Belize Snorkeling

[dst]

We will be in Belize off the Valor and we are trying to organize a group tour - one company that I have looked at is Coral Breeze. Has anyone used them for an excursion, or do you have another suggestion?

 

We would like to have some time snorkeling and then a bit of time at a beach - any comments or suggestions would really help.

 

Thanks

[OZjones12]

This is a great company to use!!! I went with them off the Valor last March and had a GREAT TIME!!!! ENJOY!!!! Tell Tiny you herd of them from cruisecritic.com, They will be happy to hear that..

[amy2313]

We will be in Belize off the Valor and we are trying to organize a group tour - one company that I have looked at is Coral Breeze. Has anyone used them for an excursion, or do you have another suggestion?

 

We would like to have some time snorkeling and then a bit of time at a beach - any comments or suggestions would really help.

 

Thanks

 

 

We are also on the Valor in March but I contacted Coral Breezes about their snorkel trip to Caye Caulker and they explained with the Valor's itinerary, the time differences and the start time of their tour, it would really be cutting it close to make it back to the ship and they wouldn't recommend the one to Caye Caulker but we would have enough time for Bannister Island. We had heard the snorkel at Bannister was just ok so we opted for one to Goff's Caye through the cruiseline. We are still debating if this was the right choice!!!

[dst]

Amy - thanks for the info - did Coral Breeze not offer a tour of Goff Caye (I have heard good things about Goffs Caye)?

 

I'll keep poking around and see if there are any other options and we can post whatever we find on here

 

Do you remember how much the trip was thru Carnival? Please let us know how the trip is

[amy2313]

Amy - thanks for the info - did Coral Breeze not offer a tour of Goff Caye (I have heard good things about Goffs Caye)?

 

I'll keep poking around and see if there are any other options and we can post whatever we find on here

 

Do you remember how much the trip was thru Carnival? Please let us know how the trip is

 

 

Coral Breezes did not offer one to Goffs - that is why we went through Carnival. It was $65 to book with Carnival but the downfall is that the tour runs from 9am to 12:30 and they bring you directly back to the ship at 12:30. We wanted to have more time either snorkeling or exploring the island/caye but just didn't find a tour that fit the Valor's itinerary better -- leaving us the entire afternoon without a place to snorkel more - we are working on this!! :)

[dst]

Amy - please come back and post your experience and let me know what else you guys ended up doing

 

Have a great trip, thanks for the help

[amy2313]

Ok so we are now looking into a new excursion entirely - one that gives us a little more time snorkeling we think. As I explained - we are booked on the Carnival excursion currently to Goff's but that can be canceled up to 3 days before we depart so we still have time to rework things. After reading a post about someone doing the excursion that took them, by air to Ambergris Caye and Shark Ray Alley I looked into that particular tour company (http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/index.html). I definitely do not want to do that particular one by air as that sounds a little risky with time and even though the person said they had plenty of time to spare, that just makes me nervous.

 

But there was another tour option - they offered a snorkeling tour to Gallows reef, followed by 2 hours at Bannister Island. I contacted the tour company to find out now is whether we can snorkel directly from shore once we return to Bannister Island for the 2 hours (after the snorkel from the boat to the reef).

And also, how is the snorkeling at Gallows?? More then anything we want the snorkeling to be good and if that means better snorkeling at Goffs with less time, then I'd rather do that.

 

So if anyone has heard about Gallows Reef - I'd love to hear your opinions!!

 

Thanks.

[dst]

Amy: You have been busy, let me see if anyone in our group has worked with this tour guide or done anything like this. (we are a large group of seasoned cruisers) :)

[amy2313]

Amy: You have been busy, let me see if anyone in our group has worked with this tour guide or done anything like this. (we are a large group of seasoned cruisers) :)

 

that would be great!! We are just a group of 4 but I am the one in charge of reserving our excursions. Everyone lets me know what they want to do and then i am in charge of figuring out what exactly and who to book with. No pressure at all to make sure it is perfect or anything ;)

[dst]

Funny - planning is my favorite part though, it helps the cruise to get here faster......you can always include a disclaimer

 

"person making arrangements has not been paid for services, therefore no complaints are welcomed" :D

[shelby_36]

We booked through Royal Caribbean. And I cannot remember the company's name but they picked us up at the ship took us out to a reef, we snorkeled for a while (they also had people on board doing scuba and snuba. Then we all had rum punch or soft drinks and headed to Bannister Caye- an island that supposedly was private - from what I could tell we were the only ones there- it reminded me of Coco Cay. It had a bar and bathrooms but the tour guide invited us to come back on board for a drink anytime we wanted while we were docked there. They were very nice, very considerate. Safety was paramount and had 2 people in rafts on the perimeter of the dive area to watch people. They refused to let anyone in the water once they had started drinking. ( as opposed to when we went snorkeling in Grand Cayman and they put no staff in the water.) They were funny and very nice. The snorkeling was the best we have ever done. Absolutely amazing. The only negative to the day is we were returned to the ship at like 1 and the last tender returned at 2 so we had been hoping to take a quick trip into Belize city but didn't have time. However the silver lining is have a reason to go back!

[amy2313]

Funny - planning is my favorite part though, it helps the cruise to get here faster......you can always include a disclaimer

 

"person making arrangements has not been paid for services, therefore no complaints are welcomed" :D

 

hahhaha - i love the disclaimer idea!!

I don't mind planning at all b/c you are right, it makes the cruise get here faster and we actually have a "Cruise Planning Dinner" which is fun and gets everyone excited but I am still in charge of making the final booking and want to be sure I maximize our time in the ports.

[dst]

Amy - please remember to let us know how the trip was

 

Shelby sounds like you had a nice visit, we are hoping for the same.....

[shelby_36]

Amy - please remember to let us know how the trip was

 

Shelby sounds like you had a nice visit, we are hoping for the same.....

 

 

Definately- we are booked to return in July:)