Advice on Belize and Cozumel excursions?

[jswerve1974]

Family of 5 all basically adults. Wife, I, daughter (21) twin sons (17). Heading on the 5 night cruise out of Lauderdale to Belize and Cozumel. Looking for the best excursions to take on?

[b-sizzle]

For these ports I went on the Altun Ha and River Wallace tour (Belize) & Tulum Express tour (Cozumel) though the Royal Caribbean excursions. This was back in 2014 so I am not sure if they are still available or not.

 

I liked both excursions a lot but would warn you that for the River Wallace tour you are basically in the sun the whole time and for the Tulum Express there was a pretty rough ferry ride to & from. I wouldn't say those are enough reason to not go on these excursions but it helps to be informed ahead of time so you can prepare.

 

Have fun whatever you choose to do!!

[jswerve1974]

Thanks. I would also like to know if there are any good beaches to just hang out at rather than taking an excursion within walking distance of the cruise ship?

[VacayVik]

Are there any beaches in Belize anyone recommends ?

[jswerve1974]

Are there any beaches in Belize anyone recommends ?

 

Wondering the same thing. I have a feeling we will skip the excursions and go for the beach :)

[Llmtax2000]

In Cozumel, the Park Royal hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the pier (if that) and offers days passes for about $40-$50 pp. Very easy and very relaxing.

[gambler]

Paradise Beach in Cozumel. $15 cab ride each way. $3 entry fee pp, free loungers and umbrella. Just spend $10 pp for food and drink.Good drinks and good, got to have the guac.

Nice pool also. Optional $15 wristband for all the water toys and floats, etc.

[Travelling2Some]

We went cave tubing and ATVing in Belize and it was a blast. We booked independently, not through the ship. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the tour operator but it was one of the big, well known ones. In Cozumel there are several beach clubs lined up along the same stretch of beach: Paradise Beach or Mr. Sancho's would probably be the best picks for your group. You'll get more information over on the Cozumel board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=210

[jswerve1974]

Paradise Beach in Cozumel. $15 cab ride each way. $3 entry fee pp, free loungers and umbrella. Just spend $10 pp for food and drink.Good drinks and good, got to have the guac.

Nice pool also. Optional $15 wristband for all the water toys and floats, etc.

 

 

This sounds fair. Looked it up, looks like a nice beach!

[jswerve1974]

In Cozumel, the Park Royal hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the pier (if that) and offers days passes for about $40-$50 pp. Very easy and very relaxing.

 

 

Seems steep, what do the passes include?

[jswerve1974]

Thanks!

[diamondintheruff]

In Belize we did the snorkelling tour on a private island. Not all of us snorkelled. The island was beautiful and the beach was great. Wish I could remember the name of it. We booked it through a travel company in Belize and not our cruise line. It was about a 15 minute boat ride (very small boat) and included lunch and drinks.

[organized cruisin]

OH my! I absolutely had the best time on that cruise. We went on the zipline/cave tubing combo in Belize. It was spectacular to go cave tubing. I did not know how to swim at the time, and kept imagining bats swooping in my hair, but the cave is NOTHING like that. It was amazing to float under the rain forest.

 

In Cozumel they had a mini-submarine tour that was very James Bond-esk. Again, non-swimmer got to be quickly transitioned from land to deep ocean driving what looks like essentially an underwater mo-ped! While waiting there was a nice white sand cabana area with the clearest ocean water ever behind a rock wall that formed a pool to enjoy. I will never forget that excursion. They both outdid my expectations so that all cruises since did not include excursions because none sound as exciting.

 

Good luck!

[jswerve1974]

I really appreciate all of the tips. I have heard that booking with a local company vs. the cruise line is a better deal? Can anyone confirm or deny and if so a name of a company to book with?

[goldgirl2]

We are on that same itinerary on the Independence on February 27! We are going to Nachi Cocom. It is an all inclusive beautiful beach day. They only allow 100 people in. I checked and we are docking with 4-5 other ships so looking at about 20,000 cruisers in Cozumel that day.

In Belize we booked a snorkel trip to Caye Caulker. It is a stop at the beautiful island and then you snorkel at a coral reef and then you go to shark alley and snorkel with nurse sharks and rays. They provide lunch and you have some time to spend on Caye Caulker.

[jswerve1974]

Has any one used these guys to book excursions in Belize?

 

https://belizecruiseexcursions.com/BelizeExcursions.htm

[utopiahereicome]

We used NCQ Belize Adventure Tours to do a private tour of Altun Ha and a tour of Belize city - Nacho and Cynthia were our drivers/tour guides and it was outstanding, they were so knowledgeable and entertaining! Highly recommend this company (they are on trip advisor, check it out) and Altun Ha was spectacular, it was one of our best port days ever!

[NMLady]

You also might want to go to the Ports of Call forum on Cruise critic, choose Caribbean, then choose your port. Lots of helpful posts there and suggestions for private excursion by CC members.

[goldgirl2]

We used NCQ Belize Adventure Tours to do a private tour of Altun Ha and a tour of Belize city - Nacho and Cynthia were our drivers/tour guides and it was outstanding, they were so knowledgeable and entertaining! Highly recommend this company (they are on trip advisor, check it out) and Altun Ha was spectacular, it was one of our best port days ever!

 

 

This is good to hear! This is the company we are using in Belize.

[whataboutport]

Thanks. I would also like to know if there are any good beaches to just hang out at rather than taking an excursion within walking distance of the cruise ship?

 

Are there any beaches in Belize anyone recommends ?

 

Belize is a tender port, so you must book an excursion, either through the cruise line or with a private tour group. The dock area is pretty small and not much to do there. Just trinket shopping and some bars and restaurants.

 

All the nice beaches are on the cays that you have to take boats out to. the water at the port is dark and not nice looking. It is at the low point where all the rainwater runs down to and looks dirty. Don't worry, where you'll be swimming it doesn't look like that at all! There is nothing within walking distance, and you won't want to walk anywhere outside the port area anyway. The street hawkers outside are very aggressive/pushy.

 

I want to do the Shark Ray Alley excursion as on poster above mentioned. We did Goff's Caye once, and Lamanai ruins once, both were awesome days but totally different. I have links in my signature if you wish to see pics and any comments I had. Goff's Caye is a tiny island, very remote. Wonderful snorkeling, gigantic reefs. It was about $40pp, did not include lunch, but they had lunch on the island which was very good. $10 a plate for two grilled spiny lobster tails, plus rice and beans, or $8 for chicken instead of lobster. We got the lobster. My avatar pic was taken there.

[BellaSweet]

We did ziplining/cave tubing in Belize and it was amazing. But we're very glad we booked through the cruise ship because our excursion was so late back to port(and they acted like its a normal thing because you have to drive pretty far to get there.) If you book through the ship, they wait for your group. There was about 40 of us on the tender, racing back to the ship while they were pulling up the anchor! haha That'll get your heart racing, seeing that chain coming up :)

 

The cave tubing was the best part..very enjoyable and interesting. Our guide was so informative and friendly.

[ladytiger96]

We did cave tubing in Belize with Vitalino Reyes. It was a lot of fun, although I liked the hike the best (I live in an area where white water tubing is popular, not in a cave, but...). Lunch was very good. We were back so early we had to wait to tender. In Roatan, we hired a guide through Rony's tours and did horseback riding, beach time, island tour, monkeys and parrots, shopping and photo opps. That was my favorite port out of 2 cruises. We also got back early enough to shop in port as well. We are going back this year. We will do ruins (Xunatunich?) in Belize and either Snorkeling or Little French Key in Roatan. This is a great cruise itinerary, IMO.

[Bonnie J.]

In Belize you tender (a LONG WAY!) into the town. If you want a beach you must take a ship's tour, a plane or the water taxi to an island.

We have gone cave tubing twice with Reggie. The ship's tours have 30+ people and cost literally just about twice a private tour. WE pay $48 with Reggie, ship is anywhere from $79 to $89+. Reggie's max is 16 but seldom has that many. They are the same 3 caves, and everything is the same but a lot less for private tours.

[whataboutport]

The tenders are a long way out bc of the reef. Belize's barrier reef is only second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The tenders from the ship to shore are slow. It takes about 20 mins. But the small boats you take on private tours from the dock back out to the cays are fast. Less than 10. I timed it. :D But of course the small boats take you further out. It is only less than 10 mins to go back past the cruise ships.

 

So you decide if you want to pay more but get to your destination faster, or pay less and do a little back and forth. The ship sponsored tours pick up the pax first and directly go to the destination. They don't drop off at the shore first.

[obnurse]

Just be very sure that if you do book excursions on your own and not with your ship, that you plan ahead enough to get your tender back to the ship on time. If you book your excursions through the ship you are guaranteed the ship won't leave without you if your excursion returns late. If you book on your own, you are truly on your own. It's your responsibility to get back on time. We shared a cab once with an elderly lady who was on St. Thomas, way into the shopping area, and it was rush hour. The traffic was stopped and bumper to bumper all the way to the ships. Had it not been for my husband, she would have missed her ship. Simply because she waited too long to get back and the traffic was horrible. My niece was on an excursion and out on the ocean their boat had engine trouble. She booked through the ship and was fine.

 

It is a little cheaper to book on your own, but there is a little risk involved. Having said that, I would have no problem going to a beach on my own in Cozumel. We're familiar with the area and it's not a tender port. Belize.....not so sure, but that's just us.