Belize and SANTO TOMAS DE CASTILLA Excursions

[AuTiger7]

What excursions would you recommend for Belize and SANTO TOMAS DE CASTILLA? Should we book through NCL or outside vendor? Do you tender at each port?

[mactrio]

Belize is a tender port, Santo Tomas is not. What are you interested in doing? Sightseeing? Ziplines? Cave tubing? Ruins? Beaches? There are tips and suggestions under the ports section.

[AuTiger7]

Belize is a tender port, Santo Tomas is not. What are you interested in doing? Sightseeing? Ziplines? Cave tubing? Ruins? Beaches? There are tips and suggestions under the ports section.

 

We are interested in Beaches, snorkeling and/or maybe ruins. We usually just do snorkeling but I would like to do something different this time.

[GORDONCHICK]

We took a fantastic humanitarian tour with Go With Gus (learned about him on the Guatemala port board) in Santo Tomas. We brought school supplies with us and went with a group of college students from our ship who had brought paint. Gus had two boats take us to a school and clinic literally in the middle of nowhere. We handed out school supplies and the college kids painted the medical clinic. We really saw the non-touristy part of Guatemala, and we hope to go again with Gus!

 

roofing in Guatemala:

 

the school:

 

DH & DS handing out school suppliesL

 

 

college boy teaching DS how to paint:

 

DS with kids, learning how much he has to be thankful for:

 

dugout canoe Guatemalans use to travel the rivers:

[mactrio]

We are interested in Beaches, snorkeling and/or maybe ruins. We usually just do snorkeling but I would like to do something different this time.

 

Last year in Belize we did the Altun Ha Ruins & the Old Belize River; this time we will do the ruins in Lamanai & the new Belize River. In Santo Tomas we just did a bus tour of Puerto Barrios & Santo Tomas and then we spent the day at the port enjoying the music & dancing inside the huge shopping area.

 

We have friends who went to Banister Island in Belize and they loved it.

[Zeno]

We have been to Belize twice.

First time, we did the Lamanai Ruins - loved this tour - it is a long day but lot of variety (bus ride, boat trip with animal sightings, ruins, lunch).

Second time we did Snorkeling + Banister Cay - we were a bit disappointed but it was OK.

(Safety issues were NOT well-handled on the snorkeling part of the tour and I was not overly impressed with the beach at Bannister Cay (I found the water somewhat murky) but it was OK). Others have enjoyed Bannister - so it could just have been the day we were there.

 

We have been to Guatemala once and did a day at a resort (name slips my mind). We enjoyed this - the beach was not particularly nice but the pool was great, the (included) food was decent and the staff very friendly and helpful.

[STARFISH*4]

just got back from Belize did the ALTUN HA ruins & Belize city with NCL...GOOD tour...amazing to see even in the rain--

going again in dec this time hubby will do cave tubing-i will be looking around for something else to do

havent done Guatamela...will be there in dec also

[flashdog_1]

Read as many reviews as you can to get ideas of what is available. Usually privately arranged tours will be smaller in number and therefore cover more territory than a big bus full thru NCL. Prices are competitive, too.

 

In Santo Tomas, the first year it was offered as a port of call there were not many excursions offered, so I hunted out hotels that might already have an excursion program in place. Most of those tours did not meet the hours of the ship's arrival, however.

 

I did find one, casarosada.com in Livingston (next to the above named Gus's hotel) and communicated for weeks with owner Javier Putul who arranged a tour for just 6 of us (Gus has twice that many in his boat). None of us knew one another before the cruise. We simply talked on the roll call.

 

We ordered our lunch before we set out on the Rio Dulce (translates as Sweet River) which is pristine. Most of our time was spent in the boat, about a half hour from the port across Amatique Bay to Livingston. Off the large navigable river we turned into a tributary & stopped at a school, too, in the middle of the jungle, saw lots of tropical birds and tiny bats. After native lunch of tapado & coconut bread, salad, & key lime pie at the hotel, we walked around Livingston, a town reachable only by boat, then he took us back to the ship an hour or so before necessary, so we were not at all worried about missing the ship. This was all carefully planned out weeks in advance. We all believed this was the best tour of the cruise.

 

Next time I am there I will definitely go to the ruins of Quirigua' which has the tallest stellae in the known Mayan world. I think the ship offers this tour either by land or by sea with lots of walking. Take mosquito spray for this tour.

[parrothead0918]

DW & I recently did the NCL excursion "Raider of the Lost Mayan Caves" in Belize. We immediately included it as one of our favorite excursions. You explore Mayan caves and during your time there you twice cross over from one side of a cave to another on rope bridges, have to get down on all fours to go from one cave room to another, rappel down a 20-30 foot drop, and zipline over a valley from one cave opening to another all while enjoying the natural beauty and structures of the cave and surroundings. We felt it was very safe. The cave was not illuminated by anything other than all the lights attached to our helmets. it was unique and quite a lot of fun and yes, a little pricey---but we would do it again.

[Toyz711]

quirigua is a different type of mayan site, it's known for it very high stellaes (limestone carvings) that show the history of a king and his sons.

our tour guide was very careful to point out and explain everything about the stellaes. there are quite a few of them, with no shade for the tourists, it can get hot. it does have a ball court and a few mayan buildings. as with any mayan site, it's still be uncovered (slowly).

many of the tours will travel in groups with escorts for protection. we felt very safe the whole time.

lamanai is outstanding, the jungle has protected the the site from the wear and tear of mother nature and tourists. as it's so hard to get to this site, very few cruise ships offer tours. during our visit, we had 23 people in our tour, about the same number from another ship (except for following their boat, we never saw them at the site) and 1 private tour that was running through the site. there were more howler monkeys that people at lamanai. just have to be careful and wear good walking shoes, the path is not paved. you need to be able to step over roots, rocks and slippery stone steps.

[PnkyandtheBrain]

We just completed our visit on the Spirit to these, and used NCL for Guatemala (San Felipe Fortress Tour) and then Vitalino (cavetubing.bz) in Belize.

 

In Guatemala, we did the tour via NCL because I couldn't find good information about local guides. The bus ride there and back is almost better than the fortress (its a neat ride through the country showing lots of scenery and local residents).

 

In Belize, Vitalino can't be beat. He has great guides and handles the tubing, zoo, ziplines and also Maya and Nature tours. You won't be disappointed if you use them, I'm sure of that.

 

Be advised in Belize, NCL has gone to a "ticket" system for tendering. The seas were a bit rough on our stop (2/4/10) and we were issued tickets for group 1 of the non-NCL tour holders. We had to wait 2 full hours before they would let us off the ship :( In the meantime tenders were leaving with NCL tour groups on them with open seats in the boats.

 

Fortunately, Vitalino was waiting for us, as all of his tour that day for the tubing was coming from our ship.

[cruzeluver]

We've done cave tubing in Belize twice and love it. We booked with Major Tom, he and his team are terrific!!

[HERKIMER417]

When DW and & visited Santo Tomas, our ship was only the 2nd one to do a port stop. The locals went all out to make us feel very wanted.

 

I had worries about communications but that proved not to be the case. Gus had been a cab driver in NYC for over 25 years and many of his workers are from the states.

 

The tour leader we had was a nice young man from Houston. Visited the area - fell in love and stayed.

 

We did the Rio Dulce and Mayan school tour - really an eye opener.

 

The kids in that school travel by dug out canoe and live in a wall-less home in the middle of a jungle and yet are dressed in clean jeans and bright white shirts. It makes the students in the states look really bad.

____________________________

In Belize, we did the cay snorkeling tour. The water was OK - not many fish to see. The bigger problem was the boat was in need of repairs. If you were not very athletic you would not have been able to climb back in. The burgers on the island were so-so, as well as the other snacks. The manatee part of the trip was nothing- only bubbles and mud slicks when they moved.

 

The prior year we did the cave tubing - that was great. Head lamps to see inside the cave and good safety procedures were monitored.

 

Stopped on the way back for some chicken and rice - again very good.

 

herkimer417

[PokerDave]

Go with Gus humanitarian tour as mentioned previously I would highly recommend...

[hon2u]

What excursions would you recommend for Belize and SANTO TOMAS DE CASTILLA? Should we book through NCL or outside vendor? Do you tender at each port?

 

Another huge endorsement for the humanitarian tour with Go With Gus. :D :D

We just returned two weeks ago and it was simply amazing!

I will be posting an in depth review with pictures soon.

 

Gus is a wonderful man the the people of Guatemala are truly special.

I adopted Gus as my new Guatemalan Dad! ;)

I hope to do a land based trip in the future and stay with him.

 

I rank this as one of my top excursions ever. :) And I've been fortunate enough to do some awesome things.

 

Another hint....be on the promenade deck facing the port about 10 minutes or so before sailing away from Guat. ;)

[tb37]

we enjoyed snorkeling in belize and the rum punch they provide. prior poster was right about safety. it was sort of a here you are there you go debacle but nonetheless it was pretty. not to mention our guide kept saying sNERkeling. it was adorable.

 

we did the rio dulce trip in guatemala. a must do. i cannot stress enough go with gus see with steve visit with val... i dont care how you get there but you must go there. one of the most memorable things i have ever seen/experienced.

[dropanchor1]

Go with Gus was one of the best tours we ever took. In Belize the Howler Monkey sanctuary is awesome. You get up and close with Black Howler monkeys.

[fireboss]

We are interested in Beaches, snorkeling and/or maybe ruins. We usually just do snorkeling but I would like to do something different this time.

We went to ruins in Guatemala and down Dulce river with Happy Fish demand Fred for tour guide we cave tubing in Belize and zip line alot of fun snorkeling is good in Belize need to take boat out we went scuba diving in Coata Maya first time for all of us really professional great cruise except cold Monday and Saturday on ship the spirit had 3 great shows dancers were less than other cruises

[cdncruzer]

We did the Barrier Reef Snorkeling & Beach Break booked through NCL.

 

It was a long ride from the pier (after an equally long tender in to the port) to the reef site. Water was rough at the reef but the majority of people were able to get out and snorkel. The tour had ~121 people with only 4-5 spotters in the water. A few snorkelers got too far out over the reef and had to be bought in by the spotters, so safety, to me, was a bit of an issue. The captain was constantly scanning the waters with binoculars to assess any safety issues...but I feel they could have used a few more in the water nonetheless.

 

They were very good with first-time or nervous snorkelers and would provide constant attendance or provide additional flotation devices to make you more comfortable.

 

After snorkeling, rum punch/refreshments were offered. The beach site (Bannister Island) was very nice and allowed ample time to swim, play volleyball and enjoy a few refreshments. All in all, we had a good day with this tour.

 

If you need some pix to check it out, let me know and I will post a few.

[AuTiger7]

We did the Barrier Reef Snorkeling & Beach Break booked through NCL.

 

It was a long ride from the pier (after an equally long tender in to the port) to the reef site. Water was rough at the reef but the majority of people were able to get out and snorkel. The tour had ~121 people with only 4-5 spotters in the water. A few snorkelers got too far out over the reef and had to be bought in by the spotters, so safety, to me, was a bit of an issue. The captain was constantly scanning the waters with binoculars to assess any safety issues...but I feel they could have used a few more in the water nonetheless.

 

They were very good with first-time or nervous snorkelers and would provide constant attendance or provide additional flotation devices to make you more comfortable.

 

After snorkeling, rum punch/refreshments were offered. The beach site (Bannister Island) was very nice and allowed ample time to swim, play volleyball and enjoy a few refreshments. All in all, we had a good day with this tour.

 

If you need some pix to check it out, let me know and I will post a few.

 

Please post pics.

[cdncruzer]

Here you go...some pix of Belize and the excursion. Click on pix...

 

[Azure Moon]

I haven't been to Guatemala yet, but have been to Belize twice.

 

First trip we went to the Belize Zoo and City Tour. Booked this through the ship (Carnival). Loved seeing the animals native to that country.

 

Second trip we went on the Lamanai and New River Tour. Booked this through the ship (NCL) Loved it. Interesting and very memorable to climb the temple and see the site.

 

This excursion made for a full day. From tendering to the port from the ship, taking a bus ride to the boat dock for the trip on the New River, slowing down and/or pausing briefly along the way to see wildlife (crocodile, small bats, birds, iguana, etc.), once at the dock to the ruins sitting down to eat lunch, take a quick look in a building with information about the area, then walking to the temples, ball court, climbing a temple, seeing the howler monkeys, then taking a boatride back to the dock, doing some quick shopping at vendors tables before hopping back on the bus to go back to port. Once at port we had a few minutes for shopping before grabbing a tender back to the ship (Pearl).

 

For anyone interested in Belize and the Mayan History, I recommend watching a television program called "Cities of the Underworld" which airs every once in a while (very erratic :rolleyes:) on the History channel. Check out the website, it's possible to watch an episode there, I think. Anyway, there is an episode about the Mayans. It talks about several sites - Lamanai is one of them! Very interesting program :cool:.

[cruiserzia]

We did the cave tubing in Belize through NCL. We had a great time and the lunch they served us was better than most of what we got on the ship. Our teens said the cave tubing was second only to the wave runners as their favorite activity on the cruise.

 

We got off in Guatemala and "winged" it. Didn't do so well. Got ripped off by a company called Happy Fish that arranged a trip to a private beach via a water taxi. Our teens wanted to do banana boat rides and wave runners again. (Which he assured us they had.) Charged us $30 per person round trip and promised to stay there until we wanted to return. Nice quiet beach with good service at the restaurant/bar. Had a kayak and a trampoline. Nothing else. They left us and another company contacted them to come back and get us, so it was a good thing we started our return early because we sat on the dock for about a half hour. There was another group at the beach that had been told by Happy Fish that the fee included food and drinks. They were not happy!

 

When we returned to the port we spoke with the Tourism manager on duty and he convinced Happy Fish to return some ($5) to each of us. It was at least something.

 

The beach was good and it costs $5 to enter and the water taxi is $6 round trip, so it would be easy to do it on your own.

 

Other friends of ours hired a taxi in Guatemala for the day for $100 and saw all of the sights including the beautiful waterfalls. (Which Happy Feet told us were dry that time of year- Not!)