2nd time in Belize w/ teens - excursions?

[BradyBunchCruisers]

We were in Belize last year with two of our teens and went cave tubing with Major Tom (great tour, great experience).

 

We'll be sailing again to Belize in June, this time with an 8-year-old and several additional teens in tow. Since most of us have done cave tubing before, we were hoping to find a different excursion that would satisfy everyone's interests this time. I was looking for a trip to Lamanai, but CCL doesn't offer any excursions. I found an outside excursion through Island Marketing, but frankly I've read a couple of reviews that made me nervous about booking through this particular outside entity (as far as getting back to the ship on time goes). I also couldn't see anything listed about timing for that particular tour, and of course, I'm concerned about trekking around with an antsy 8-year-old for 7 hours.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for other activities? Just to give you an idea of what we're doing in other ports, here's the rundown:

- In Cozumel, we're doing the Nachi Cocum Beach trip

- In Mahogany Bay, we're doing a private tour w/ Victor Bodden (monkey/zipline/snorkel/west end beach)

- In Costa Maya, we're going to Chaccoben and Bacular (7 Colors) Lagoon

 

Other than cave tubing, there seem to be several options, like snorkeling (Barrier Reef, Goff's Caye, or...?), visiting Altun Ha, or just enjoying a beach day at Bannister Island. What would a bunch of active teens enjoy most?

[crewsweeper]

IMO, if the teens and the 8yo like to swim and can snorkel, a snorkel excursion, ship or private, off a boat on the Barrier Reef would be a great addition to your line up. Private will be less of a cattle call. I would skip the shore/beach snorkel attempt from Bannister or Goff's Caye. These can turn into more adult oriented party trips. and it's not necessarily the best snorkeling to see fish and coral. If they're not going to be burnt out on ruins, Altun Ha via the river Wallace is a good trip with potential sights of gators and other wildlife. But Chaccoben will be a better ruin to see. I'm with you on the long trip to Lamanai with antsy kids.