Caye Caulker

[willowcreek1955]

Can you get a ferry from the pier to Caye Caulker? If so, how much is it, and how often does it run? We were originally booked on an excursion to Caye Caulker, but do not want to spend so much time there. Thanks!:)

[boatbunny]

Just in Belize on Explorer, I found this website before we went, here is the page for how to get to Caye Caulker (outside of an excursion)

 

http://www.gocayecaulker.com/gethere.html

 

They indicate how far it is from the airport, but I have no idea how close it is to the pier you will tender into from the ship. .

 

We did the Shark/Ray tour with Coral Breeze,

 

http://www.coralbreezelimited.com/current_category.15/tours_category.html

 

The tour started with a 40 min ride to Caye Caulker where we dropped off passengers who were just spending the day on the Caye. Then we went off to snorkel and then swim with the sharks and rays. Then back to the Caye for lunch and about an hour of exploring.

 

If you did just the beach day at Caye Caulker, I would guess that you would be there about 3 to 4 hours. You may want to read the Coral Breeze site (click on Beach Day in Paradise) because they talk about the fact that you don't walk through Belize City to get to their taxi (they meet you right at the pier where the tender drops you off) and they get you there earlier and return you sooner. So something to consider. You are highly advised through the cruise ship not to wander around Belize on your own, this is still very much a third world country and there has been some uprising there (we did not see anything, I think they have the cruise port well protected). So, you may want to consider this as a safer route.

 

Also, I noticed in the Water Taxi picture that the boat is uncovered. The Coral Breeze boat is covered. The sun is VERY strong there, you may think that a half hour is not along time, but it is, especially since you are on the water.

 

If you scroll through these boards, you will see Coral Breeze has a good reputation and our day with them was great. We were back in enough time to have almost an hour to shop before catching a tender back to the ship (tender ride alone is about 20 mins).

 

Please feel free to ask any questions about the Caye, we did explore on foot for about a half hour, which was enough time to see the main area of the Caye.

[RenSea]

Coral Breeze offers the beach day for 5 hours at a price of $39. The water taxi is $17 RT and you can leave when you want. Why would I book Coral Breeze? Do they have a private area for thier guests? Other then the covered boat what would be the differences?

[boatbunny]

Coral Breeze offers the beach day for 5 hours at a price of $39. The water taxi is $17 RT and you can leave when you want. Why would I book Coral Breeze? Do they have a private area for thier guests? Other then the covered boat what would be the differences?

 

I don't know what Coral Breeze's excursion includes as I didn't do just the Caye portion. I would suggest emailing them from the website I provided in an earlier post, they were very responsive to my questions.

 

You will also need transportation from the pier to the taxi area if you opt for that route, although I am sure it wouldn't be that much. I would suggest finding out exactly what times the taxi runs, keep in mind that this is not a service provided only for cruise ship passengers, this is transportation for the residents. Many of them live on Caye Caulker and "commute" back and forth to Belize. 3 of our tour guides lived on Caye Caulker. Also, when looking at the times for the regular taxi, keep in mind that it will be on Belizian time. When in port, you are usually still on ship's time. We sailed Explorer from Miami, so we were 2 hours AHEAD of Belizian time. Depending on which city in the US you sail from, it will be either an hour or 2 hour time difference. So be very careful you take this into consideration to insure you return to the pier in Belize City in enough time to get back to the pier and to take a tender back to the ship.

 

Coral Breeze is catering to the cruise ship passenger, so they are very conscious of the time. Just something to consider, although I agree that a $22 difference in price is a little high if CB is not offering anything else in their price.

[mnsawyer]

I spoke with two ladies who went to Caye Caulker on their own during our Glory cruise in early April. The issue they had was they were not allowed to get a tender until 10:30 a.m. ship's time which left them little time. Unfortunately, this is an issue when you are at a long tender port like Belize.