Mahogany Bay and Belize

[Camden72]

We have cruised a few times but never been to Mahogany Bay and Belize.  These will be 2 of the stops on our upcoming cruise.  Are we able to get off the ship and walk or taxi to a beach for the day or must we book and excursion in order to find something to do?  Are there any all inclusive places like Mr Sancho’s at these ports?

[May1cruiser]

Mahogany bay is walk off to a beach. 

 

Belize is tender port. 

 

Probably need cab or excursion for all inclusive on both

 

[ARcruisin2]

in Roatan, where the ship docks in Mahogany bay - we really liked Tabyana beach.

[marci4tony]

In Belize, take a water taxi to Caye Caulker.  You will love it!  Lovely little island with restaurants, shopping, beaches and lots of local fare

[crewsweeper]

52 minutes ago, Camden72 said:

 Are there any all inclusive places like Mr Sancho’s at these ports?

Neither have any beach club that would be all inclusive like Mr Sanchos.  Belize really has nothing that woul d be anywhere close to a beach in Cozumel.  Even at Mahoganey Bay, food and drinks and kayaks, zip line and certain loungers are extra.

[IntrepidFromDC]

In Mahogany Bay the free beach is pretty nice but small area for good swimming.  In Belize we did cave-tubing and it was a lot of fun!  You can also hire a private, local guide in Roatan who will take you to the entire island, including the small tourist town on the western shore (good place for lunch).  The local guides speak English, are very polite and downright cheap for five hours in their air-conditioned vehicles.  Can't remember the guy who we hired but he donated a lot of money to build the island's single well-manicured soccer fields with lights, and he let us tour his home and sample his wife's homemade rum punch.

[ABQrobin]

There are dozens of great excursions at both ports!  Both are jungles, lots of amazing wildlife.

Belize has beaches out on the outer islands, Mayan ruins, cave tubing, lots of adventures.

Roatan has beaches, and snorkeling or diving at incredible reef system close to shore, as well as monkeys and sloths and all types of jungle activities.  

 

And lots of great private tours you can do at Roatan...  Boddentours.com, etc.  Highly recommend them.

[SRQbeachgirl]

At Mahogany Bay just get off the ship and either walk or take the chair lift to the cruise line's private beach. You can get packages through Carnival's shore excursions or just rent a couple of chairs once you get over there. We rented one of the VIP cabanas on the far end of the beach and it was amazing. Very private, good snorkeling on the other side of the pier, and great drink and food service.

[Pyrate13]

4 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

  Boddentours.com, etc.  Highly recommend them.

Agree fully. We have used them a couple of times and they were enjoyable.

[Lee Cruiser]

Belize is a very long tender ride to the port (20-25 minutes).  Would not recommend going out on your own outside the immediate port area there.  We avoid cruises that go there or stay on the ship if we do.

[SERK]

7 hours ago, marci4tony said:

In Belize, take a water taxi to Caye Caulker.  You will love it!  Lovely little island with restaurants, shopping, beaches and lots of local fare

I agree 100%!  Caye Caulker is very nice!  We stopped on that island while on a reef, stingray and shark snorkeling excursion.

[kctwinmommy]

Another vote for Caye Caulker! We did a Carnival excursion. We'd read a lot about some of the issues in Belize, and just felt it was safer for us to do a Carnival excursion. It was a long one, and so much fun! We had the tender to the port first, from the ship. Then we took a boat, clipped along at a pretty good speed at times, to Caye Caulker. It was nice, because on the ride out, our guides took our food orders. Then we stopped at The Split in Caye Caulker, where they dropped off our orders at the restaurant right there. Then we continued on, just past there, to do some snorkeling. Then we got back on the little boat and moved to the area where we could swim with the sharks. After that, we headed back to the Split and had our lunch, which then was ready like 5 minutes after we got back. We had a little time to walk around and such, then headed back to the port. It was without a doubt, one of our top excursions!

 

In Mahogany Bay, we did a Catamaran snorkeling trip. They picked us up at the port, about a 20 minute drive, hopped on the Catamaran, did some snorkeling, then got back on and had some rum punch and lunch - which was quite good!

 

These are from Belize...

 

My son, looking out the front of the boat, where we did our snorkeling.

 

 

The sharks to swim with. I only stayed in because I was tired from snorkeling, it was only my 2nd time doing it, and it was a lot more work than I though. LOL! We were out for a while. Plus I wanted to get pics!

 

 

My son and husband, with the sharks

 

 

The restaurant at Caye Caulker

 

 

Lazy Lizard

 

 

The Caye is split in half, so they have this ferry to get back and forth, it's like 200 feet. LOL!

 

A "little" house someone built on an island, saw it on the ride out and back. I can only imagine the cost for bringing everything you need there to build it!

Edited January 13, 2023 by kctwinmommy

[1025cruise]

You should post your query to the ports of call boards for Roatan and Belize as your question is not Carnival related.

[EngIceDave]

12 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Belize is a very long tender ride to the port (20-25 minutes).  Would not recommend going out on your own outside the immediate port area there.  We avoid cruises that go there or stay on the ship if we do.

 

Not really answering any questions, just adding my .02

 

The quote above is 100% correct, don't go beyond the fences. 

 

As a Florida native, we took a nature river cruise, and was just like being home in Florida....

"Ohh, gator"

Yawn

"Wow, iguana"

cool

 

LOL

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Mahogany Bay (Roatan) - is pretty safe to grab a taxi and do your own thing, if you have done your research ahead of time to become familiar with the available beaches and attractions.  Or, some like to let the taxi driver recommend places to see.  Be aware that Carnival controls the port area, so you will have to walk out of the port area to hook up with non-Carnival excursions.  Something to think about if you have mobility challenges.  As for AI, you may want to check out Little French Key (private excursion) or Big French Key (Carnival excursion).  You can buy packages to "customize" your all-inclusive experience.  There may be other resorts that I am not aware of.  And, if nothing else, I have enjoyed Carnival's beach just steps (or a sky ride) away from the ship.  This, of course, is just a small sampling of what might be experienced at this stop.  Great zip lines, public and private beaches, animal encounters, snorkeling, jungle tours, cultural immersions, etc.

 

Belize - you take the tender/water taxi/water shuttle from the ship to shore.  It is safe to walk around and experience the port area, but I personally would not venture outside of that area on my own.  But, I believe the private tours offered by legit operators and Carnival excursions are safe. As others have mentioned, you might enjoy the AI experience at one of the island resorts just off the mainland.  I have not done one of those, but there are a few to choose from.  We have called at Belize many times and have always done a different activity.  I still have a bucket list for future cruise visits to this country.

 

I know that getting off at Belize makes some people concerned for their safety, and others just don't find it interesting, but wife and I highly enjoy it and the people.