Belize taxi and dive

[bearette]

We are wondering if Belize is like the other ports in the Caribbean where you can just get a taxi and ask them to take you on a tour or if you have to book something in advance? Also I have some divers in my group and the ships (we are on RCCL's Explorer) dive excursion is really expensive. i want to know if anyone has recommendations on a place to dive in Belize that isn't too pricey, but will be safe to use to get us back to the ship on time. We will be in port from 9am until 6pm.

[BobbieSu]

A tour of what?

 

There are taxis there but I would not trust them outside of the city, and there is not much to do or see in the city. Our tablemates took this option in Belize City. For three of them they had a three hour tour for $10 each. Not that they saw much. He did take them to where the "poor" people shop and they got some t-shirts. It was a very cheap alternative to the expensive tours in Belize, however I think their visit to Belize was incredibly wasted. When Belize has so much to offer why stay in the least attractive spot?

 

Su

[bearette]

We are not sure which tour we wanted to take yet so I can't be too specific on what. However what I was thinking besides a city tour was the ruins or a snorkeling tour. Kind of like if you go to Grand Cayman and they are all standing there with signs offering to take you to the Sting Rays or to Hell.

[BobbieSu]

There are independant tour guides on the pier so you can make last minute arrangements for snorkeling or cave tubing or maybe even a ruin tour. (Take a tour, not a taxi). Several of the tour groups you can read about on this thread will make early arrangements with you and yet they will still be on the pier trying to get more customers, so these are not all unknown companies.

 

If you want to dive, though, I would make arrangements ahead time and it might be better if you did it through the ship. It seems that most dive boats leave about 9am, you wouldn't be getting there in time.

 

Enjoy Belize, it is a great place to explore.

 

Su

[bearette]

The ships dive tours were expensive, all over a hundred dollars. I was hoping to find out you could use the same company and book separately for less money, but I am not hearing anything like that so that must not be the case. I heard diving is really good there so I assumed that there would be more dive information, but I am not finding much information.

 

So there are your guides if just show up. That sounds like what I would do. I don't like booking in advance in case the cruise has to miss a stop. I don't want to be charged for a change in the itinerary.

[BobbieSu]

Yes, diving is good in Belize. The reef stretches the whole length of the country, but for the most part you have to access it from a caye, which takes time, something that on a short cruise stop you don't have a lot of. If you take one of the company's that contract with the ship then you don't have to take the 15-30 min tender into shore just to backtrack right back out again.

 

It seemed to me that any tour in Belize was expensive. I kept trying to avoid paying out too much, but eventually realized to get the most out of my stop there I would have to.

 

Because we were on an all day ship tour we did not stop to chat with the five or six vendors at the pier with signs for tours to ruins or cave tubing, or snorkeling. I couldn't tell you whether it was cheaper to get them at the pier or not. The benefit of course being that you wouldn't have to decide ahead of time. Our friends who booked ahead of time with Belize Rays [and loved them] knew that there was a minimum number of people they needed before the tour could go. I think they said it took about an hour for the company to find enough people there on the pier to take the snorkel trip.

 

If you don't want to plan ahead, I'd get an idea of which companys are good and then look for them at the pier. Myself, I didn't want to take a chance to lose out on my day there and I am glad we made arrangements ahead of time.

 

Belize was my favorite stop, absolutely loved it!

 

Su

[bearette]

I would like to make arrangements ahead of time, but we haven't decided exactly what we would like to do yet. I like your idea of finding out the good tour guides and then looking for them at the pier. If we haven't decided by the time we leave we will do that. Thanks for your help.