Coral Breeze - Manatee/Bannister Island

[MicheleLM]

Just got back Sat and wanted to let everyone know what a great time we had in Belize with Coral Breeze. We had a great Captain (Popeye) and helper. They made the trip fun. The island (Bannister) they took us to was unbelieveable. We had a great time and I had 2 kids that thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We had a group of 7 and everyone had a great time. In fact Coral Breeze helped make Belize our favorite stop and cannot wait to get back!! If you have any questions - I will try to help!:)

[luv2snorkel]

michelle, do you mind telling me what time you left the dock and what time you arrived back? i'd like some time for exploring the terminal area at the end of our trip... we are seriously considering this one, but the time is an issue.

 

thanks,

luv2

[MicheleLM]

michelle, do you mind telling me what time you left the dock and what time you arrived back? i'd like some time for exploring the terminal area at the end of our trip... we are seriously considering this one, but the time is an issue.

 

thanks,

luv2

 

We left for the tour at 10:00 - and we got back about 2:15. depending on who and how many people - if you can get a consensus of your group - they will bring you back early. On the Dream - we still had plenty of time to shop and look around. we got off the ship at 7:30 ish and shopped, then after we shopped for another hour or so... plenty of time to see everything around there for us....

[vikesfan]

I was one of the group of 7 that Michele mentions on this excursion. My DH and I did the snorkeling portion of this trip as well. Justin was the other guy who was our leader on the snorkel route. There were only 3 of us who did the snorkeling. It was great!!! Since we were such a small group we never had to bump into each other or fight to see anything. Justin was a great leader. We never felt rushed, but leisurely swam through the water seeing some very beautiful fish and vegitation. :p

 

Because of this excursion, I have been telling people that Belize was my favorite port. The beach was so quiet and relaxing. We had a great lunch that was delivered to us at our lounge chairs. I did not use the bathrooms there, but heard from some of the others that they were very clean. I would totally recommend this excursion with Coral Breeze to anyone. We are already talking about going back there.:)

 

I was hoping to get a little more shopping done there, but just ran out of time. (I did get some done.) ;) But, looking back...I would not have traded this excursion for any amount of shopping time.

[elaineb]

Michele -

What about the manatees? Did you go to the preserve and how was it? I had heard that the beach wasn't too nice - course sand and sea grass. What was the condition of the beach? I am considering this tour so would like all the info I can! Did you drop the non-snokelers off at the beach and then go back out???

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Do you have pictures? Was the beach crowded? What kind of entertainment did they have at the beach?

[vikesfan]

I am not Michele, but I was with her. :)

 

We did stop at the Manatee preserve. They just stopped the boat and we all watched very closely as we drifted in the water. We did see one manatee so that was pretty cool. The guides said that sometimes they see a bunch and sometimes they see none. It just depends on the luck of the draw on any given day.

 

I don't remember there being coarse sand or sea grass at the beach. I thought the beach was very nice and you could walk out a long ways because it was so shallow.

 

I was one of the snorkelers. They stopped at the beach first so that those that weren't snorkeling could get off. They gave us about 5-10 minutes to use the bathroom or get something to drink before they took us out to snorkel. We were back at the beach after about an hour and still had about 1.5 hours at the beach.

 

When we first pulled up to the beach, there were 2 big party boats docking and letting off a lot of people. The others in our group that didn't snorkel said that for about an hour there were a ton of people on the beach in the in ocean. But, by the time we snorkelers got back, all of the other people were gone. There were only about 20 people on the beach for the rest of the time we were there. There are a ton of beach chairs, floats and grassy umbrellas available on the beach.

 

I don't remember any entertainment, per se. There was a bar with music playing. There was a restaurant to get lunch from. There was a patio/deck area to sit if you didn't want to be on the beach. There was a small gift shop and bathrooms.

 

I do have some pictures that I will try to post within the next few days. We really did love this excursion and would do it again in a heartbeat!:p

[elaineb]

Thanks, Viksfan! Sounds like something I'd like to do!

[momofzeke]

I don't remember any entertainment, per se. There was a bar with music playing. There was a restaurant to get lunch from. There was a patio/deck area to sit if you didn't want to be on the beach. There was a small gift shop and bathrooms.

 

What kind of food was available, and how was it? There is a review of Bannister Island on the board that says the food was terrible.

 

I am trying to decide between Bannister Island and Goff's Caye.

[vikesfan]

I definitely would not say that the food was the best ever, nor would I say that it was terrible!

 

I would consider it to be pretty typical bar food and food that is easy to eat on the beach. Most in my group ordered chicken strips and fries. My DH ordered BBQ chicken and fries which looked great and apparently was. I can't remember the other options available. Our meal was included in our price, so I know nothing of the cost. I do remember that every plate was empty and no one complained about the food at all, including the kids. Of course we were all probably very hungry from swimming and snorkeling!:p

 

Hope that helps.