Water taxi price went up!

[grizzy]

Just got back from the 5/9 sailing on Explorer. When we arrived in Belize on 5/11 there were signs posted all over the water taxi area that said prices increased on 5/9. It used to cost like $9 for one way to Caulker and $15 round trip (the water taxi website that I found still shows this price). The new price was $20 one way and $35 round trip. That came as a little surprise to me and my group as it was more than double what we expected to pay. Oh well.

Chris

[sddiver]

Chris,

Was that 20$ in US or Belizian dollars??? They use the same symbol and name dollar, but their dollar trades at 2:1 to our dollar. Thus 20$ BLZ is 10$ US. I can't believe the locals would put up with an increase of 100% on water taxi rates(that's how most locals get around the islands)
I wonder if it's a screw the tourists rate that is just for water taxi's originating from the cruise ship area. The locals may hav another landing with cheaper prices, this is very common in many ports. Most cruisers don't know this. In Cozumel they have a special rate sheet for taxi's that originate or end at a cruise ship pier that is higher than for any other destination near by.

Rich

[grizzy]

We said the same thing about the price being in Belizian dollars. The workers would not budge and pointed to like 4 signs posted all over the office that stated prices had gone up effective 5/9/04 due to outrageous gas prices. We got nowhere arguing with the guy that these prices couldn't be correct and they were already holding the taxi for us so we just paid it.
It's a little difficult to get to the water taxi stand in the first place. Every person you encounter after getting off the tender tries to sell you their tour/excursion. Several locals even told us you couldn't take a water taxi to Caye Caulker.
We may have been taken, but, no worries cause we had an amazing time at Caye Caulker!

Chris

[newbie2cruise]

it costs 8.00 and change almost 9.00, yes american dollars for one gallon of gas in belize so I can understand the rates change.

my first cruise
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;5;8;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] holiday family cruise
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=da70d6&cdt=2004;11;12;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise
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[img]http://www.bigotis.com/valorvampires.gif[/img]

[grizzy]

When the captain (I guess you would call him that) of the water taxi told us that on the ride over it helped to justify the increase. Like I said, it wasn't that big of a deal and we had a great time. Just wanted to give the heads up.

I still think we might have been taken [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img].

Chris

Pics of my 2004 Explorer cruise----> [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla"]http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla[/url]

[MrNobody]

grizzy...absolutely the best photos of Caye Caulker I have ever seen. Thanks for putting them on the board. We will be there in July. Any suggestions or advice?

[grizzy]

MrNobody,

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>absolutely the best photos of Caye Caulker I have ever seen. Thanks for putting them on the board. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I aim to please, thanks! We simply caught a taxi around 10:00 or so and asked to go to Majahaul. They dropped us off at the [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144808133ZgKphe"]northern end of town[/url] and we walked to what seemed like the end of town to [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144924127yKoipP"]Pez Quadro[/url]. We had some beers there and took a [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144924080WFYFay"]swim[/url].
From there we headed back north along the beach and [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144833968rgipTp"]stopped here [/url] for some more beers and some food. About 20 feet away was [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144924052ZdWqom"]this[/url] so we decided to have one done.
After that we met some of our friends across the street [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/145169398hfUHQJ"]at this place[/url] and had some more beers.
We then took one last [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144822739/144833657jKpzZz"]swim[/url] before heading back to the ship.

Something that mirrors that would be my advice for this island [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img].

Chris

Pics of my 2004 Explorer cruise----> [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla"]http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla[/url]

[grizzy]

My bad!!!!

I wrote you about our day in Costa Maya!!!! Must be post-cruise stupidity or something.

As for Caye Caulker we got the water taxi in Belize at 8:00 (10:00 ship's time) and once on the island found a [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144922135/145167289LnDqfH"]local guy[/url]to take us to the reef. After that we walked around [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144922135/145167375sQMnTv"]town[/url] and made our way to [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144922135/144924144TWtGMk"]the split[/url] and the [url="http://community.webshots.com/photo/144922135/145167392bDbMhU"]lazy lizard[/url]where we spent the rest of our short day. The only problem is you have to catch the 1:30 (3:30 ship's time) water taxi back since the next one doesn't come until 3:00 (5:00 ship's time). If you miss the 1:30 then I hope you brought enough money to buy an airline ticket back to Belize or to your next port of call!

Chris

Pics of my 2004 Explorer cruise----> [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla"]http://community.webshots.com/user/grizzyfla[/url]

[kapcruiser]

[size=3][color=magenta]What was the name of the water taxi company in belize that took you to caye caulker. Once you docked can you walk to the split. Also, we are bringing our own snorkel equipment, is there somewhere to snorkel there?:confused:[/color][/size]

[Lisa0719]

We are just back from the 6/27 sailing of the Paradise. We were in Belize on 6/29 and due to Coral Breeze cancellation ended up taking the water taxi to Caye Caulker. The price for the 12 of us was $17.50 american dollars per person. The price listed was $35 Belizian. The guy at the window automatically divided by two since the exchange is 2:1. We got the 10:30 local time taxi there and the 3:00 local time taxi back. This worked fine for the Paradise ship times. The 9:00 local would have been better, but the day before the Paradise made a detour to let off some critically ill passengers in Cozumel and we got to Belize about an hour late. No problems though, we had plenty of time to enjoy the split, a few Belkin beers, and the beautiful small island of Caye Caulker.

One small caution, on the way home in the water taxi, we ran into a torrential downpour. The crew gave us tarps to put over our heads. It was a little scary --- I had visions of seeing headlines about 12 American's lost at sea in the Carribean --- but all worked out well and we have another funny story to tell.

[charyoung]

How much did you pay the guy to take you snorkling? We have some one who wil pick us up from the pier at 10.30-take us snorkling and to Caye Caulker and bak to tour village at 4:30 pm for $35pp. Or we could just snorkle for $20pp for three hours. What should we do? Ship leaves at 6pm. With the time change, do we have enough time for the full day? Thanks!

[Travelitis]

Charyoung - Who is that tour operator? That sounds like a possibility for my family, depending on the snorkeling conditions.

[kapcruiser]

Lisa,


Did you have to book the water taxi in advance? Also, were you able to walk to the split, if so did you snorkel there?

[mrh]

Now I'm a bit confused. I'll be in Belize from 9 Am-6. Is this ship time or Belize time? To catch the 10:30 water taxi to CC how much time do I actually have?

[Travel Mom]

Did you take your reef photos with a regular under water camera then transfer them to disk?? Great photos. Thanks for all the Belieze info.