western caribean excursion reccomendations

[bethtogo]

We are sailing on carnival in april and wondering if anyone has done their research on the excursion options or has any reccomendations for us. We have two children with us, ages 11 and 14 and interested in a beach day, with snorkling from shore, a snorkling excusion where they take you out on a boat, possibly swim with dolphins - and swim with stingrays. Which islands should we do what on.... not into zip lining or cave tubing but possibly jeep or 4 wheeler to view island and or animals. We will be at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize and Rotan. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[KenMo]

I can help with Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

 

In Cozumel I think the kids would really enjoy Paradise Beach: http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com/

 

In Grand Cayman: http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/tours.htm

[sarahleebones]

I HIGHLY recommend Stingray Sailing (Grand Cayman)! Chip was awesome. Here's a link to my video on youtube:

 

 

and his website is stingraysailing.com

 

He has a great catamaran, the price is WAY better than the Carnival excursions, there WAS NO CROWDING on board...none. You could lay out front on the hammock sunning area or sit towards the back in the shade. Also, I had no idea what Chip looked like and as soon as we got off the boat I started scanning the port looking for a sign or something. Then a guy came up to me and asked "Who are you looking for?" and I remembered that on the email he told me to just ask anyone around there for Chip and they would point him out. Well, it just so happened that HE was Chip. That excursion was THE highlight of our trip. We will book it again if we return to GC.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

On our cruise in 2010, my husband and I did the Shore snorkel in Cozumel. We had a great time and it is very family friendly and good for snorkelers of all ages. The snorkel center has a deck side restaurant and bar with a small gift shop. The bathrooms and shower areas were really clean. Lockers were $2 USD to rent for personal items. We booked through the ship and it was surprisingly cheap for the great experience that we had.

 

Last Oct in Cozumel, we did the Isla Passion Twister boat excursion with the ship. It was really fun and the Island was beautiful. The excursion included an all you can eat buffet and open bar or soft drinks. In addition to water toys and the beach area, there was also a nice playground area with a tramboline. You can do this same excursion -via- catamaran.

 

Have a great time.

:)

[katiepe]

We are doing:

Chankanaab Royal Swim with the Dolphins Cozumel then snorkeling

Were doing VIV Cave tubing in Belize now ATV rental in Costa Maya

Tabayana Beach in Roatan

Native Ways Rays Reef and Starfish in Grand Cayman. They also have a tour that goes to Rum Point that everyone raves about

Spent a ton of time researching and these excursions were best for us.

[crichard312]

Swim with the dolphins in Cozumel is wonderful. We did this almost 10 years ago, and my children still talk about this today. YOu can spend all dayin the park too.

[SailAway911]

Highly recommend cavetubing.bz in Belize. It's my favorite still to this day. They took wonderful care of us and we had a blast.

[cccer]

In Cozumel do the Chankanaab dolphin swim, but book through them not the cruise line. You will get a much better experience spending a lot less money. We went the first time through Carnival and had a great time, but the 2nd time we did the royal swim and it was half the cost and well worth it.

Grand Cayman, I would do the stingray swim. We did that the first time and I was pretty cool. Two years ago we stayed on the ship and this year we plan to do the same. Not my favorite port. I really do not like the whole tender thing.

[Jman1118]

In Roatan, just relax at the beach as there is not much else to do

In Belize, go cave tubing. We went with Cavetubing.bz and I highly recommend them.

The others have too many wonderful choices.

[tocruzagain]

We did Isla Passion by catamaran last summer and it was beautiful! We re probably owing to do it again in April. Belize we have done the Land Rocvet excursion. It was great and out (now 10yr old) then 7yrs old still talks about it. It's our of the box because you get to go into the jungle, experience a suspension bridge, explore a cave, drive beat up Land Rovers, eat a Belizean style lunch (yum!) on a beautiful orange orchard and ride in a speed boat up the Sibun River where you be taken back to the ship. You want to be on the 2nd tour group not the first so that you finish by boat. We really got to experience a little of everything on this excursion. Grand Cayman...we did Stingray City, and the water out there on the sand bar was absolutely beautiful! As far as beaches there just stick with Seven Mile beach...much closer to the port area and lots more beach area to roam and less shells as you walk into the water than Rum Point. Roatan, we did the Dolphin encounter and Tabyana beach through the cruise line. Both were really nice. That end of West Bay where Tabyana beach is is really pretty. Costa Maya I cannot help you with because this will be our first visit there. I would love to maybe find a private dune buggy trip that will allow our 3yr old to go with us.

[marshalltp]

ozumel......for sure do Nachi Cocum......about $50 per person for all inclusive drinks, great food, and one of the most relaxing views of the beach and ocean you will ever find (they filmed the Corona 'Change of Lattitude' comercials there). You do have to reserve in advance however and they only allow 100 guests per day. If you go there, there is some adequate snorkelling off to your left near the dock, but nothing like Belize.

 

Belize.....make sure that you do a Carnival organized tour here. Although I would not go as far as to say it is dangerous, oh wait, I will go that far. The ruins tour is cool, but is a long day and quite a drive.....If you do cave tubing, this is the only tour I would recommend as doing independantly with Major and Minor Tom....*********************. As an alternative, you could go snorkelling/beach day and get picked up and dropped off by tender right at the ship.....Goff's Caye was awesome and I hear Bannister Island is quite good. The day we went to Goff's the current offisland was quite strong so I would recommend snorkelling there only if you are an experienced/stong swimmer (no real danger, just alot of work to keep fighting the waves and current)

 

Grand Cayman.....Stingray City is a must do independant tour. I highly recommend Moby Dick, although I have also read on these boards that Captain Marvin is also very highly regarded. Also take the time to get dropped off at 7 Mile Beach on the way back, it is quite nice and taxi/bus back to the port later are easy to find.

 

Roatan......Mahogany Beach (Carnival's Beach) is decent, but you really miss out on a beautiful yet impoverished country if you don't go exploring out on your own. For about $60 you can hire your own tour driver for the day to take you whereever you wish from Victor Bodden Tours. I would also recommend that for snorkelling you want to go to West Bay Beach or Tabayana Beach.

 

Have fun and hoped that this helps