Eco Tours Shark Ray Alley by Air

[noahsark99]

This sounds great....anyone have any reviews? As a single mom with a young son, I'm am mostly concerned about safety...

 

Thank you for any information you can provide.

 

Happy Cruising!

[wiseguy]

Hey Noah...I'm from IL as well...my partner and I will be in Belize on the Carnival Miracle in March and were wondering the same thing about this excursion...have you found any information? Just want to make sure it's safe. There was one post I found and the poster said it was excellent.

 

P

[cascole]

I responded to this on the Carnival board, but thought I'd post it here for you as well since it looks like there's more than one of you interested...

 

Although while on a land based vacation, I've done the flight between Belize City & Ambergris Caye - among many of those cessna airplane trips around Belize. The views are incredible! I've also been snorkeling in Shark Ray Alley - - - you'll have a blast! If you have time in San Pedro on Ambergris, enjoy a cocktail at Fidos... or Wet Willy's (on the end of a pier just a bit north of Fidos). Both lots of fun! ... I miss Belize - must be time to go again!

 

A side note - for a young child - if the sharks are too scary for him to be in the water with them - he can & will be able to see them from the boat as well. Most of the guides I met are great with kids, too!

[noahsark99]

This is the email I got back from them....

 

Thank you for your email and interest in our services.

The time you mentioned 8 - 5 in port is ship's time which is 7 - 4 local time.

The Shark Ray Aerial tour has only one departure which is at 8:00am and you would have to tender in to meet us no later than 7:45am local time.

We would meet you at the dock where the tender drops off and transport you to the airstrip to catch your flight.

You return time would be at about 1:30pm and we would meet you at the airstrip on your return for transfer back to the port.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Patricia

I decided not to book with them for two reasons. I wasn't sure if we could make it by 7:45...I just thought that was cutting it close and I didn't want to be left behind. I am also still worried about safety for a single mom and young son. We will have to do this next time we're in Belize when we have more people with us.

I hope someone from a cruise does this excursion and posts their experience. Happy Cruising :)

[cpayne]

We are considering this tour next month, Feb 2013. However, my concern is what if the plane has a mechanical and can't get us back to the ship in time? My husband is a commercial airline Cpt so I know first hand planes have mechanicals all the time which leads to delays and cancellations.

 

I've emailed Eco Tours asking abuot this Curious to hear their response b/c I really want to do this tour!

[hslauren]

We are considering this tour next month, Feb 2013. However, my concern is what if the plane has a mechanical and can't get us back to the ship in time? My husband is a commercial airline Cpt so I know first hand planes have mechanicals all the time which leads to delays and cancellations.

 

I've emailed Eco Tours asking abuot this Curious to hear their response b/c I really want to do this tour!

 

Did you ever hear a reply? My husband & I just booked this tour, but you bring up a very valid point!

[cpayne]

They indicated they have never had a cruise ship passenger miss their ship. They indicated there are flights every hour and more than one aircraft in the event there are issues.

 

My concern is we dock at 7 a.m., tenders are required and the tour leaves at 8 a.m. The cruise ship gives priority tenders to those booked on their own tours. There is a possibility we may not be able to be off the ship and meet the tour by 8 a.m. There is no flexibility with this departure time.

 

The "good news" is they do not require any form of down payment. You pay in full upon arrival. Therefore, we have made our reservations and in the event due to the tenders we are not off the ship by 8 a.m. we are not out any money, but we have missed our tour.

 

Hope this information helps.

[ginjam70]

Sorry....would not trust a boat ride to the islands and neither enjoy a bumpy experience....depending on the weather it is really not enjoyable. We did the water taxi to San Pedro 2 years ago and almost sank...would not do it again. Next time we fly as it is just a 10 minute flight to San Pedro....

[bowbiter]

I booked through ecotoursbelize for the fly and dive package last year. The tour was great up until the end. They forgot to pick us up from the airport. We had to call and remind them. Sat at the airport for 45min total. We did get back to the port exactly at 430 ("last tender")....which for those of you who have been to Belize before know it really isn't the last tender. The line was so long I still had time to buy chocolate from a store. Other than the fact they more or less forgot to pick us up it was a good tour.

[kcparrothead]

Has anyone done this tour recently? We're wondering how much time you actually have in San Pedro after the snorkel tour.