Goffs vs Caulker

[Vale]

Goffs Caye is only available thru Carnival excursions I believe whereas you can take a ferry to Caulker from what I've been reading here. Of the two which would you recommend for seniors who just want to go in the water to cool off and perhaps have some shade to sit under. Also is the ride out to Caulker on the ferry just as nice as the private snorkeling tours? Thank you!

[Beach Hunter]

Goff Caye is a small, uninhabited island. It has palm trees, a small beach, and good snorkeling. Locals usually visit it on weekends to barbeque. It does have a dock for getting off your boat.

 

Caye Caulker is has a very small town with places to stay and eat. It would be a long ride to get there by ferry and back to stay up with a cruise ship. But would be nice place to visit if you had the chance. Like most of Belize, swimming is done off a dock.

[Vale]

I read somewhere that Caulker has a sandy beach for swimming and you say there is only swimming off the dock??

[Melmo]

I thought I read that Caulker has a beach, but it isn't very nice. Is that true?

[mnsawyer]

We did Goff's Caye last week on the Glory. It was beautiful and the snorkeling was good. The boat picked you right up from the boat. I spoke with two ladies that went to Caye Calker on their own. The problem was that they couldn't get on a tender until 10;30 a.m. so they were very rushed for time. I believe Carnival does a tour to Caye Calker but includes other stops as well (shark alley - snorkeling, etc.). You don't have to snorkel on Goff's Caye - there are some picnic tables and palm trees. It's lovely there but will cost you $59 per person. It worked our perfectly for us - tour in the am - then back to the ship for lunch and a shower - then tender into town.

[Vale]

Wrote to the tourism dept in Belize and they answered very promptly. They said there are tour operators right off the tender piers that will take you to Goffs Caye for about $50 pp. however I haven't seen anyone posting here about that. Carnival's tour is now listed at $62 on their web site and only mentions one time at 12:30 p.m., besides there is a note that it is not available for our ship. It seems it would be worth the extra $9 to go with Carnival since they pick you right up at the ship. How are the beaches on Goffs. Everyone is saying that there are no beaches in Belize and you have to jump off docks to get in the water. We are seniors and I don't think we could manage jumping off docks and climbing ladders to get back up!

[astros fan]

We were in Belize in Jan. We knew we wanted to go to Goff's so we decided to catch a tour on the docks. Big mistake. We were only able to locate one company that went to Goff's and they were not going that day, because some other company had not filled their boat. I didn't understand it all, but they seem to be on some sort of rotation basis for tour companies. Long story short we didn't get to Goff's on this trip. We were all very disappointed. We love that little island.

[mnsawyer]

We sailed on Carnival and it was $59 per person and picked us right up at the ship and back. There is a dock where the boat drops you off on the island but you can swim right from the beach as well as snorkel - from the boat too. No worries about ladders unless you snorkel off the boat.

[mrmac]

The beach on Goff's Caye is really beautiful as is the whole little island. I love it. I can't find anyone else online to take us either. Carnival's tour off the Miracle in July is now $65 and only 3.5 hours total. We just want a ride out there and back for a longer time. Any clues anyone?

 

Last time we grabbed a seat at the chaotic Tourist Village and were lucky to get a spot. We never found the company we were booked with. Then the boat broke down twice. We could easily have missed the ship. But one of the passengers was a boat mechanic! He kept us going.

[snowcat]

Goff's Caye is beautiful and the beach.....basically most of the shore of the island....is great. We saw lots of pelicans there and the water was so clear! We loved it (we went on the Carnival Elation's excursion)

[cruise.freak]

We are going to Goff's Caye on 6/19/05 and are booking through ship Carnival Elation!

[AN123]

We were in Belize on 5/24 off the Carnival Glory. We booked a private snorkel tour with Coral Breezes (the best snorkel tour I have ever taken!!). We stopped at Caye Caulker to pick up snorkel gear and then after the snorkel had lunch in a bar and grill on the island. It is the most beautiful place. I wish we would have had more time on the island.

 

I tried to post one of the pictures that I have of Caye Caulker but I can't figure out how to do it. If someone can share with me how to do this I would be happy to post a few of the pictures of Caye Caulker. Yes they have sandy beautiful beaches and you can swim right off the beach. There is a water taxi that goes back and forth between Belize City and Caulker (leaves from Belize Marine Terminal and Maritime Museum). The water taxi ride is about 45 minutes or a small plane flies between Belize City and Caulker every hour (plane ride 15 minutes). There are resturants and shopping on the island. Locals can arrange for you to rent a golf cart since they only have 9 vehicles on the island, the locals get everywhere by golf cart or bicycle.

 

If you want additional information on Caye Caulker try either of these websites: www.btia.org or www.travelbelize.org

[MNcoop]

We were booked with Belize Rays to do a private tour and they cancelled on us at the pier. So we scrambled to get another tour. There seemed to be several tours that were offering Goff's Caye. We booked with one for about $40 per person. Here is my opinion:

 

For the extra money I would go with the ship tour. For one you get off the ship right away, the places on dock all seemed to leave around 11-12. Also I was a little nervous as to the safety of the boat. It was very choppy and we had a smaller speedboat crammed full of people. It literally felt like a roller coaster ride. My kids loved as they thought it was a blast, me being the cautious father could only think about the small boat hitting huge waves.

 

Also some on the boat thought they were going to be dropped off at thier ships at end of tour, however the 18 year old driving the boat said it was too rough and we would have to go into the pier. They only made it back with 10 minutes until the last tender.

 

Goff's is beautiful and it was great for young kids as well, but I would spend the extra money for peace of mind and do the ship tour.

[MikeR1267]

We used Coral Breeze for a snorkeling tour to Caye Caulker on May 24th while cruising on Carnival Glory. I know another post on this thread says it is the best tour they ever took, I disagree. If you have never snorkeled anywhere else it may be a nice experience but I doubt it. I was extremely disappointed. The first stop was at a shallow reef with little color and few fish. You were not permitted to snorkel alone but had to follow the tour guide in a two by two fashion. You spent half your time looking up in order to stay behind the pair in front of you. This may not be unique to Coral Breeze tours but may be a regulation, I don't know. I didn't like it. The second stop was at the Sting Ray/ Shark alley. Don't expect to see sharks. The guide even told us that they leave when the boat arrives because they shy away from humans. The sting rays were the only redeeming part of the tour and the experience was simliar to Sting Ray City in the Caymans. When we stopped for lunch on Caye Caulker, our daughters immediately received their chicken sandwiches but by the time my wife and I received our fish and chips (the last ones to be served) we had only 5 minutes left to explore the island. The food was cold and the portions extremely small and pretty tasteless. If you have ever snorkeled off of the public beaches (free) in Hawaii or Cozumel you will be extremely disappointed with the experience off of Caye Caulker, Hawaii is a hundred times better. There may be a portion of the reef that everyone raves about but it is not at Caye Caulker.

[cruisensoon]

We will be going on the Goff's Caye excursion in Belize as well. We will be on the same ship!! We will be the couple with the two boys, ages 7 and 11. See you there!

 

Debbie