Where to snorkle???

[jgraham625]

Going to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel in May. What is the best port to snorkle AND What excursion? We will be cruising Carnival Magic with my family. DD 18, DS 12, BIL 26, SIL 21. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[Will in sunny FL]

We choose to go with Coral Breeze Tours twice a year & really do enjoy their snorkeling tour, swimming with the Rays & Sharks & the local lunch on Caye Caulker. Heni, the group leader does an excellent job of showing her group all of the sites of the reef & she was born & raised on Caye Caulker. A real local gal.

Our most recent trip with them was 11/2011 & our next trip will be 4/2012.

Look up their site for the info.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[pitz0005]

This is what I posted in another thread. I see Bill in sunny FL posts daily about how great Coral Breeze is, but this is my take. If anyone has been to Grand Cayman, or Roatan you will find the hassle not worth the quality of the snorkeling in Caye Caulker. There is a video floating around here from a recent trip. Watch it closely and you will notice that 90% of the fish are yellow fin snapper. They are plenty pretty, but after you see 100 of them even that is boring. There is an eel there too, but I have seen those in both Roatan and Grand Cayman also. This is not a terrible excursion, but after doing it once I don't think it is worth the hassle. Bottom line is ou will spend a solid 7 hours traveling/waiting for 1 hour of snokeling; just not worth it IMHO.

 

This is what I posted in another thread...

 

Frankly I do not know why everyone raves about this tour. I have been on it twice now and both times we had the same experience. Depending on the ship, your day starts by waiting in line to get a tender ticket, wait in line to get on the tender, then take a 15-20 minute tender ride to shore. They tell you make sure you get the first available tender and to show up at the peir as early as possible. Once you arrive at the peir they sign you in and tell you they are just waiting on the other prebooked passangers to show up. In reality, while you are wasting your valuable vacation/port time they are busy trying to fill the boat by selling more excursions. Both times after waiting around more than an hour (after scheduled departure time) they start to load the boat. I don't know about you, but my port time is too valuable to waste sitting on the pier with nothing to do so they can get their act together. If you have never been to Belize you could spend some time walking around the port area, but there is not much to do/see.

 

Next you take off on an overcrowded (about 20 people each time) small boat for a ~45 minute boat ride. While it is somewhat senic, it is a little rough and boring after a while. Then you arrive at Caye Caulker where they waste another 20-30 minutes getting three pieces of fish to feed the stingrays later in the day.

 

Finally after at least 2.5 hours of waiting around (not including the tender time to shore) and riding in a boat you finally arrive at the reef. They now tell you that due to unforseen delays they have to shorten up the snorkeling to get you back on time. Here you play follow the leader for about 30 minutes before getting back on the boat. The snorkeling is fair to good depending on the day, but Roatan (Maya Kay or Tabyana Beach), Grand Cayman (Moby Dick), and St. Lucia (I know different area) are all better if you pick the right excurision. In Roatan and St. Lucia you can do it right from beach at your leisure and the quality is hands down better. Moby Dick in Grand Cayman is also a boat, but much better run. After another short boat ride you arrive at "shark ray alley". This is nice, but again you only spend about 20 minutes in the water and they do not give you food to feed the rays. The rays here are not nearly as tame as Grand Cayman and the water is deeper.

 

After spending no more than an hour in the water they ferry you back to Caye Caulker for lunch. The island is a neat place to see and the lunch is pretty good. Again due to the unforseen delays earlier you only have about an hour or less to eat lunch and roam around. Then it's back on the boat for anther 45 minute ride back to the pier or longer if you have motor troubles and have to switch the prop like happened to us one time.

 

They get you back in plenty of time to catch the last tender. Then you wait in another line to get onboard the tender for another 15-20 minute ride back to the ship. By this time it is 5:00 and the ship is pulling anchor.

 

Bottom line is you spend about 8-9 hours waiting in lines, riding tenders and little boats to snorkel for less than an hour. I realize Belize is a tough port with not many good options, but I cannot reccomend this tour to anyone. I have never booked an excurision through the ship, but in Belize I would see if you could find a ship snorkeling excursion. From what I have read and heard, most ship snorkeling excursions leave directly from the boat thus avoiding the tender. The price of the ship excursion is about the same or maybe even less. Yes there will be more people on the excursion, but you will be on a bigger boat also.

 

I know I am in the minority here, but I just wanted first timers to realize what they are getting into. Even if everything went as advertised/planned you are still waiting in lines and traveling in small boats to snorkel for a very short time.

[monicajay]

Pitz0005,

 

Thanks for your honest review. I would really like to snorkel in Belize but there doesn't look to be a lot of other companies offering this trip. On tripadvisor the reviews are mixed too and it looks like others have had their trips shortened too. Also, lately I have read they make you where life jackets rather than snorkel vests. That would be horrible.

 

Anybody know another company that has snorkeling and Caye Caulker?

 

If not, think we will stick to the water taxi to the caye and skip the snorkeling.

[pitz0005]

I am not aware of any other good options. If you must go to Caye Caulker and snorkle, I think Coral Breeze is the best option. Even though it is the best option, after doing it twice I still do not find it a good option. If they left on time I would still have mixed reviews. It makes for a long day either way for a fairly short time in the water.

[marshhawk]

When we cruised last time to Belize Carnival was still going to Goff's Caye, Which I enjoyed ,but my DH said that the reef was dead, not too many fish. He saw more fish 20 feet off shore in Coxumel than at Goff's Caye. Roatan is just plain beautiful, and I have read that snorkeling at Tabyana Beach is great(we are just doing on our thing at Mahogany Bay, but there too is an area to snorkle) If I had a choice for a snorkeling adventure, I would choose Roatan and not Belize at this time.

[jgraham625]

I appreciate everyones honest opinion. I had heard mixed reviews about Belize but I was so confused becuse it is supposed to be one of the best places to snorkle. I have not heard too many negative remarks about Roatan. I think I will snorkle there. Thanks again!!

[Will in sunny FL]

As we do not get to these places very often, we chose to snorkel in both places, as we might not get back to them.

Just a thought.

Bill in FL

[BrianB1964]

This is what I posted in another thread. I see Bill in sunny FL posts daily about how great Coral Breeze is, but this is my take. If anyone has been to Grand Cayman, or Roatan you will find the hassle not worth the quality of the snorkeling in Caye Caulker. There is a video floating around here from a recent trip. Watch it closely and you will notice that 90% of the fish are yellow fin snapper. They are plenty pretty, but after you see 100 of them even that is boring. There is an eel there too, but I have seen those in both Roatan and Grand Cayman also. This is not a terrible excursion, but after doing it once I don't think it is worth the hassle. Bottom line is ou will spend a solid 7 hours traveling/waiting for 1 hour of snokeling; just not worth it IMHO.

 

This is what I posted in another thread...

 

Frankly I do not know why everyone raves about this tour. I have been on it twice now and both times we had the same experience. Depending on the ship, your day starts by waiting in line to get a tender ticket, wait in line to get on the tender, then take a 15-20 minute tender ride to shore. They tell you make sure you get the first available tender and to show up at the peir as early as possible. Once you arrive at the peir they sign you in and tell you they are just waiting on the other prebooked passangers to show up. In reality, while you are wasting your valuable vacation/port time they are busy trying to fill the boat by selling more excursions. Both times after waiting around more than an hour (after scheduled departure time) they start to load the boat. I don't know about you, but my port time is too valuable to waste sitting on the pier with nothing to do so they can get their act together. If you have never been to Belize you could spend some time walking around the port area, but there is not much to do/see.

 

Next you take off on an overcrowded (about 20 people each time) small boat for a ~45 minute boat ride. While it is somewhat senic, it is a little rough and boring after a while. Then you arrive at Caye Caulker where they waste another 20-30 minutes getting three pieces of fish to feed the stingrays later in the day.

 

Finally after at least 2.5 hours of waiting around (not including the tender time to shore) and riding in a boat you finally arrive at the reef. They now tell you that due to unforseen delays they have to shorten up the snorkeling to get you back on time. Here you play follow the leader for about 30 minutes before getting back on the boat. The snorkeling is fair to good depending on the day, but Roatan (Maya Kay or Tabyana Beach), Grand Cayman (Moby Dick), and St. Lucia (I know different area) are all better if you pick the right excurision. In Roatan and St. Lucia you can do it right from beach at your leisure and the quality is hands down better. Moby Dick in Grand Cayman is also a boat, but much better run. After another short boat ride you arrive at "shark ray alley". This is nice, but again you only spend about 20 minutes in the water and they do not give you food to feed the rays. The rays here are not nearly as tame as Grand Cayman and the water is deeper.

 

After spending no more than an hour in the water they ferry you back to Caye Caulker for lunch. The island is a neat place to see and the lunch is pretty good. Again due to the unforseen delays earlier you only have about an hour or less to eat lunch and roam around. Then it's back on the boat for anther 45 minute ride back to the pier or longer if you have motor troubles and have to switch the prop like happened to us one time.

 

They get you back in plenty of time to catch the last tender. Then you wait in another line to get onboard the tender for another 15-20 minute ride back to the ship. By this time it is 5:00 and the ship is pulling anchor.

 

Bottom line is you spend about 8-9 hours waiting in lines, riding tenders and little boats to snorkel for less than an hour. I realize Belize is a tough port with not many good options, but I cannot reccomend this tour to anyone. I have never booked an excurision through the ship, but in Belize I would see if you could find a ship snorkeling excursion. From what I have read and heard, most ship snorkeling excursions leave directly from the boat thus avoiding the tender. The price of the ship excursion is about the same or maybe even less. Yes there will be more people on the excursion, but you will be on a bigger boat also.

 

I know I am in the minority here, but I just wanted first timers to realize what they are getting into. Even if everything went as advertised/planned you are still waiting in lines and traveling in small boats to snorkel for a very short time.

 

So with this all said, what would you recommend doing in Belize? I really want to snorkel and enjoy the nice water. Would love to see the Blue Hole but not sure time permits to do that.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Signed,

Confused

[BrianB1964]

As we do not get to these places very often, we chose to snorkel in both places, as we might not get back to them.

Just a thought.

Bill in FL

Do they really make you wear foam vests rather than the deflatable snorkel vests? That is not a good snorkel experience. I like to dive down to take pictures. Sounds like a baby snorkel trip.

[queenteacher]

Do they really make you wear foam vests rather than the deflatable snorkel vests? That is not a good snorkel experience. I like to dive down to take pictures. Sounds like a baby snorkel trip.

 

Yes, I confirmed this on Thursday, Feb 9, 2012. I want a good snorkel place where we don't have to wear vests and swim with the masses!

[Colorado Kat]

I would choose to snorkel in Roatan. Head over to the West Bay beaches, and there are tons of great spots.

[dst]

OP - Best snorkeling will be in Roatan, great tour guides will bring you to the West Coast, you can also do the majority of the snorkeling from the beach :)

 

Cozumel is not bad for snorkeling either, you can find a number of snorkel companies. We have gone to Paradise Beach for years and you can always grab an excursion right there.......the reef is beautiful.

 

Belize - we have snorkeled but it is quite the adventure to get any where to make it worth while. Nice if it is your first time but next time for us we will zip line or do some other sort of excursion.

[dst]

So with this all said, what would you recommend doing in Belize? I really want to snorkel and enjoy the nice water. Would love to see the Blue Hole but not sure time permits to do that.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Signed,

Confused

 

We have done snorkel excursions, cave tubing and next trip may try to zip -

 

all were fun, cave tubing was more fun than I thought it was going to be

[T_Bone2012]

 

 

Bottom line is you spend about 8-9 hours waiting in lines, riding tenders and little boats to snorkel for less than an hour. I realize Belize is a tough port with not many good options, but I cannot reccomend this tour to anyone. I have never booked an excurision through the ship, but in Belize I would see if you could find a ship snorkeling excursion. From what I have read and heard, most ship snorkeling excursions leave directly from the boat thus avoiding the tender. The price of the ship excursion is about the same or maybe even less. Yes there will be more people on the excursion, but you will be on a bigger boat also.

 

I know I am in the minority here, but I just wanted first timers to realize what they are getting into. Even if everything went as advertised/planned you are still waiting in lines and traveling in small boats to snorkel for a very short time.

 

This is pretty much an accurate description. We only left 15 minutes late from Belize city, and did get a good 1-1/2 hours of snorkeling in. It was definitely a follow the leader type tour, which I expected since we had 15 people from 12yrs old to 75. I found it kind of humorous that Hedi had fish with her the whole time so a large school of fish followed her everywhere! Caye Caulker is nice, but we did not get to spend much time there. Belize is tough to visit from a cruise ship unless you book your own private tour and do not have to wait on others, plus the fact that the best snorkeling is an hour boat ride away. It was also one of the best reef's I have snorkeled on - great colors, and some great variations of coral.

 

Here are my videos from our trip in January.

 

 

http://youtu.be/ErrOlz2BzJg

 

We enjoyed it so much that we are going back for a whole week this winter. If I had it to do over again, I would zip line in belize and snorkel in Roatan.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

This is pretty much an accurate description. We only left 15 minutes late from Belize city, and did get a good 1-1/2 hours of snorkeling in. It was definitely a follow the leader type tour, which I expected since we had 15 people from 12yrs old to 75. I found it kind of humorous that Hedi had fish with her the whole time so a large school of fish followed her everywhere! Caye Caulker is nice, but we did not get to spend much time there. Belize is tough to visit from a cruise ship unless you book your own private tour and do not have to wait on others, plus the fact that the best snorkeling is an hour boat ride away. It was also one of the best reef's I have snorkeled on - great colors, and some great variations of coral.

 

Here are my videos from our trip in January.

 

 

http://youtu.be/ErrOlz2BzJg

 

We enjoyed it so much that we are going back for a whole week this winter. If I had it to do over again, I would zip line in belize and snorkel in Roatan.

Thank you for the videos. I enjoyed watching them.:)

[Sargent_Schultz]

I liked our Coral Breeze adventure and took lots of pictures. I would encourage you to live your own life and decide for yourself. I've done shark ray alley several times with different companies and it certainly is worth it to me.

 

04 - Wed, Nov 16, 2011, Belize - 8am-5pm

Page1 - Bridge, Tenders, Kicking up mud, Tendering, Ship from tender, Fort Street Tourism Village, Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion,

Page2 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Snorkeling part, Green Moray, Shark/Ray part,

Page3 - Coral Breeze/Hammerhead Watersports Shark/Ray Snorkeling and Caye Caulker Excursion, Sharks and Rays, Lunch on Caye Caulker, Tender back to ship

Page4 - Room Service (Chocolate Cake, Vegetable Sticks, Roast Beef on French), Lido, Sushi Bar, Sushi Menu, MDR Dinner. Elvis, Lido at Night,

 

you don't have to book the tour through Coral Breeze. You can also book through Wet Lizard.

 

 

I have my own snorkel gear and was allowed to use my deflated snorkel vest and not required to wear anything bulky.

[T_Bone2012]

I liked our Coral Breeze adventure and took lots of pictures.

 

Great shots - What type of camera do you use?

[Armedaneian]

There is a tour operator on Caye Caulker called Star Tours. They offer a 3 hour snorkeling trip to the barrier reef. In addition to the extra time spent in the water... you can actually go under water! They offer, but do not require, vests! :D

[Sargent_Schultz]

Great shots - What type of camera do you use?

 

Thank you!

 

For the underwater shots and for that matter, all pictures once we left the cruise ship - a Canon D10. It works for me but is not the newest of what is available. My biggest complaint is the D10 only has a 3x optical zoom but otherwise is a rock solid camera. The odd picture or 2, 3, whatever, that has too much yellow is because I screwed up and left the camera on underwater setting.

 

The camera I used on the ship is a Nikon.

[Captain Carnival]

Anyone do or know anything about this one? http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/BelizeBeachSnorkeling.htm

[Will in sunny FL]

Sorry but we are not familiar with the tour shown.

For about the last ten years we have only snorkeled wi th Coral breeze Tours & it has always been a great time with Heni & her crew.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

[skyfire53]

We choose to go with Coral Breeze Tours twice a year & really do enjoy their snorkeling tour, swimming with the Rays & Sharks & the local lunch on Caye Caulker. Heni, the group leader does an excellent job of showing her group all of the sites of the reef & she was born & raised on Caye Caulker. A real local gal.

Our most recent trip with them was 11/2011 & our next trip will be 4/2012.

Look up their site for the info.

Enjoy Belize.

Bill in FL

 

 

I agree completely abut that tour...it was the most awsome excursion I have ever done!!!! :D

[Armedaneian]

I've never gone with Coral Breeze, but almost did after reading all their praise here. :rolleyes: Fortunately, before I paid the deposit, I found they REQUIRE LIFE VESTS to be worn by all snorkelers! :eek: To me, and anyone with real snorkeling experience, that would be miserable! You might as well be on a glass-bottom boat if you can't dive down for a closer look! In addition, this tour only spends 45 minutes at the reef... there are tours that spend hours there!

 

I understand a tour is only what you make of it and it's great that some people find this tour to be awesome, but if their experience is always with the same company, what kind of comparisons can they make! I'd bet a bird that spent it's whole life with it's wings clipped, thinks a short flutter to the ground is the most awesome flight ever!

 

If you really enjoy snorkeling, do your research. Shop around for tours leaving out of Caye Caulker, or consider shore snorkeling from another island. Whatever you do, consider your source and the variety of experiences they've had. The bird in question may have never soared through the clouds! ;)

[skyfire53]

I've never gone with Coral Breeze, but almost did after reading all their praise here. :rolleyes: Fortunately, before I paid the deposit, I found they REQUIRE LIFE VESTS to be worn by all snorkelers! :eek: To me, and anyone with real snorkeling experience, that would be miserable! You might as well be on a glass-bottom boat if you can't dive down for a closer look! In addition, this tour only spends 45 minutes at the reef... there are tours that spend hours there!

 

I understand a tour is only what you make of it and it's great that some people find this tour to be awesome, but if their experience is always with the same company, what kind of comparisons can they make! I'd bet a bird that spent it's whole life with it's wings clipped, thinks a short flutter to the ground is the most awesome flight ever!

 

If you really enjoy snorkeling, do your research. Shop around for tours leaving out of Caye Caulker, or consider shore snorkeling from another island. Whatever you do, consider your source and the variety of experiences they've had. The bird in question may have never soared through the clouds! ;)

 

 

When we went in Dec, they gave us vests, but all we did was lay accross them when we wanted to rest because you cant touch the coral to stand up....we werent required to actually put them on. There were a couple of people that needed to wear them in our group, but it was pretty much up to the person if they wanted them or not..My DD didnt even have one with her....:)...and I did the Captian Morgan snorkel and sting ray city in Grand Cayman and IMHO, this one was sooooo much better than that one, that is why we are going back to Belieze this Dec instead of back to Grand Cayman...