Coral Breezes-Great

[jrlaurie]

We just returned from Explorer of the Sea's. We booked the Shark/Ray Alley excursion with Coral Breezes. We met at the scheduled place a few minutes early. Waited for the others to show up and then boarded our boat. We had about 15 or so people on this excursion. So not crowded at all. We stopped at Caye Culker to get snorkling supplies.

 

Our 1st stop was at Coral Gardens. We all got out of the boat, paired up with a partner, and played follow the leader around the coral. You do have to wear a life jacket here, and they tell you a few ways to wear it. They said it is to protect the coral, and the police (not sure what they are called) do come around to check and will fine them, they were there checking us when we returned to the boat. There was always one of the operators there pointing something out for us to see and take pictures of. My DH is not a great swimmer so he didn't like having to try to keep up with others, he just wanted to float around and look. But it was not diffcult. We spent around 30 minutes there.

 

Then off to the sharks and rays. On the way, one of the operators (sorry can't remember name) came around to tell everyone alittle about Belize, showed us where things are located on a map. It was great to jump in the water with sharks that we knew wouldn't hurt us. However we were told that once the engines are turned off, they become shy. The stingrays however are not. They were everywhere, and you would see the sharks every few minutes. You were able to pet them, and it was weird watching the stingrays and then seeing a shark. Again we spent about 30-45 minutes there.

 

We were off to Caye Caulker. Our lunch order had already been taken and was ready when we arrived. I' am a picky eater so I ordered the chicken sandwich, however my DH ordered the local dish, which was stewed chicken, I tried that and it was better then mine. Had a beer and a coke, and then walked around a bit. Not much to see on this small island. However we didn't have alot of time. I did wish we had more time to explore, but that just gives me another reason to take another cruise :D .

 

Coral Breeze's was great, had no problem getting back to the ship on time. Even had time to shop afterwards, though we decided to tender back and beat the crowds. If you want a great tour, with people who care about the island, this is the company for you. Any questions please ask.

[RenSea]

What time, ship time, did you meet them and where? We are not positive we want to commit to 5hours so thinking we may try some walkup biz to theCaye.

[jrlaurie]

RenSea-We met them at 9:00 Belize time, which was 11:00 ship time. When we got off the tender boats, we just made a left and walk down about 3-4 mins to a different teminal and met them at the Wet Lizard. Very easy to find. We didn't get a chance to explore Belize, so I can't help you on other things to see. That is the one draw back to a longer excursion.

[boatbunny]

Hi jrlaurie,

 

Very nice review of Coral Breeze, we did the same excursion at the end of April. I cannot say enough great things about them.

 

One of the guides on our boat was David, he was absolutely amazing. When we got to Coral Gardens, my youngest daughter (age 5 but she had snorkeled extensively last year in Maui) decided she wasn't going in. I think the fact that she couldn't see land kind of made her nervous. So my DH stayed behind with her in the boat and I took off with other daughter age 8. Well, the current starting getting a little strong around the point where you start turning back and she got scared. David took her hand, guided her back, but making sure she still snorkeled and saw the reef. She was so happy that she still got to see everything.

 

And, David is an aspiring singer, he was selling his CD when we got to Caye Caulker, so we have some great music to help us remember our day! We sent an email to David when we returned to thank him once again (needless to say, he received a generous tip the day of the excursion) and send him a picture of him with the girls. He emailed us back almost immediately (just like Paul did with questions before our trip), was thrilled to hear from us, and loved the picture.

 

With the small group, it was so much more personlized. We'll definitely use them again on our next trip!

[Lisa C]

Hi jrlaurie,

 

I think we were on the same excursion at the same time as we just got home from our cruise on Explorer. We were in Belize May 10th. I agree with everything you said. I have to say that I was a little nervous booking with a tour operator outside of the cruiseline, but after reading numerous reviews on this website, I decided to go ahead and take a chance. Actually, I had already booked a snorkeling excusion through Royal and cancelled to book through Coral Breezes. I am so glad I did and felt so strongly about it that I wanted to make sure and post my comments to help others make their decision. I wish we had more time too. Another day would have been great as I heard from others as we were tendering in to the ship that the cave tubing through Coral Breezes was great as well.:)

 

P.S. I think the operator that was showing us all the map and telling us a little about Belize was Ivar.

[jrlaurie]

Lisa C- I was a little nervous also at first, but was reassured by Paul. I'm glad we did book independetly because I heard one of the ships tours were cancelled. You are right his name was Ivar. I knew it was something like that, but it slipped my mind. Good to know for the scrapbook.