Harvest Caye NCL Excursion Barrier Reef Snorkel - Has anyone done this?

Hello!

I just purchased the NCL excursion for the Barrier Reef Snorkel in Harvest Caye. I see 0 reviews for this an from the little information I found online, it seems to be a fairly new excursion. Has any one been on this excursion and if so, care to share your experience?

Will be on NCL Getaway April 29 - May 6, Harvest Caye on May 2nd.

Please let me know how this is. I’ll be on the Getaway in July and am thinking about a snorkel excursion through NCL

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Im interested as well. Cant wait for feedback

We did through Splash Divers out of Placentia. We were on Getaway in January. We took the ferry over out of Harvest Caye. I think Splash was trying to partner w NCL. It was awesome! Highly recommend!

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We did through Splash Divers out of Placentia. We were on Getaway in January. We took the ferry over out of Harvest Caye. I think Splash was trying to partner w NCL. It was awesome! Highly recommend!

 

 

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How much did you pay?

How much did you pay?

I think it was $95. We saw the most beautiful coral gardens I have ever seen. Well worth it.

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I realize this is an old post, but I'm having a hard time finding answers and hoping you can help. We are cruising to Harvest Caye in a few weeks and want to snorkel the reef. I'm incredibly concerned about missing the ferry and/or our cruise ship. How did the ferry situation work? The tour I'm looking at runs until 3:30, our ship leaves the port at 5:00. Does that sound similar to what you did? Hoping you have a great memory. 😉

On 4/9/2018 at 4:28 AM, shmooo said:

Hello!

 

I just purchased the NCL excursion for the Barrier Reef Snorkel in Harvest Caye. I see 0 reviews for this an from the little information I found online, it seems to be a fairly new excursion. Has any one been on this excursion and if so, care to share your experience?

 

Will be on NCL Getaway April 29 - May 6, Harvest Caye on May 2nd.

How was the snorkelling??  Anyone done the NCL excursion??

5 hours ago, steel1203 said:

How was the snorkelling??  Anyone done the NCL excursion??

I did not do the snorkeling through NCL because they didn't offer it on the Breakaway or it was sold out. We did our own snorkeling with Placencia Wildside Adventures. I can tell you Belize has some of the clearest water and lots of marine life. They have the largest LIVING reef in the world. Sadly Australia's Great Barrier Reef is pretty much dead. You will see amazing stuff if you are going to be by the reef. Does the description of the excursion say exactly where on the reef you'll be snorkeling?

2 hours ago, ninamb1973 said:

I did not do the snorkeling through NCL because they didn't offer it on the Breakaway or it was sold out. We did our own snorkeling with Placencia Wildside Adventures. I can tell you Belize has some of the clearest water and lots of marine life. They have the largest LIVING reef in the world. Sadly Australia's Great Barrier Reef is pretty much dead. You will see amazing stuff if you are going to be by the reef. Does the description of the excursion say exactly where on the reef you'll be snorkeling?

The website is a bit vague ......

Snorkel the azure waters of Belize's Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living barrier reef. This is a shallow water entry, well suited for beginners and intermediate snorkelers. 

Depart from the Harvest Caye Marina on one of our comfortable snorkel vessels for the short scenic ride to a beautiful site along the reef. This location is teeming with multitudes of colorful reef fish, co-habiting among the beautiful hard and soft coral formations, intermingled with sponges, sea fans and delicate sea anemones. Possible sightings of spotted eagle rays and schools of larger fish are quite common, large starfish, queen conchs and sea cucumbers also call this patch of the reef home. 

After snorkeling, re-board your boat and enjoy the return trip with complimentary rum or fruit punch while listening to Caribbean rhythmic vibes. 

So not sure where their tour will take us

6 hours ago, steel1203 said:

The website is a bit vague ......

Snorkel the azure waters of Belize's Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living barrier reef. This is a shallow water entry, well suited for beginners and intermediate snorkelers. 

 

Depart from the Harvest Caye Marina on one of our comfortable snorkel vessels for the short scenic ride to a beautiful site along the reef. This location is teeming with multitudes of colorful reef fish, co-habiting among the beautiful hard and soft coral formations, intermingled with sponges, sea fans and delicate sea anemones. Possible sightings of spotted eagle rays and schools of larger fish are quite common, large starfish, queen conchs and sea cucumbers also call this patch of the reef home. 

 

After snorkeling, re-board your boat and enjoy the return trip with complimentary rum or fruit punch while listening to Caribbean rhythmic vibes. 

So not sure where their tour will take us

Found this. https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/BPI_46/Barrier-Reef-Snorkel Has a bunch of reviews. I read the first few pages of reviews. Honestly, it doesn't seem too great. Doesn't sound like they take you to a good part of the reef. I did an excursion with an independent company for the same price and we saw some really great marine life. One of our two stops we swam with sea turtles, nurse sharks and a ray. Although, if you're a beginner this one might be good for you...

Think I will keep looking at my options.  Thanks ninamb 1973 😄

On 1/20/2019 at 9:36 AM, ninamb1973 said:

Found this. https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/BPI_46/Barrier-Reef-Snorkel Has a bunch of reviews. I read the first few pages of reviews. Honestly, it doesn't seem too great. Doesn't sound like they take you to a good part of the reef. I did an excursion with an independent company for the same price and we saw some really great marine life. One of our two stops we swam with sea turtles, nurse sharks and a ray. Although, if you're a beginner this one might be good for you...

How did you manage with the timing and the ferry? We're heading there through Harvest Caye end of February and still looking for something to do in Belize. Boat doesn't dock until 10am, and we leave at 6pm. To do a private snorkel tour I would have to book the ferry for 10-10:30 am and be the first off the ship, then the earliest I could meet a private snorkel company would be 11am. I've been told it's a firm 3hr window before the return ferry back, so I'd have to be back for my return ferry to Harvest Caye around 1pm. Not sure how anything outside of an NCL booked excursion is possible with those restrictions.

There is not a time limit for the ferry. First of all, the ferry employees understand the time restraints and absolutely don't want you to miss your ship out. Second, the snorkel company feel the same way. They do not want you to miss your ship. Cruisers are their biggest source of income, they don't want to screw it up. With that said try to purchase your ferry tickets from your cruise ship as soon as you board. They might give you a hard time, might even tell you it's sold out. My rep on NCL told me people miss their cruise ships all the time because of this ferry. Not true. It would be all over the internet if that was the case. They even told someone on my snorkel trip it was sold out. Not true. They want you to stay on their very expensive island and drain some more of your money... If they don't want to sell you ferry tickets you can buy them at the marina. Get off your ship asap and head straight to the marina (about a 15 minute walk). Keep in mind the local Belize time is most likely an hr behind ship time. So when you get off at 10:00 ship time it'll be 9:00 local. By the way, cruisers are the only people on this ferry. Our ferry left as soon as it filled up. They know people have places to be. Last ferry out of Placencia for us was 2:30 local time. (Not sure if they work their timing according to whatever ship is in port. Our port time was 8-5, so they might have a later ferry available if yours is leaving at 6.) The ferry got us back to Harvest Caye by 3:00 (4:00 ship time). Our all aboard time was 4:30 ship time. Time change doesn't help and makes it a little confusing, but like I said ferry crew knows when they need to get you back. Talk with them and explain your concerns, they get it and will tell you when you need to be at the marina in Placencia. Your snorkel guys will also know when you need to be back. Ferry captain and our snorkel guys knew each other. They work together. Email the snorkel company, let them know your timing they will make it work. I used Placencia Wildside Adventures, Conrad was very helpful. I probably sent him 20 emails before leaving, he answered them all. Very reassuring. I was a big ball of stress until we got there and saw how understanding everone is. Was the best day of our entire cruise!

On 1/28/2019 at 11:10 AM, ninamb1973 said:

There is not a time limit for the ferry. First of all, the ferry employees understand the time restraints and absolutely don't want you to miss your ship out. Second, the snorkel company feel the same way. They do not want you to miss your ship. Cruisers are their biggest source of income, they don't want to screw it up. With that said try to purchase your ferry tickets from your cruise ship as soon as you board. They might give you a hard time, might even tell you it's sold out. My rep on NCL told me people miss their cruise ships all the time because of this ferry. Not true. It would be all over the internet if that was the case. They even told someone on my snorkel trip it was sold out. Not true. They want you to stay on their very expensive island and drain some more of your money... If they don't want to sell you ferry tickets you can buy them at the marina. Get off your ship asap and head straight to the marina (about a 15 minute walk). Keep in mind the local Belize time is most likely an hr behind ship time. So when you get off at 10:00 ship time it'll be 9:00 local. By the way, cruisers are the only people on this ferry. Our ferry left as soon as it filled up. They know people have places to be. Last ferry out of Placencia for us was 2:30 local time. (Not sure if they work their timing according to whatever ship is in port. Our port time was 8-5, so they might have a later ferry available if yours is leaving at 6.) The ferry got us back to Harvest Caye by 3:00 (4:00 ship time). Our all aboard time was 4:30 ship time. Time change doesn't help and makes it a little confusing, but like I said ferry crew knows when they need to get you back. Talk with them and explain your concerns, they get it and will tell you when you need to be at the marina in Placencia. Your snorkel guys will also know when you need to be back. Ferry captain and our snorkel guys knew each other. They work together. Email the snorkel company, let them know your timing they will make it work. I used Placencia Wildside Adventures, Conrad was very helpful. I probably sent him 20 emails before leaving, he answered them all. Very reassuring. I was a big ball of stress until we got there and saw how understanding everone is. Was the best day of our entire cruise!

Thanks - this was incredibly helpful!  I contacted Conrad and hope to get enough people to do essentially a "private charter" for our time in Harvest Caye/Placencia on the 14th.  My wallet can't accommodate a true private charter for just the two of us. :)

1 hour ago, jenn117 said:

Thanks - this was incredibly helpful!  I contacted Conrad and hope to get enough people to do essentially a "private charter" for our time in Harvest Caye/Placencia on the 14th.  My wallet can't accommodate a true private charter for just the two of us. 🙂

Did he tell you that a private tour was the only way to guarantee getting you back on time?

Also what snorkeling site are you looking at doing?

FYI, we did Silke Caye. We got to swim with sea turtles and nurse sharks, also stopped at the reef and had an island lunch. We had arranged for the private tour, but the day we went out the water was choppy, so they put us on a bigger boat with 9 other cruisers. Dropped them off at Laughing Bird Caye then took us to Silke Caye.

23 minutes ago, ninamb1973 said:

Did he tell you that a private tour was the only way to guarantee getting you back on time?

 

Also what snorkeling site are you looking at doing?

 

FYI, we did Silke Caye. We got to swim with sea turtles and nurse sharks, also stopped at the reef and had an island lunch. We had arranged for the private tour, but the day we went out the water was choppy, so they put us on a bigger boat with 9 other cruisers. Dropped them off at Laughing Bird Caye then took us to Silke Caye.

Yes he did.  I would rather have the piece of mind anyway. Well, more for my partner than me as he is a first timer and a little nervous about missing the boat.  I have scared other travel partners by getting back to the ship exactly at the time we needed to be back by.  I am all about fitting in as much as possible.  :)   I've never been the person they announce over the loudspeaker though so all is well (in my mind at least).

I want to do Silk Cayes as that looks much better to me than the Laughing Bird Caye.  I loved interacting with the turtles and rays in Grand Cayman.   I am hoping to get enough people to go out on our own bigger boat - our own personal Norwegian Jade Valentine's Day snorkeling excursion. 

Again, thanks for the great review and all the details.  Your Tripadvisor review even pops up on their tour website.

I’m in the same ‘boat’:  planning a Jan 2020 Oceania.  Now that NCL owns them we are stopping at Harvest Cage.  I was first leaning toward hopping over to Placencia, but then read further and started fussing about return ferry times.  How early did you book with Wildside Adventures?

21 hours ago, catsngoats said:

I’m in the same ‘boat’:  planning a Jan 2020 Oceania.  Now that NCL owns them we are stopping at Harvest Cage.  I was first leaning toward hopping over to Placencia, but then read further and started fussing about return ferry times.  How early did you book with Wildside Adventures?

Via email. The name of the company is Placencia Wildside Adventures. There email address was listed somewhere on their site.

Does silk caye also have a healthy reef?