Coral Breeze: Captain your own River Boat - Recent Reviews??

[Aviendah]

I found a neat "captain your boat" excursion through Coral Breeze Tours. It sounds like a great photo op with DH driving. We have a bass boat so this should be easy. The photos look awesome. It seems however that the reviews from a couple years ago are really good while the latest reviews are sketchy at best. Mechanical issues seem to be the biggest problem. Does anyone have a recent review of this excursion in Belize?? Thanks in advance!

New to Belize. Enjoy the thrill and freedom of captaining your own 14-foot rigid inflatable boat (RIB) as you explore the beautiful Belize River. As part of a floating caravan, you will have a unique view of Belize's lush tropical ecosystem and mangrove cayes. You will travel silently through the natural habitat of howler monkeys, manatees, crocodiles, iguanas, dolphins, and a dazzling array of bird life. If you can drive a car, you can pilot your own RIB. http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Belize/inflatable/boat/RIB/cruise/river/ecotour/current_category.15/Product.152/tours_add.html?t_product=152

 

[rasta]

I was sure hoping to get some fresh reviews of this tour as well.

[Luke gs Daddy]

We did it a couple years ago and enjoyed it. Going through the mangroves was cool, saw a few monkeys and enjoyed the senery. My personel opinion it was a little long still enjoyable.

DS,DW and myself.

I hope this helps.

[WackyWayne]

I would only suggest this if you are interested in an "adventure". ;)

 

We had major challenges with this excursion back in September. They were late to meet us at the Wet Lizard (the designated meeting point). They only had 2 RIBs/boats available for the 3 couples in our group. The guy that met us at the Wet Lizard (Tourism Village starting point) even told us they had 3 boats for the 3 couples. So make sure your reservation specifies the number of boats you expect. So one couple had to ride in the guide boat. One of the boats wasn't even an inflatable (anymore?). Our boat was nowhere near as nice as the boats in the picture or on their website. The boats were VERY hard to get up on plane and moving fast. Having my wife hanging over the bow to balance and trying to find the only trim setting for the motor that would plane was frustrating. Steering was very sloppy in my boat. Multiple mechanical/ignition problems in the other boat. No intercom or radio, so there is no communication once the leader is out of sight and no narration of anything along the way. When we turned around at the half-way point, there was no rest stop or bathroom break like the web site said... maybe we were running so far behind schedule we didn't make it as far along the river as we were supposed to? We never saw any life jackets. Going through the mangroves was fun, but challenging, so not for the faint of heart... you either have to go full speed on-plane or you crawl.

 

The guys that were in the guide boat were friendly, but I think they were stuck between the customers and poor management/communication/equipment, so they couldn't do much to improve things. It was a high stress day with lots of fears of a breakdown on a desolate river and missing the last tender home. There was surprisingly little other boat traffic or houses on the river, so it has a nice potential for an eco type tour. We saw a few monkeys and iguanas, but no manatees or anything in the water, but that may be weather/time/season dependent, so it isn't a reflection on the tour operators.

 

If I remember/searched correctly, this is where you change from the shuttle/taxi boat to the RIBs.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=13152762580563677928&q=Buca+Shell&hl=en&cd=1&cad=src:ppiwlink,view:smartmaps&ei=X7HfTubqIp6YpwSxzeDuBA&dtab=2

[Aviendah]

Thank you for the responses! WackyWayne, I appreciate the detailed review. I believe we are going to go to Bannister Island rather than risk this type of adventure with our children. It sounds great on the website but reviews lately tell a much different story.

[spideyfam]

I would only suggest this if you are interested in an "adventure". ;)

 

We had major challenges with this excursion back in September. They were late to meet us at the Wet Lizard (the designated meeting point). They only had 2 RIBs/boats available for the 3 couples in our group. The guy that met us at the Wet Lizard (Tourism Village starting point) even told us they had 3 boats for the 3 couples. So make sure your reservation specifies the number of boats you expect. So one couple had to ride in the guide boat. One of the boats wasn't even an inflatable (anymore?). Our boat was nowhere near as nice as the boats in the picture or on their website. The boats were VERY hard to get up on plane and moving fast. Having my wife hanging over the bow to balance and trying to find the only trim setting for the motor that would plane was frustrating. Steering was very sloppy in my boat. Multiple mechanical/ignition problems in the other boat. No intercom or radio, so there is no communication once the leader is out of sight and no narration of anything along the way. When we turned around at the half-way point, there was no rest stop or bathroom break like the web site said... maybe we were running so far behind schedule we didn't make it as far along the river as we were supposed to? We never saw any life jackets. Going through the mangroves was fun, but challenging, so not for the faint of heart... you either have to go full speed on-plane or you crawl.

 

The guys that were in the guide boat were friendly, but I think they were stuck between the customers and poor management/communication/equipment, so they couldn't do much to improve things. It was a high stress day with lots of fears of a breakdown on a desolate river and missing the last tender home. There was surprisingly little other boat traffic or houses on the river, so it has a nice potential for an eco type tour. We saw a few monkeys and iguanas, but no manatees or anything in the water, but that may be weather/time/season dependent, so it isn't a reflection on the tour operators.

 

If I remember/searched correctly, this is where you change from the shuttle/taxi boat to the RIBs.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=13152762580563677928&q=Buca+Shell&hl=en&cd=1&cad=src:ppiwlink,view:smartmaps&ei=X7HfTubqIp6YpwSxzeDuBA&dtab=2

 

We were one of the couples that went with WackyWayne. My boat kept stalling. Probably a half dozen times.

 

The "leader" had to get on my boat and restart it by taken the case of the motor and sticking a screwdriver in somewhere.

 

He kept blaming it on me. Saying I kept hitting the sticks in the water. This was total crap.

 

I would not recommend this excursion.

[WackyWayne]

make it go faster Spidey!

 

you broke it again Spidey!

 

going through the Mangroves (notice our boat is not an inflatable)

 

on the Belize River