CORAL BREEZE - Best tour company in Belize!!!!!!!!!

[5oclocksomewhere]

The CORAL BREEZE LIMITED is the best tour company in Belize. My wife and I just returned from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory. Our stop in Belize was the best of all the stops. We pre-booked a snorkeling excursion with Coral Breeze weeks before we left on our cruise. Their excursion packages are cheeper than the excursion offered on the ship and they pay attention to every detail.(Just for the record, I heard several complaints from several people on our ship about how disappointed they were in there expensive excursions that they had booked through the ship). When we told them what we paid and how much fun we had, they were kicking themselves for not doing there homework before they left and just settleing for what the ship was offering.

 

First, these people are so nice and welcomed us with open arms. They gave very precise directions to the meeting place for the excursion (which was right at the port where we tendered into from the cruise ship). Their staff were full of smiles and made us feel at home. They were knowledgeable of all the sights as we traveled to our excursion destination (Caye Caulker). Caye Caulker is a beautiful island and is Belizian in the true sense (dirt roads, beach shacks, very friendly locals, great food which is included in the price of the excursion).

 

Snorkeling with the harmless sharks and rays was really awesome. The guides put your mind at ease explaining that these marine life are harmless and enjoy us as much as we enjoy them. The swim through the reef is INCREDIBILE!!!!! Lots of colorful fish, lobster, huge sea shells, and snow white bottoms incorporated with super clear water made for the swim of a lifetime.

 

The food at the beach front "shanty" is spectacular!!!!! We had the Belizian chicken with rice and slaw.(Be sure to ask for the Belize hot sauce). Our guide ate with us made us feel right at home while answering everyone's questions about the island and Belize. He also walked with my wife and I as we toured the dirt streets of the island and directed us to an ocean front locals bar where we had a cold drink and met a few more locals hanging out there. We felt as if we had known these guys all of our life. All the time the guide kept easing our mind about returning to Belize City to get back on our ship. We were back with plenty of time to spare. I am going back to Belize just because of my experience with Coral Breeze. I want to do another excursion with this very fine company and would HIGHLY RECOMMEND them to anyone visiting Belize.

 

Craig and Melissa Smith

South Carolina

Carnival Glory 3/26/05 - 4/2/05

[LostFan#1]

Enjoyed your review - we're going on Carnival Elation mid-June and are seriously looking into this excursion, so we appreciate your positive comments. A few questions for you:

 

1. Did you have two snorkeling stops? Or just the one with the rays?

 

2. Approximately how long did you get to snorkel in both spots?

 

3. Was the current strong or manageable?

 

4. Did you have to snorkel as a group, or could you go your own way (within reason)?

 

Thanks,

Debbie

[AngieS]

Hi

We also did this tour week of 3/19 with our teens 13 and 15. It was awesome. To answer your questions

1. There are two snorkeling stops. We first went to shark ray alley and the boat anchors. You can stand ..water only about 4 ft deep.

2. Can't remember but we must have been there at least 45 minutes - we were never rushed..plenty of time for pics and petting the rays

3. We then went to the Coral gardens near the barrier. We all had to wear life jackets and flippers and there were 3 guides...one in front, one in the middle and one bringing up the rear. Yes there was a current but really with the flippers and jacket it is no big deal. I was a little tired but it was great. The guides would point out stuff to us along the way. We had to stay in a line as there are some narrow passages between coral. I think it must have been about 20-30 minutes...had such a good time didn't count! For your own safety you have to stay with the group. We had at least 2 hours at Caye Caulker afterwards so there was plenty of time to snorkel on your own there!

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Thank you for the positive feedback. I have been hearing terrible things about this excursion. I hear that a lot of people got minor cuts from the coral at Coral Gardens. Besides your review, I haven't heard anything good about Coral Gardens. Thanks again. :)

[LostFan#1]

Thanks, AngieS. I was hoping for plenty of snorkeling time, and your answers reassured me. Snorkeling off the beach as a possibility hadn't occurred to me. That should help me get my "fix"!

 

Debbie

[lilmsonry]

Thanks so very much for posting about Coral Breeze. We are so looking forward to Belize due to Paul at Coral Breeze....truthfully, wasn't excited about Belize to much until Paul.....wish we could port there 2 days instead of 1:rolleyes: ! I gotta question, my kids are picky eaters....not too much on different foods.....pretty bland...what are the choices, anything specific to kids? Thanks!:)

[zydecocruiser]

The food choices are listed under the FAQ:

 

http://www.coralbreezelimited.com/FAQ.16/current_category.31/faqs_detail.html

 

I had the chicken burrito and it was good. The stewed chicked would also be a good choice.The rice is down with coconut milk. Some posts seem to indicate displeasure with the grilled cheese, but I have no experience with.

 

Also, the picture on the website is from the restaurant they used to use - the Rainbow Restaurant, which has similar food, but I would rank a notch better.

http://www.iguanareefinn.com/rainbow.htm

[sndgirl22]

Thanks for the great review. You made me feel like I was back there. I can't wait until our next cruise, this time I think we my try cave tubing.

[RenSea]

Has anyone walked up and got on thier tours? Family cant deside but Im sure this is what we should do. We have snorkelers/nor snorkelers and some who want to deep sea fish. Want to kind of stay together but be allowed something for everybody.

[lilmsonry]

Zyde, thanks for the link.....that answers my questions and concerns!!:)

[boatbunny]

My family just returned yesterday from Explorer. We were in Belize last Tuesday and did Shark Ray Alley with Coral Breezes, I cannot say enough about how great a trip this was. The crew was excellent, informative and very funny. Our 2 main guides were Hieni and David.

 

We made a brief stop at Caye Caulker on the way to the Coral Gardens to drop off some passengers who opted to spend the day on the Caye at one of the beaches. We were there less than 10 mins.

 

Our first stop was the coral gardens for snorkeling. It is about a 40 min boat ride from the pier in Belize, but they entertained us during the trip with information about Belize. On the way there, they passed out snorkeling equipment so that once we were at the site, everyone was ready to jump in. We had our 2 DD's with us, a 5 and 8 year old, both of whom have been snorkeling before (quite extensively last year in Maui). However, our 5 year old was apprehensive about snorkeling at the gardens because she could not see land, so her and my husband turned back to the boat. Myself and my older daughter continued on, and David stayed right by our side in case I needed any assistance. He kept bringing up shells and pointing out different things along the way. There is one section of the gardens where the current is a little strong, David took my daughters hand at this point to help us get through this section.

 

Next stop was Shark Ray Alley, this was sooo cool. They start by tossing out fish to attract the sharks to the boat. Within minutes there were several sharks of various sizes going around the boat and coming up right along side the boat. My daughters were able to lean over the side and touch the sharks, and my oldest actually fed one of them. The sharks only hang around for a few minutes, and by this point the rays were all around the boat as well. We then jumped in the water , about 5-6 feet deep, and swam with them for about 20 mins.

 

Then off to the Caye for lunch. It was a very good lunch, although with picky eating small children, I did bring peanut butter sandwiches for them. We were able to spend about a half an hour exploring the Caye, it is pretty small. We were a little disappointed because the shops (not many) were closed so we couldn't purchase any items. The Caye is absolutely beautiful though.

 

The crew was VERY aware of the time to make sure we made it back to the pier in plenty of time to tender back to the ship. We never felt rushed, but they made sure the pace kept up so that we didn't have any issues. Sure enough, we were back at the pier at least an hour before the last tender.

 

I will not hesitate to book future excursions with Coral Breezes and strongly recommend them to anyone. One great perk on our crew was that David is also a singer and has recorded a CD which he had available to us to purchase for $10. A great souvenire of our day in Belize with some fantastic people!

[kdlucky]

Ok, I just got off the Glory on Saturday and we did the Coral Breeze excursion. I had read rave reviews and when you have very high expectations, you may be a bit disappointed. The CC'er who wrote that the shanty food at the beach was 'spectacular' is out of his or her mind! It's not that it was bad but far from spectacular. Based upon the size of the group touring that day, you're either served in the restaurant where you choose from a menu OR in our case we were served the buffet outside under a tent. They had chicken pieces, white rice, rice mixed w/black beans, friend fish strips and coleslaw and punch. They serve you and they definitely do not have enough food to go around. My two daughters were each served one chicken wing. When they asked for a second piece we were told others had to be fed. I was served one chicken leg and I knew to eat every piece of my rice because I was hungry. We ate after snorkeling, at approximately 1:45 boat time which means we were all hungry. My husband was served either a thigh or breast. NOTE: Bring a plastic baggie with a sandwich from the ship so you have enough food...you will not regret it.

[RenSea]

Thinking of doing this tour and not the lunch. Are there other places close to get food? Some in our party may go deep sea fishing, I guess they should bring food from the ship.

[boatbunny]

Thinking of doing this tour and not the lunch. Are there other places close to get food? Some in our party may go deep sea fishing, I guess they should bring food from the ship.

 

 

There was a bar there that you could get other food (you paid). I agree with the poster about the quantity of food, they loaded you up with the rice and beans, but you did only get one piece of chicken. The food was not the highlight of this tour, but I didn't expect that it would be. We brought our own snacks as well. And for the kids, I brought along bread and peanut butter and made them some sandwiches (Skippy has the new squeeze tube that is so easy to travel with!).

 

But, my oldest DD did try the rice and she hasn't stopped talking about how good the white rice that was made with coconut milk was! She's a pretty fussy eater, so I guess I have to figure out how to make it this way now!

[pambam]

When we booked with Coral Breeze I had emailed Paul and wanted to book with them. I got the date wrong that our ship was stopping in Belize. Paul corrected me and knew the ship's itineraries better than we. If he had not we would have booked the wrong day and missed the tour.

These guys were great and we had so much fun.

We had two spots to snorkel. First at the Barrier Reef and then Shark Ray Alley.

The first stop we had gotten in the water andthe current was very bad which is not a common occurance. The tour guides were quick and effeciant at getting everyone out of the water and back onboard and made up for the stop later with some fun chasing dolphins and seeing some other areas.

I had been to Shark Ray Alley before with a ship's tour and we enjoyed it enough to want to do it again. Saw a lot of Rays and tropical fish and it was lovely....but no sharks.

With Coral Breeze we saw sharks up the wazoo! They seemed to know exactly where to look for them and put us smack in the middle of them. It was aawe inspiring swimming with these creatures of the deep. Also saw zillions of Stingrays which the guys pulled out of the water for everyone to pet. I did not want to get out of the water.

The guys were great with my kids and took them to help drive the boat. The guys were so interactive with the guests and interacting with our small children.

We went next to Cay Caulker for lunch and some strolling around the shops. Did I mention I LOVE Belize. Move there???Twist my arm...uh no problem! When?

It was a great day I didn't want to end. We really loved the tour guides and I would never spend money on a ship's tour again. It is so much better going with the locals. Nobody knows the area and island like they do. You get a lot more of the local flavor and they are not so structured like a ship's tour so you are so much more relaxed. And you will save a ton of money! I highly recomend these guys if you are stopping in Belize!

[softbmom]

I have seen their website (Coral Breeze) and am really interested in booking. I have e-mailed them a couple of times, but I can find no address or phone number to contact them for reservations. We are going in June, so maybe you have some information on them. Thanks!

[shannonh]

I am pretty confident that we will book with Coral Breeze, also, but have a question. Similar to a previous poster, we are going for the snorkeling. Once on Caye Caulker, how decent is the snorkeling from the beach? We are interested in spending a lot of time snorkeling.

[tortugas]

we just returned today from valor, did the caye caulker excursion thru coral breeze and loved it. Our excursion did not include lunch, but we ate at the same restaurant the tour did. I had the stewed chicken with rice and beans and slaw, and it was quite spectacular. Yes, I say spectacular, in light of the SLOP we ate on Valor all week!!! And it was only $5!!!!!

 

When we were there the shops were all open... but we were beaching it so we didn't go in too many. We went into one advertised as an art gallery, and they had some beautiful things, but not cheap. I was eyeing a mermaid oil painting, about 12 x 14, and it was $150... perhaps it was an option to bargain, not sure, but that's more than i would have paid at home, so no mermaid for me :-(

 

a great excursion, and would not hesitate to recommend coral breeze.

[Reebster]

I just returned from the Norwegian Sea, and I took Coral Breeze's Shark Ray Alley tour and loved it. Heini was our guide, and she did a tremendous job. On the way out, we briefly spotted a manatee. Also, they stopped the boat when a few dolphins were sighted so that we could get pictures. After a quick stop to pick up gear, we spent about an hour at the breathtaking coral reef, then moved on to Shark Ray Alley. We saw several nurse sharks and stingrays, and it was really quite spectacular. The sharks took off after a few minutes, but the rays hung around the whole time we were there. Our group consisted of only nine people, so it wasn't crowded and we all got great views.

 

Lunch was decent (I had the stewed chicken) and afterward we had about an hour to explore Caye Caulker. We made it back with plenty of time to spare, and they even took some time on the trip back to search for more manatees, but unfortunately we didn't spot another one. We made it back to the tourist village with plenty of time to spare.

 

I highly recommend both the tour and Coral Breeze!!!

[MikeR1267]

We did the Coral Breeze tour to Caye Caulker and the Shark/Sting Ray Alley on May 24th. I was extremely disappointed. The reef is unremarkable with relatively few fish when compared to the snorkeling off of the public beaches in Hawaii or Cozumel. You had to follow a guide in a two by two fashion through the coral and were allowed no time to snorkel on your own (may be a regulation, I don't know). We didn't see any sharks in the water at the second stop except for a couple when we first pulled up and then they were gone. The stingrays were all around as we expected and that is always a nice experience, very similiar to the tour in the Grand Caymans. Ever who said on this thread that the food provided on Caye Caulker was good sure had a different experience than we had. The lunch was the worst I can remember. Portions were extremely small, cold and tasteless. Our daughters received their orders immediately while my wife and I were the last ones served in our group and it took forever. We had five minutes left to explore the island. Try the snorkeling in Cozumel, you'll enjoy it much more.

[JACO]

Hi

 

I just returned on Sunday May 29 from cruise on the Miracle.

 

Three of my group used Coral Breeze Limited for Cave Tubing in Belize.

 

They could not have been more pleased. All said it was the best excursion they had ever taken and the people in charge could not have been nicer or more helpful.

 

One note though. They got tender ticket early and told Carnival they had private tour booked and were allowed to leave on first tender.

 

A group of four did not do this, were at least 35 minutes late meeting the tour and consequently made the tour group returning almost missing the last tender.

 

So, if you book this tour through Coral Breeze (and I recommend you do) just tell Carnival people you have private tour booked and they will let you on earliest tender with no hassell.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Jaco