lamanai OR Coral Breeze Shark Ray Alley

[curlymason]

HELP! I can't make up my mind...my hubby and I and about 20 of our friends are leaving on the EOS on Sept 11th. We can't decide between the Lamani New river Cruise and taking Coral Breeze's Shark Ray Alley tour....anyone here been to both????

 

This is a major thing, because the entire group is counting on me for the decision, and I don't want to be responsible for a bad tour! :rolleyes:

 

Thanks,

Heather:)

[taillon]

I don't know much about the Lamanai New river Cruise but there is a lot of information on the boards about Coral Breeze. We used Coral Breeze for the Cave Tubing and they were wonderful to deal with!! They have wonderful rates! I have heard that the Lamani River Cruise with the ship is over $90 and the Coral Breeze Shark Ray Snorkel Tour is only $64 without lunch or $69 with (if cost is a factor) I have also heard the snorkeling in Belize is the best!! When we go again, we will book it with Coral Breeze and do the snorkeling thing. If you have any questions just go to http://www.coralbreezelimited.com and click on contact us. Paul was great at answering my questions! You will love them!

[Mike2131]

I can't give you a comparison since we have not taken the Shark Ray Alley tour, but the Lamanai and New River excursion was excellent. The boat trip was nice with some good wildlife sightings (not as good as the Tortugero canals in Costa Rica, however) and the ruins were outstanding. The included lunch was tasty and there were two very active (and vocal groups) of howler monkeys that added to the Indiana Jones atmosphere.

 

Highly recommended.

[cruiserdebra]

I can't give you a comparison because I haven't been on the Lamanai river cruise. But I went on Coral Breeze Shark Alley tour and I highly recommend it. Some friends of ours had went on and recommended it to us and my husband and I loved it. We recommended it to friends of ours when they went on there cruise about a month ago and they loved it as well. The snorkeling was great and we had a nice lunch and the tour was a great price. Check out the website www.coralbreezelimited.com and contact Paul if you have any questions. He was wonderful at answering all my questions.

[CaribbeanBound]

I have been on the Lamanai tour and HIGHLY recommend it. I haven't done the Shark Ray Tour.

 

This will be one of your favorite ports IF you book an excursion. You'll hate the place if you do not. This fact has been chronicled time and again. Do yourself a favor and book an excursion! The two most popular excursions are the Cave Tubing and the Lamanai Ruins / Jungle River Cruise. Both get rave reviews. Our selection of the Lamanai tour was no exception. More in a minute.

 

We arrived into Belize a couple hours late to the consternation of those passengers who had booked private tours. On the way to our stop we sighted a mini paradise --- a small sandy island with a grass shack, a pier, and a few palm trees --- out in the middle of the ocean. We also spotted a group of 10 to 12 huge rays off the port side. We anchored well off-shore and required an 18-minute tender ride to get ashore. Tenders were provided by local Belize vessels of all makes and sizes. (We did not feel safe in our two-level wooden tender, but there were no incidents of any kind to report). We sat downstairs between 2 fans and a wall thankfully lined with lifejackets. Our tender held around 80 passengers. We were the first group off the ship. Priority went to passengers with excursions bought through Celebrity. All other passengers needed to secure tender tickets and wait in the Theater for their number to be called. Hint: if you are not on a ship excursion, get in line to get your tender tickets at least 1/2-hour before the announced time. Tickets are passed out early.

 

Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

 

Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us a lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

 

We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

 

Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

 

We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a Celebrity-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand 5% of their passengers in Belize. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Our only loss was an inability to shop for souvenirs at the pier as they were all closed. We arrived after first-seating dinner had begun and arrangements were made to seat first-seating diners in the second dinner seating.

 

Bottom line: take this tour.

 

Complete review: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/westerncaribbean.html

[jshawnh]

I loved the Coral Breeze tour, and especially loved the little Island of Caye Caulker. I've attached a short article that will be in a future article of Islands magazine.

 

An Hour on Caye Caulker

By J. Shawn Howard

 

 

If an hour could last a life-time, I wish that could be the case for the short time I spent on a tiny little Island, a pebble’s throw away from the second largest barrier reef in the world. Caye Caulker, Belize is occupied by an extremely diverse population for such a small outcropping. Darwin’s “founder effect” is nowhere in sight here. Originally settled by Mexican Nationals fleeing civil war, the little caye, (pronounced key by the way), is home to Black Iguanas, Hermit Crabs, Rastafarians, Belizean Creoles, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Canadians and Americans. At least three languages are spoken, including English, which is the official language of Belize, Spanish and Creole, a local Belizean dialect which is similar to other Caribbean dialects of the same name. That’s quite a roll-call for an island just over three miles in length, and a few hundred yards wide.

 

I’ve dreamed in the past of finding a perfect tropical paradise, where everything was laid back and casual, where shoes were a nuisance, as well as were most articles of clothing. Where fish were abundant in the local seas, palm trees gently swayed in the topical breeze, where faces were darkly tanned with permanent smiles etched by the same tropical breeze, where cares could be forgotten, and each breath of life could be enjoyed because it was infused with the fragrant smell of bread fruit blossoms, hibiscus flowers and rum punch. Not a speck of pavement on the whole Island; that’s one of the requirements of my perfect Island paradise. I don’t want a deserted Island; you need friendly people for company on an Island. I need just two or three motor vehicles, to do the hard work, so people won’t have to work too hard you know. I would like everyone to ride bicycles to get around, especially if the walk is over a few hundred yards. I might allow electric golf carts on my perfect island. When visiting my many friends, it would be nice to have some sort of automated transport. I want the breadfruit tree to grow on my island. It was brought to the Caribbean by the renowned Captain Cook of legend, and can be a staple food, much like the potato, but more flavorful than and just as versatile when used as a vegetable. I would like to have little hermit crabs to run around for my amusement, and big, vegetarian iguanas to dispose of the fallen hibiscus blossoms because I certainly don’t want to have to use a rake. I want the yards of brightly painted, stilted houses to be carpeted in lush…not green, but white…coral sand; no need for mowing. I want blue, crystal clear water surrounding the whole place. I could go on and on about my perfect tropical island, but there’s really no need to. - All I have to do is mention Caye Caulker.

 

Caye Caulker has all of these attributes, and more I’m sure. I spent only a short time there after a sting ray/nurse shark tour with Coral Breeze Limited tours of Belize. We stopped off on the little island for lunch and an hour or so to explore the small tropical paradise. I can’t get the place off my mind, as if it’s beckoning me to return. I often find myself daydreaming about walking barefoot down the Islands “Main Street” which is “paved” in sand. I find myself pondering the little shops full of local artists’ masterpieces, and stories of how a personal paradise was found.

 

Caye Caulker can be reached by high-speed water taxi from Belize City for about seven U.S. dollars (each Belize dollar equals fifty cents U.S.). Accommodations are abundant, and range from $20.00 U.S. to Over $100.00 for more luxuriant digs. There is also a runway on the Island for those who would prefer to fly in by small airplane. The Island is not far from the more famous Ambergris Caye, but I can assure you it is not as commercial yet. The locals are friendly and welcome visitors. I hope I get to go back soon for a much longer stay, because the little island is stuck in my mind and seems to have stolen apart of my soul. An hour on Caye Caulker – not nearly enough time.

 

Links and Info:

 

http://www.cayecaulker.org - nice web site with great info and pictures of Caye Caulker

http://www.cayecaulkercondos.com – a place to stay

http://www.coralbreezelimited.com – friendly people who can take you on some great tours of the barrier reef and inland Belize excursions

[BobbieSu]

My thoughts,

 

The snorkeling is great, the ruins and jungle are great. Which to do, which to do. At first we were going snorkeling in Belize. It has the great reef and the great islands, but I also wanted to see some Mayan ruins. And when I realized that this same reef went all the way up to coast, that I could snorkel in each of our other three stops, that the best ruins I could reach would be in Belize we decided on Lamanai (and snorkeled in two of the other ports)

 

Someday when I have time and money we will go back to Belize and spend more than an hour on the cayes and snorkel when it isn't rush, rush.

 

Su

[diving_blue_bonnet]

Thanks CaribbeanBound for the review of the Lamanai tour. It was very detailed and I loved your descriptions. I almost feel like I've been there now. I was already leaning towards this tour, but now I think it is a definite "must do."