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Caye Caulker? Coral Breeze Tours? Sea Sick?

Lovefuninthesun

By Lovefuninthesun,
in Belize

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Lovefuninthesun

Lovefuninthesun

Posted
Posted

We'll be in Belize in November, aboard the Legend. I'd like to get away from Belize City, and Caye Caulker looks interesting. (No real active excursions like cave tubing and ziplining for us, BTW.)

 

- Would you recommend Coral Breeze Tours?

 

- How rough is the 45" boat ride to get there? I get seasick, so will probably have taken Dramamine before the tender to shore anyway, but....how miserable will I be for 45" each way?

 

Thanks:)

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Lovefuninthesun

Lovefuninthesun

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The ride is not rough at all. Please DO NOT use Coral Breeze as we did in April. There a bunch of threads about this.They used to be excellent , but not anymore after switching their boat crew in Belize.

 

Wow -- hadn't read anything but good stuff about them -- will have to do some more digging.

Who do you recommend in Belize?

Thx

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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It's getting more difficult to get this tour. There is one called ECO Tours that is located inside the exit terminal, and have heard they may be good.We had booked Coral as my daughter had been and it was wonderful. Then about 2 months before our cruise they quit using Hammerhead as the boat crew, and we were crammed into a pretty small boat and were plastered with spray there and back for 1 1/2 hrs each way. They advertised chips and salsa during the ride. Have you tried to eat crackers in the shower. What a joke ! Also, when we got back, they docked in a creepy out of the way place and we had to scale a cement wall, and there were some kind of agents waiting, Do not know what that was about ? The water is beautiful at Shark Ray Alley though. Next time we will take the water taxi to Caulkner and hire a snorkel boat there for the 4 min ride to SRA..Good luck !

 

 

 

 

http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/snorkeling.html#snorkeling

 

 

 

SANY2384.jpg

screen shot download

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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You are welcome. Some people fear the water taxi for some reason. I have not taken it yet , but I visited with locals , and they said no problem. The terminal is just a short walk , and nobody bothered us at all..Also, probably best to just go see Caye Caulkner if you do not plan to snorkel, as that way you will have more time to see it.

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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Off the subject, but I bet Tampa looks a lot different than when I was stationed at Mcdill in 1968..

Centex - thanks!

We won't be snorkeling - I just wanted to poke around Caye Caulker, eat lunch and hang out on the beach. Maybe I'll look into the water taxi .....

 

 

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thescot123

thescot123

Posted
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Have to agree with Centex Cruiser about avoiding Coral Breeze tours. Have used them many times before when they used to operate inside the tourism village. On our April cruise, we got an email about a week before our cruise saying that our tour is being canceled due to lack of people. We had booked the Caye Caulker tour as I wanted to show my sister and family this cute island. This left us scrambling for alternatives.

 

It is also a pain that they now operate outside the tourism village. They also use a smaller open top boat which is very bumpy. In the past they used a bigger, partially enclosed boat called Great White and used a different outfit called Hammerhead who had great crew.

 

Not too sure if I would try the water taxis as I have a fear of being left behind. There are excursion companies that can fly you to Caye Caulker for a little over $100.

 

On my Oct cruise will doing Lamania for the first time. NCL has started offering a excursion to Shark Ray/Caye Caulker for about $109. Not too sure which operator they are using but that may be an option if you are using NCL.

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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Thanks for the support re: Coral Breeze. You have it exactly right..You can see the Great White boat in first picture, and the one they put us in in the second..Their reply to my complaint about the boat was "We just cannot take a large boat with such a small group ".

Have to agree with Centex Cruiser about avoiding Coral Breeze tours. Have used them many times before when they used to operate inside the tourism village. On our April cruise, we got an email about a week before our cruise saying that our tour is being canceled due to lack of people. We had booked the Caye Caulker tour as I wanted to show my sister and family this cute island. This left us scrambling for alternatives.

 

It is also a pain that they now operate outside the tourism village. They also use a smaller open top boat which is very bumpy. In the past they used a bigger, partially enclosed boat called Great White and used a different outfit called Hammerhead who had great crew.

 

Not too sure if I would try the water taxis as I have a fear of being left behind. There are excursion companies that can fly you to Caye Caulker for a little over $100.

 

On my Oct cruise will doing Lamania for the first time. NCL has started offering a excursion to Shark Ray/Caye Caulker for about $109. Not too sure which operator they are using but that may be an option if you are using NCL.

 

SANY1976.jpg

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SANY2370.jpg

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jkloni

jkloni

Posted
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So sad to hear that Coral Breeze is not what it once was. We have used them almost every time we had visited Belize - 6 times maybe - and they were great. Always in the tourism village though and Hammerhead. Wanted to go to Caye Caulker, may have to skip it.

 

I didn't trust the ferry because there had been reports that it did not always come back timely. That would concern me.

 

Kathy

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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Yeah , Hammerhead is what made Coral Breeze so good before..

So sad to hear that Coral Breeze is not what it once was. We have used them almost every time we had visited Belize - 6 times maybe - and they were great. Always in the tourism village though and Hammerhead. Wanted to go to Caye Caulker, may have to skip it.

 

I didn't trust the ferry because there had been reports that it did not always come back timely. That would concern me.

 

Kathy

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berrybright

berrybright

Posted
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Just returned from the Carnival Liberty and took the water taxi to Caye Caulker. Here are my thoughts...

 

- an amazing place to visit and I cannot wait to return! Sooo worth it.

 

- there are 2 main water taxis. We took the Caye Caulker Water Taxi (the one farther from the ship).

 

- yes, it was "easy" to get to (about 5-10 min walk) but it was a bit "sketchy." One of the Belize Tours guys asked where we were going and offered to walk us there. I was glad he did as we were approached several times by people on the street. He ran pretty good interference and we gave him a $10 tip once we were delivered there. (5 of us)

 

- we arrived at 9am ship time which was 7am local time. We had FTTF (A Carnival thing) and was on the first tender off the ship. We arrived at the taxi at 7:55 (tender+walk) for the 8am taxi.

 

- The taxi was enclosed. Water was beautiful.

 

- we hired a "taxi" once we arrived (which was a golf cart). They brought us to the Lazy Lizard at the split and it was incredible. I'm just sad we couldn't stay longer.

 

- we took the second to last taxi back to Belize City. Once there, we hired a taxi driver to drive us around the city and bring us to another restaurant right on the water. It was fabulous.

 

I hope this helps. Please ask questions if you have any...ImageUploadedByForums1378171965.008116.jpg.4502463f13b88929b6a023265ad9e40b.jpg

 

 

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jcumming

jcumming

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Thanks for the tip on Coral Breeze. We have used them before and it was great, but a much smaller boat would be less fun.

 

I might look into the "fly to Caye Caulker" but it might involve a lot of running around. Flying over the islets would be cool though.

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cocacabana

cocacabana

Posted
Posted
Just returned from the Carnival Liberty and took the water taxi to Caye Caulker. Here are my thoughts...

 

- an amazing place to visit and I cannot wait to return! Sooo worth it.

 

- there are 2 main water taxis. We took the Caye Caulker Water Taxi (the one farther from the ship).

 

- yes, it was "easy" to get to (about 5-10 min walk) but it was a bit "sketchy." One of the Belize Tours guys asked where we were going and offered to walk us there. I was glad he did as we were approached several times by people on the street. He ran pretty good interference and we gave him a $10 tip once we were delivered there. (5 of us)

 

- we arrived at 9am ship time which was 7am local time. We had FTTF (A Carnival thing) and was on the first tender off the ship. We arrived at the taxi at 7:55 (tender+walk) for the 8am taxi.

 

- The taxi was enclosed. Water was beautiful.

 

- we hired a "taxi" once we arrived (which was a golf cart). They brought us to the Lazy Lizard at the split and it was incredible. I'm just sad we couldn't stay longer.

 

- we took the second to last taxi back to Belize City. Once there, we hired a taxi driver to drive us around the city and bring us to another restaurant right on the water. It was fabulous.

 

I hope this helps. Please ask questions if you have any...[ATTACH]285193[/ATTACH]

 

 

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I have some questions that I hope you dont mind answering :)

We want to visit Caye Caulker during our stop in Belize and are hoping to take the water taxi too. How long would you say you had on CC? I believe we would have to take the 1.30 pm taxi?

What would you say restaurant prices are like?

We might like to snorkel at the split when we get there. Can we do this without booking ahead? Would you know how much it costs?

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fbe2228

fbe2228

Posted
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We did the water taxi to and from Caye Caulker in December of 2011. No problem at all. In fact, it was a rather neat experience to travel with the "locals" and see how they commute every day. At no point did we feel uncomfortable, either in Belize City getting to the water taxi or on the taxi itself. Just watch your times. Both water taxi companies have different departure times, so pick whichever one works for your schedule.

 

Caye Caulker is small. You can walk from the place where the water taxi drops you off to the end (The Split) is about 15mins.

 

We did not take our snorkel gear with us since the day we were there was cloudy and rainy. It is my understanding that you can snorkel right from the beach at the split, or hire a boat to take you out to the reef (not sure of cost). We were going to do it right from the beach, but the weather didn't cooperate.

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fbe2228

fbe2228

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Sorry, forgot the other questions before I hit reply.

 

We took the 8am (local time) water taxi to CC. Got there about 9:00 (slower boat). It didn't seem like much of anything but a few stores opened up early. The Lazy Lizard (bar at The Split) opened at 11. (2 for 1 rum punch, etc..) We didn't eat on CC, so I can't comment on food prices. I think we took the 1:30 water taxi back since it was raining and I think Valor left at 4:00. The other taxi company has a 3:30 return which might work if you have a later departure from Belize. The return trip was about 40mins (faster boat). That still gave us time to walk around the tourism village before heading back to the ship via the tender.

 

I wouldn't have any concerns about walking around outside the Tourism Village. You will be told by your cruise line, and will read many posts on here that it isn't safe to leave the fence. Not true. My dive guide several years ago told us that the cruise lines paid for the tourism village, so of course they want their passengers to spend their money there. Just like anywhere else (including big cities in the US), use common sense.

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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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Snorkeling is ALL about getting to the reef, which is grossly superior to any shore snorkeling. I would do some research on arranging this in advance, if you take just the taxi.

 

I too have gone out several times with Coral Breezes in the past, with my priority of snorkeling the reef.

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Loucat

Loucat

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We have been to Caye Caulker twice. The first trip was great; as others have posted we had problems with Coral Breeze. We were jammed into the back of the boat and had waves wash over us constantly.

I would not use them again.

One word of caution. Do not take the last ferry. It pulled up to the pier totally full and they would not take those waiting. I have no idea how they ever got back to their ships as that was the last boat.

They told them they would send another ferry but for the 45 minute ride back there was not another boat in sight.

Caye Caulker is nice; there are some nice small shops. Restaurants were reasonable and food was tasty.

It is getting back on time that would be my concern.

We did rent a golf cart although you can walk the main street in less than 20 minutes.

The water was too churned up to snorkel when we were there in February. Might have just been that one time.

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CDNJehn

CDNJehn

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One word of caution. Do not take the last ferry.

 

Just to confirm...do you mean the last taxi of the DAY...or the last taxi that is an option to you, to get back in time?

 

We arrive at 7am Belize time and leave at 4pm Belize time, so the 1:30 taxi is our last chance to get back.

 

Is there a beach area to lay out on a towel at the Split?

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