Carnival's Shark/Ray Alley Excursion

[snowcat]

Has anyone done the Shark/Ray Alley shore excursion offered by Carnival? In their information, it says the excursion is 7 hours and lunch at San Pedro is included. I am looking for information, details and opinions about this tour and would much appreciate any help you can give me for an upcoming stop in Belize on the Elation in December. Thanks!

[LEtue]

I'm looking for info on this excursion too. We leave on the Miracle tomorrow and the Ambergis shopping area sounds nice in case the snorkeling hasn't recovered from the hurricane....

 

I wish someone with recent experience would respond :(

 

Have a great time on the Elation!

[snowcat]

Hi LEtue!

I hope you have a great cruise! If you decide to take this excursion, please let me know what you thought of it when you return! And your suggestions for Belize! Thanks!

Snowcat

[mikeyd]

My wife and I did this tour thru Carnival and it was very nice. The boats pick you up from the ship and you'll travel (it has been about three years) I am guessing 1-1.5 hours to the Shark Ray Alley. You will spend about an hour or two there and then get back in the boat and head to San Pedro. This is a nice place with dirt roads and is quite primitive, but safe. If you walk to the left of the dock where you dock the boat, there is a beachside bar / tiki hut that has drinks and was real nice. The lunch was fair, and shopping in San Pedro was fair. If you can search this exact place - I posted some more info on this excursion about 6 months ago.

 

Enjoy!

[snowcat]

Hi mikeyd! thank you for your input! I think that sounds like the kind of excursion we would like.

[snowcat]

Thought I'd bump this back up to the top to see if anyone else had suggestions/opinions!

[RedSoxWon]

I did this same excursion through RCCL last week, and it is probably very similar to Carnival's. Were taken in high speed boats from the pier in Belize City about 45 minutes to Ambergris Caye. The boat ride itself was very thrilling. We made one stop at a small village, where we had a bathroom break, signed waivers and picked up equipment, and then got back into the boat for a ten minute ride to the barrier reef. There we split up into two groups and were led through coral formations to shark ray alley, which is sort of like a small underwater canyon. There were several other boats in the area with snorkelers, but every group had their own space. Our group was a bit crowded and there were a lot of beginners (like myself), so expect to get kicked a few times. Intitially, I was unimpressed by the number of fish, although the coral formations were interesting. As we headed back to the boat, I spotted the first sting ray. Within the next fifteen minutes I saw four or five others (and petted one of them), a nurse shark (they're very shy, so it's hard to get close), and spent several minutes in a school of fish so dense that they swam through my legs and bumped into me. Back on the boat, I said, "It's like swimming in an aquarium," and one of the guides said, "That's exactly what it's supposed to be like." The entire swim lasted about an hour, which was long enough.

 

Another ten minute boat ride took us to Ambergris Caye and a lunch at Crazy Canuck's, a beach bar, where the Belikin Beer flowed freely. You can see the breakers from the barrier reef on the horizon. Very pretty. The lunch was decent, but not great. Some local crafts people set up tables or spread blankets on the beach. I bought a rosewood letter opener for $5. The town of San Pedro is about a five minute cab ride from here. A word of warning about the cabbies who congregate near the bathrooms looking for fares: they cited me a price of fifteen dollars to take my wife and I to town. This was after the guide said it should cost about four. At that point I was unaware the exchange rate is about two Belizean dolars to one US, so he may have been quoting a Belizean price. We decided to walk out front to look for a cab and ended up in a very nice shop owned by the "Crazy Canuck" who owned the bar across the street, and we had an interesting conversation--"what's a nice Canadian like you doing in a place like this." Afterwards, we found a taxi out front to take us to San Pedro. It turned out to cost five or six dollars US.

 

The town of San Pedro is an intersting mix of rusticity and modernity. The roads are paved in dirt, but many of the shops have air conditioning and accept credit cards. The shops are mainly geared to tourists, but there are craft stands mixed in here and there, and the people are very nice. We bought a Christmas wreath and my wife bought a dress that looked stunning on her that night at dinner. We spent some time looking at local jewelry at an outside stand, and while walking away, I heard one of the men say something about the "gringo" and then laugh, but in a good humored way. I actually got a kick out of it. You get a real feel for Belize in San Pedro, unlike in the tourist area at Belize City, and I enjoyed it immensely.

 

Afterwards, we took a taxi back to Crazy Canuck's and a one-hour boat ride to Belize City. It was a great day on the water, in the water, and out of the water.

 

Ron

[snowcat]

Thank you very much Red Sox Won for your information! I'm eager to hear feedback before we leave! A couple questions: How long was the total excursion? (The one through Carnival is listed at 7 hours) Did you snorkel anyplace else in addition to Shark/Ray Alley? Was there a beach in San Pedro that you could have gone too and soaked up the sun? Thanks again for your help!

[RedSoxWon]

Snowcat:

 

The excursion was advertised as 6 1/2 hours, and I don't remember it being significantly over or under that length. There is a small strip of beach in front of Crazy Canuck's (see photo), about thirty feet wide, but no beach chairs. Your towel would probably suffice for the short time you have there. In this picture, You can see the barrier reef in the background.

[snowcat]

Thanks again!

[Annie B.]

I am thinking of taking this excursion with a 9 year old and 4 year old. Any suggestions on this?

[RedSoxWon]

I wouldn't. Not with a nine year old and especially not with a four year old. This is a fairly open area. It's not like you're only feet from shore. There's a lot of kicking and bumping into one another too. A small child might be hurt, or scared at the least. And you would spend so much time watching and worrying that you wouldn't enjoy it. I have a four year old and wouldn't take him. Sorry.