Bannister or Caye Caulker?

[holdon216]

Confused on this one....Caye Caulker looks to be a rush, rush boat ride. Is Bannister closer to the pier? Has anyone out there in Cruise Critic land gone to both these Islands? Can you tell me which you preferred and why?

Thanks soooo much!!! Just want to snorkle some, beach some, shop some. In a PRETTY PLACE. :)

[CHSGrl]

Same here. Debating whether to go to Bannister or take water taxi to Caye Caulker

[holdon216]

Pllllease someone???

[World Gallery]

I would love to hear some opinions also. We have been to Belize several times and are really wanting something different. Last year we wanted to go to Caye Caulker but "chickened out" and went to Bacab, a ship's tour. This was a disappointing tour. We have already done cave tubing and the zoo also. There was a couple on our tender last year that went to Caye Caulker and had a great time. Therefore, I we are really leaning toward it. On the other hand, Bannister is so tempting because it is close and it seems that you can take the ship's tour straight to the island.

Maybe this can be helpful to some. This was one review from the cruise ship's website about Bannister (so therefore, I would love to hear more. There seems to be both good and bad about both places!):

Long day on a small beach December 19, 2009

After arriving in Belize City, we boarded our 20-min tender to Bannister Island for our beach break. Please be aware that once you arrive at the island, there is not option to leave until the 4 hour duration of the excursion has ended. The beach was large enough for the group of tourists who were there that day. There was very little in the way of snorkeling, although we were lucky enough to find a live starfish just off the beach. Visibility was poor. The facilities include a bar, a restaurant, and "gift shop", which was extremely limited in offerings. There is also a small play area for children. There is kayak rental available. There is adequate shade available.

 

We were traveling with our children, ages 8 and 5 years. In our opinion, 4 hours was too long for this excursion. It could have been improved with the option to return to the ship, or to the port on an hourly basis. Our kids had a good time collecting shells, and playing in the water, but take your water shoes. The beach is full of shells until you are about 6 feet out.

[joy1rn]

We were just in Belize 2 wks ago. We took an excursion to Caye Caulker with Coral Breezes because they did not get enough people to go to Bannister as we had originally booked. They asked if we wanted to switch excursions or take a refund. Since we wanted to snorkel we switched. There is no beach at Caye Caulker. WE went snorkeling which was our main interest but had chosen Bannister for some beach time also. We had about 1.5 hours on Caye Caulker and just walked around and then ate and had a drink in a bar. Not much to do really but interesting to see anyway.

[cruisegal40]

I am wondering the same thing. All over the place it says to make sure you have an excursion in Belize. I am considering doing the snorkle and beach or just the beach. We are on Liberty RCI and I am wonder if there is anything else included? Seems to me we are paying for transportation and lounges. The price for one is about $46.00. Yikes. I don't think that provides for food or drinks either.

[lah66]

I just received an email from Coral Breezes saying our trip to Caye Caulker next week (we are on the jewel) was cancelled due to not enough interest. Instead they offered us the Bannister Island, snorkeling and Manatee watch. We were really looking forward to snorkeling with the sting rays. Has anybody done the Bannister Island/Manatee watch? If anybody is on the Jewel with us next week and wants to do Caye Caulker, let me know, maybe we can get enough interest to bring the tour back! Sounds like Coral Breezes has this problem a lot!

[holdon216]

Do i have this right??? Caye Caulker has no beach, and Bannister has "not so good snorkling." Now what??? Has anyone ever gone to Belize and if they ever went back they would do exactly the same thing again?? I am looking for a "not to miss" place.

TY

[innola]

We took the Coral Breezes boat to Caye Caulker for the day and loved it. We didn't do the snorkeling, just went to the island. We loved the feel of the island and the people were so nice. We stopped at Femi's and then at the Lazy Lizard, by the Split, and we did a little shopping at the art gallery and among the other vendors. The Coral Breezes crew - Greg and Heni (sp?) and the rest were friendly and lots of fun. I think we were on the island from 11 am to 2:15 or so. We would have liked a longer time there, but the ship was leaving at 5, so we had to get back. The Coral Breezes people cater to cruise ship passengers so they're pretty careful about their timing. I would go with them again, and I definitely plan to go back to Caye Caulker.