Catamaran & Barrier Reef Snorkeling

[vikesfan]

We were going to do a similar excursion in Cozumel, but I don't think we will be going to Cozumel.

 

Has anyone ever done this excursion in Belize? Would love your opinions and any info you have on it. Thanks!!!

[Sundogg]

We booked this excursion on the 10/23 sailing of the NCL Sun. Be aware that the boat is a motorized catamaran- it had the two hulls but there are no sails and the hulls are covered. If you've been on a sailing catamaran, this is pretty different. There are benches around the railing of the boat so there's plenty of room to sit.

 

Once we got past the no sails, no net, we enjoyed the trip. They picked us up right from the ship, went out to a reef for snorkeling, then to a small island for about an hour.

 

We were there the week after Wilma and the water visibility was poor compared to what Belize is famous for. We were told that they usually have 100 foot visibility but that we week they estimated it at 20-30 feet. There were several guides from the boat in the water looking for stuff for us to see. The coral was covered with a layer of sand and we didn't see many fish. I was concerned that the sand would kill the coral but we were told that the current would wash the sand away and most of the coral should survive.

 

The staff brought around non-alcoholic drinks on the way out and plenty of beer and rum punch on the way back.

 

The excursion left at 1pm. NCL arranged early tender service to go to the island before the excursion. Unfortunately we didn't realize this until 10 am and we didn't want to miss the excursion.

[vikesfan]

Thank you so much for the info. Since the itinerary on for our trip seems to keep changing, I don't think we will book it until we are on board. It definitely sounds like a fun excursion.