not much shopping, however...this is a small island that you take a small water taxi too (boat ride was ~30 minutes, I think). There were 2 small gift shops.

 

I would highly recommend it. In fact, we are planning on going back on our next cruise.

[Paumavista]

I've never been there but I heard that Caye Caulker doesn't really have any tropical "beaches". I'm referring to the palm trees and white sand, clear water type beach......I heard there is sea grass along most of the coastal Caulker area.

 

Can someone confirm........

 

Bannister is supposedly more the "tropical beach area"......but you won't find any shops and just a single food service area. Also, I'm not sure you can use/get to Bannister unless you're on a "tour". AND, I'm not sure because of the "white sand beach" that there would be any shore snorkling available at Bannister.

 

If anyone can confirm any of this info I'd sure appreciate it.

 

THANKS,

Judy

[vmom]

We are visiting Belize while we sail on the Valor with a group of people 19 and we are looking for a great day at the beach! We would like a beautiful beach, that would have snorkeling if some wanted to do it, a beach bar is a MUST, maybe some shopping and restrooms??

 

I have been reading all these recommendations and now I am totally confused so please give me your recommendations.

 

Thanks,

 

Just an idea, but why don't you do your beach day at one of the other ports such as perhaps Cozumel or another port you are stopping at and instead do something very unique to Belize such as all go cave-tubing or take one of the other interesting excursions.

[startraveller]

Skyelee

 

Try Rendezvous Caye. It's a private island paradise and some operators go there. We've done it with amphilife.com

[bob&france]

Anyone who went to either Bannister Island or a beach...please help. Did you book only with your ship's excursion or did you find a way to get there on your own {cheaper}...how much did a water taxi cost ?,,,did Bannister Island have another fee for chairs etc?...were the bar prices cheaper than on the ship ?

 

thanks,

 

Bob

[bob&france]

Anyone who went to either Bannister Island or a beach...please help. Did you book only with your ship's excursion or did you find a way to get there on your own {cheaper}...how much did a water taxi cost ?,,,did Bannister Island have another fee for chairs etc?...were the bar prices cheaper than on the ship ?

 

thanks,

 

Bob

[snake114]

Do it as a ship tour, as then the tender will pick you up directly from the ship and run you over to Bannister. No snorkeling on their beach, but there are small-boat snorkel tours out to the reef every hour for $20.

 

Fun day for our family with two young children.

[sugarsmacks]

I booked Bannister Island thru Coral Breeze because my group wanted to see manatees and shop at the port. If you don't want to shop at the port you can book with the ship. Bannister island does not charge for chairs. You can rent kayaks. The mixed drinks are about the same price as the ship.

[thesawch]

we jsut got back amnd went to Sun Beach and reef snorkle excursion.Very cleana nd safe private island .We went out snorkleing and seen the dolphins on the way out.It is very good value for your money.The guys whio run the boats and snorkling are the nicest guys in the Carribean.Some us want to dgo to shore instead of back to the ship and they droped us off at the pier on there way back in.We shoped and then got a tender back to the ship.Very nice of the guys and they showed us where to catch our tender etc.I think we paid 57 us each for 5 hours of sun and snorkling.Thesawch

[onlydreams]

My husband and I just returned from a cruise on the Jewel and we booked the Sun Beach Resort and Snorkel; we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there. The place is absolutely incredible....great beach, big, beautiful, elevated bar right off the beach and lots of coconut palms. We went snorkeling on the barrier reef and had a great time. The day was picture perfect, the sun was shining, the breeze blowing; we just didn't want to leave. There are some pictures (which don't do it justice) on their website: :)

 

I guess Cable Guy is back with another nick !

Sun beach deserve a BAN.

Stop with the spam.

[pakmount]

We did Bannister Island - The water taxi went from ship to shore. The island is small, but very tropical. Cute little hermit crabs running around that kept the young kids very intertained. Two small warnings: #1 - Although an ok massage, the girl doing the massage was a con-artist. Watch your belongings closely, or maybe let your friend/spouse keep track of them while you get your massage. We "lost" a pair of nice sunglasses. Also, I dont remember what she charged, but best to have the exact change and a seperate amount for the tip. She tried to keep the entire amount of money we gave her, and we had to argue for our change. #2 - There is no drinking age on the island, and not all parents watch their kids, I think i saw a few that had a "few".

 

But the island is nice, with a bar, and has a very tropical feel.

[cruiser from georgia]

We went to Bannister Caye in November of 2005 from the Carnival Glory. We booked through the ship and were picked up there at the ship, about a 10 minute boat ride. The little island is beautiful, 3 acres. (and for sale so I found when I googled it) The little restaurant serves your basic chicken fingers, burger, hot dog, salad, etc.. There is a huge bar area that seemed to be able to handle the amount of people there. There were probably 40-50 people there from our ship and about the same amount from another. We were there first and had no problems finding a chair. It looked like there were plenty to go around throughout the day. There were kayaks, canoes and paddle boats to rent. There are restrooms and changing areas. There's two very small gift shops. We are going to Belize again in April and are planning to return to Bannister through the cruise line. It was well worth the $. I can't remember what we paid, seems like it was $40ish dollars a piece.

 

A few pictures.

 

The beach was beautiful white sand where the chairs were, then there was a several foot border to the entire island of shells. It looked like this photo below. We were amazed. I've never seen so many whole shells in my entire life, we walked around as much as the island as we could to see if it were like that everywhere. Just past the shells, into the water, was sand again.

 

 

There's a little dock there you can walk out on, great place to take pictures. Looking down we saw tons of multi colored fish.

 

 

View from my chair, complete with my feet in the picture. Perfect day in my book!!

 

[bellybutton]

We visited Bannister Island last January w/a large group. We booked the excursion through www.shoretrips.com

 

The beach is absolutely beautiful! Excellent beach bar (really enjoyed the BBQ chicken and the rice/beans cooked in coconut water), good food, clean restrooms. Not much shopping, however...this is a small island that you take a small water taxi too (boat ride was ~30 minutes, I think). There were 2 small gift shops.

 

I would highly recommend it. In fact, we are planning on going back on our next cruise.

 

Is it this one

BELIZEAN BEACH DAY

 

Our perfect beach day concludes with a search for the manatees - our exclusive!

Departures (Local Time): 09:00 AM (5 hrs)

Pricing: Per Person: $52.00 USD (You must have at least 4 people over 3 years old in your party for this trip) Children: $0.00 USD (Ages three and under)

[bellybutton]

We visited Bannister Island last January w/a large group. We booked the excursion through www.shoretrips.com

 

The beach is absolutely beautiful! Excellent beach bar (really enjoyed the BBQ chicken and the rice/beans cooked in coconut water), good food, clean restrooms. Not much shopping, however...this is a small island that you take a small water taxi too (boat ride was ~30 minutes, I think). There were 2 small gift shops.

 

I would highly recommend it. In fact, we are planning on going back on our next cruise.

 

Is it this one

BELIZEAN BEACH DAY

 

Our perfect beach day concludes with a search for the manatees - our exclusive!

Departures (Local Time): 09:00 AM (5 hrs)

Pricing: Per Person: $52.00 USD (You must have at least 4 people over 3 years old in your party for this trip) Children: $0.00 USD (Ages three and under)

[thesawch]

Sun Beach is great value for the money,You can snorkle and we seen dolphins for free.It very nice and new.Send your email and i can send pics thesawch@yahoo.ca

[MamaParrotHead]

Skyelee

 

Try Rendezvous Caye. It's a private island paradise and some operators go there. We've done it with amphilife.com

 

Can you give me more info on this tour? I looked it up on the site you listed. Were there modern restroom facilities? Lounge chairs? What kinds of beverages and snacks were provided, and how much did they cost? Did the tour basically take you to the island and then you swam out from the island to snorkel? How was the snorkeling? I'm looking for something to do with a group of people, varying in ages from 4-85. I'd love to get some snorkeling in, maybe this way my husband and I could take turns while the other plays with the kids on the beach.

 

Thanks.

[MamaParrotHead]

We went to Bannister Caye in November of 2005 from the Carnival Glory. We booked through the ship and were picked up there at the ship, about a 10 minute boat ride. The little island is beautiful, 3 acres. (and for sale so I found when I googled it) The little restaurant serves your basic chicken fingers, burger, hot dog, salad, etc.. There is a huge bar area that seemed to be able to handle the amount of people there. There were probably 40-50 people there from our ship and about the same amount from another. We were there first and had no problems finding a chair. It looked like there were plenty to go around throughout the day. There were kayaks, canoes and paddle boats to rent. There are restrooms and changing areas. There's two very small gift shops. We are going to Belize again in April and are planning to return to Bannister through the cruise line. It was well worth the $. I can't remember what we paid, seems like it was $40ish dollars a piece.

 

A few pictures.

 

The beach was beautiful white sand where the chairs were, then there was a several foot border to the entire island of shells. It looked like this photo below. We were amazed. I've never seen so many whole shells in my entire life, we walked around as much as the island as we could to see if it were like that everywhere. Just past the shells, into the water, was sand again.

 

 

There's a little dock there you can walk out on, great place to take pictures. Looking down we saw tons of multi colored fish.

 

 

View from my chair, complete with my feet in the picture. Perfect day in my book!!

 

 

My question is about snorkeling. I've read on here that you have to have a "guide" to snorkel...which doesn't make sense to me. I can see it if you're going to a reef, so that people don't trash the reef itself, but do you happen to know if people are allowed to just snorkel off the beach (even to just view the little fish like in your picture above)?

 

Thanks.

[sag1804]

I am down for this if it is nice. do you think this is worth it more than the cave tubing though? Any thoughts welcomed!:cool: email me sag1804@yahoo.com also!