*Belize and Roatan-Snorkeling*

[krummdog]

Hey guys,

Just wondering about some good places to go snorkeling in Belize and Roatan. Either beach access or boat access is okay for us. We are going on the Carnival Legend this March and were just looking to see if we could find to nice spots to go snorkeling in Belize and Roatan!(:

 

Thanks

[idlenote]

We went last year on the Legend, some really wonderful snorkeling. We chose to do private boat excursions in both ports and it really paid off.

 

Belize we went to the reef off of Cay Caulker, you actually swim out through the surf to the ocean side. There was eight of us plus the guide and the boat crew.

 

Roatan we did the trip out to the reef and came back and saw the sting rays and the nurse sharks. There was ten of us plus the guide and the boat crew.

 

I found both trips through the ports of call board, the cost was about $125 for the two of us for each one and I know we really got our moneys worth. DW is not a real strong swimmer but they got her in the water on both trips and she was absolutely thrilled.

 

The highlight for me was when we swam over the two eagle rays, magical!

[krummdog]

Thanks for the input:)

Do you by chance remember the names of each of the excursions you used?

[idlenote]

Belize was Cay Caulker Exploration and Shark/Ray Alley Snorkeling through Coral Breeze Tours. Be warned on this one, on their web site they show a large boat with plenty of cabin space to keep you out of the sun. If they don't have enough people they will use a smaller boat with no shade at all. We almost didn't go when the boat pulled up and we saw the lack of shade, but in the end we went and it turned out to be a wonderful day and well worth the little bit of sunburn. Guide and boat crew were great.

 

Roatan was Upchaya Snorkel Tour. You definitely know you're in a third world country on the ride from the ship to the boat. The place were you go out from is owned by a couple of Americans, nice people. The guide and the boat crew were excellent, they really went out of their way to make sure you saw everything there was to see. This was also a little easier, even though we were again on the edge of the reef the waves were not as heavy.

 

Both were fairly long swims, I would say an hour to an hour and a half, but the boats stay close so if you start getting tired it's not a struggle to get back to the boat. I did have my vest on and it really helped me towards the end.

 

We're going back next year, I 'm not sure if I will do both of them again, I will definitely do one of them, but don't ask me which one, could easily be either.