Coral Breeze - So So

[FB]

We have just returned from our cruise and had arranged our excursion with Coral Breeze in Belize. I was not to impressed with the trip. I wished we had done the cave tubing. The boat was pretty full around 30 people. The first stop was snorkeling on the reef. We started to jump in the water and they soon realized that the current was very strong and that there was a rip tide, so life jackets were mandatory. Once everyone was in the water we broke off into three groups each with a guide. Some people got out of the water immediatley because they were not strong enought swimmers. We then started swimming thru the maze of crappy coral, being kicked in the face by other snorkelers trying to avoid coral because of the HUGE current. You had to put so much effort into swimming that you didn't have a chance to even look at the coral. I brought my underwater camera and took 0 pictures. Now I have to say this - The current is certainly not the fault of Coral Breeze but the excursion should have been cancelled, as many people came out of the water bleeding because of collsions with the coral due to the current. One of the staff said that it was the strongest he had seen the current since he had been there.

 

The next stop was shark ray ally. This was pretty cool. Again thought the current was very strong. and once you jump in the water the sharks are gone. One did swim by and I managed to get a picture. We will see how it turns out.

 

Our next stop was Caye Caulker and island off of belize. We were served lunch which was very good. We then rented a gold cart for an hour for $10. It was very cool driving around the island at your own pace. We had a Blast on the Island.

 

On the way back to the port the boat suddenly stoped we were all wondering what was going on and then they told us that there were dolphins beside the boat. There were 4 adults and one baby dolphin swimming around the boat and we were able to get many pictures. This made up for the bad snorkeling. Dolphins were eventually the hightlight of the trip for my wife, so I guess not all was wasted.

 

I must say that they run a tight ship, everything was in order and well planned out. The crew were amazing helping anyone who needed it and always did so with a smile. I'm sure that had the currents not been so bad that day this may be a different review. But in my opinion no one should have been swimming thru the coral with a current like that. TO DANGEROUS. My wife and I are very strong swimmers and managed not to touch any of the coral, others were not as lucky.

 

If you have any questions let me know.

 

FB

[rasta]

We may have been there the same day. I just didn't care for this excursion and still can't figure out why we had to stop at the island to pick up swim fins...seems like a waste of precious time. The staff was nice and helpful but the snorkeling into the current for mediocre coral was disappointing. Anyone booking this or a similar tour should realize you will spend at least 45 minutes in the boat EACH way. Add to that the 20 minute tender EACH way and you have very little time for any snorkeling or relaxing.

[jd63238]

My two sons, ages 9 and 13, and I did this excursion last week. First of all, Coral breeze was great to do business with. I highly recommend this excursion, but I also agree with FB, that the barrier reef snorkel portion of the tour was very strenuous. It was a very long swim, and it was all we could do to make the swim and we did not enjoy that portion of the excursion. We could not admire the reef due to just having to concentrate on swimming, and I had to help my two sons quite a bit. The second portion of the excursion though, made the day...The stingray/shark swim was awesome. the water was only about 4 feet deep and the stingrays were all over us, rubbing up against us like a bunch cats starving for affection. I recommend this tour, but just sit out first part if you are a weak swimmer. Most people in our boat did fine snorkeling the reef! Just be aware it is a long swim!

[BigDoug]

We did this excursion with Coral Breeze on 3/21. Yes, the ride to Caye Caulker is about 22 miles and takes about 45 minutes. However, the crew took that time to explain about Belize and the excursion. It was very informative. We did the shark/ray alley portion first. The water was about 4 feet deep and crystal clear. Got some great pictures of the rays and a couple of sharks that were hanging around. After about 40 - 45 minutes in the water we reboarded the boat for the five minute trip to the coral reef area. When we got back into the water, there was a strong current right near the boat. However, as soon as you got about 10 yards from the boat and near the coral, the current was much better. We had absolutely no problems navigating the coral and got some good pictures of the coral formations and the native fish. Overall, I would rate the trip a 9. This excursion was a much better value than the one offered by Carnival. The lunch at the Tropical Paradise Hotel was very good. The group discount they offer made it an even better value.

[bertie1023]

My family of 5 were on the Coral Breeze Shark Ray Alley/ Caye Caulker Tour on the NCL SUN during the week of 3/19-3/26.

 

For what we paid for other excursions on other islands, we did not feel this excursion was worth the money. The meal at Caye Caulker was a small plate of food. Our kids grilled cheese sandwiches were not grilled. It was just cheese slapped on with lettuce and tomato and when I asked for it to be grilled they told me that is how they do it.

 

I wish we were fortunate to get one of the only 2 golf carts available. We ended up having to walk down that main road on Caye Caulker and it was like walking in a desert.

 

We stopped at several of the beaches. But quite honestly, I don't enjoy being on a beach with my kids with dried up dog poop everywhere.

 

I think the people running the tour were nice, however I don't think they were efficient in our tour. All of our equipment and bait should have been on the boat before we did the snorkeling/shark ray alley....instead, they wasted about a good half hour at Mario's on Caye Caulker to pick up snorkeling equipment and bait.

 

In addition, the boat was extremely crowded. I think I counted 33 adults and 2 infants.

 

In the future, we will not be using Coral Breeze. We are willing to put out whatever it costs for a good excursion, but this one was sure disappointing! :(

[coloradoan]

Have to agree with a less than stellar rating for CB. We went on the Shark Ray on 3/31/05. Our first stop was for the sharks and rays, and the current was so strong at least 10 of us were swept away from the boat. They didn't want us to have fins or life jackets because they would disturb the rays, but, as a result we were at the mercy of the current. It wasn't just 4 feet deep either, it was over 5 feet deep, so, very difficult to get a toe hold and keep it. A few of us (including one guide) had to be rescued by another boat with park rangers. We did finally see some rays after getting back to the boat, but as mentioned earlier, we were swimming so hard to keep up with the current, there was no interaction with them, just watching them from a distance as we swam for our lives.

 

The next stop was the coral gardens, and though we now had fins and life vests, again the current swept a few folks into the coral and again cuts and scrapes resulted. My wife, daughter, and a few others skipped that part because they were so afraid and exhausted from the previous stop.

 

Our boat also stopped 3 times on the way back, but not for dolphins. The crew was busy fiddling with the gas lines and motors to get us running again. They stopped a 4th time for dolphins, which by that time, everybody just wanted to get back before we missed our tenders.

 

The poor tour guides did their best to try and give us a good time, but I think they felt so bad, they didn't even mention tipping them. We, as well as others did of course. My feeling was that these guys (Ivar, James and Guy) did their best just to keep us all from drowning!

 

Yep, our excursion with CB was definitely unbelizeable!

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

My friends and I were planning to book our excursion with CB but after all of this negative feedback I am not sure that we should anymore. Prior to this thread I heard positive things about the CB Snorkle excursion but now I will second guess that. Is there any other tour group that you would reccommend? What interested me the most about CB was making 2 stops, lunch and still time for the beach. It seemed like you were getting your money worth. I am debating if I should stick with this excursion or not.