Manatee tour with Coral Breeze

[CAcruzfunatic]

Anyone done the Manatee tour with Coaral Breezes? Do you get good views of the Manatee's, how long are you there, how close do you get? We have one person in our group that would really like to see some Manatee's up close and personal!

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

[CAcruzfunatic]

Bump! Any help?

[mayrashke]

Sorry I have no answer, but I am interested in this excursion also. It goes to Swallow Caye to (hopefully) see manatees, then 45 min. snorkeling off Bannister Caye and then about 2 hrs. on Bannister Caye. I just wish it had a bit more snorkeling time. I wonder if there is any snorkeling from shore from Bann. Caye????

I emailed CBreeze yesterday and they responded extremely promptly. There is a minimum of 4 people needed for the Manatee tour to go; minimum of 8 for their SharkRay Alley tour to go.

I,too, would love to see manatees in the wild.

Hope someone replies to this post with answers!

[cpayne]

Bump....anyone?

[rebsar]

if you are going later than that I can get back to you.

We would love to hear from someone also - - - -

[cpayne]

We don't sail until April so looking forward to hearing your feedback!

 

Have fun!

[rbm444]

Manatee Watch Beach Break and Snorkeling. Here is how our tour went. We met at Wet Lizard Bar. We got there early so got to have a drink upstairs first. My group was 10 people and more people joined us. I think about there were about 25 people on our tour. We waited a long time to leave the dock but once we did it was a nice 25 minute high speed boat ride to Bannister Caye. Several people got off the boat here probably about 10 people. We were told that first we would snorkel then beach break then Manatee watch. We had a few minutes for the bathroom and changing room then we were off to snorkel. Snorkeling is open water so there were some pretty decent swells to contend with. A few people got in the water and then right out again. Too intense for the beginner swimmer even with a lifejacket on (which was required). The first 15 minutes of snorkeling was getting everyone in the water and follow the leader type of tour. One guide at the front, one in the middle and the last following everyone else. We did snorkel for 45 minutes and did see a ton of fish. Trust me 45 minutes is almost too long because you are constantly fighting the surf and trying to stay out of the reef. Then it was back on the boat and back to bannister caye. We only were at the Caye for 45 minutes tops. Enough time to rinse off use the bathroom and get something to eat..no more. Then back on the boat to try and find Manatee. We saw one after about 30+ minutes of looking. You see a shadow then a nose out of the water for about 5 seconds then they are back down again. You do not get up close and personal. You are about 50+ yards when you see them and if you are on the wrong side of the boat you miss it. We did get to see dolphins playing around our boat they were more exciting and easier to see then the lone manatee. Then 25 minutes back to the port. They really cut short the time at the beach, I did not even have time to look in the 2 little shops there but I heard they were really expensive. We were back at the pier before 3:00. So including the time we were waiting for them to sell more tours it was less than 4 hours. If you have any questions, just ask!

[mayrashke]

Thanks rbm for the info. Did you prebook with CoralBreeze?? Did you know anyone who went on their SharkRay excursion or did they mention that tour to you by any chance?

Thanks.

[rbm444]

we prebooked with Coral Breezes. We did not meet anyone who did the stringray-shark tour. I lot of people did cave tubing and had a blast but my group was too diverse for such an excursion.

[vikesfan]

Last year we did the Manatee/snorkel/beach trip with Coral Breeze (we did pre-book before our cruise). It was the highlight of our cruise. There was 5 adults and 2 kids in our group and another couple that we didn't know. We left the pier around 10am and first stopped at the manatee reserve area. We sat there for about 30 minutes and only saw one manatee. We saw the nose come up for air and then it swam under our boat. Can't really blame anyone for not being able to see wild animals in their natural habitat. Then we were off to Bannister Island. My DH and I (and the guy from the couple we didn't know) were the only ones from our group went snorkeling. We had about 5 minutes to go to the bathroom and get something to drink. The rest of our group stayed at the island. The 3 of us and a guide snorkeled for about 45 minutes. It was awesome. We didn't have rough water and so it was pretty easy (we are not in great shape by any means). The variety of sealife was amazing. THen we were back to Bannister Island. Our family who stayed there had to put up with a huge group from another tour while we were gone. This large group was gone by the time we got back from snorkeling. So, it was the nine from our boat and maybe another 10 people total for the whole beach. It was so great! We had lunch and a couple of drinks. We were there for a couple of hours, and they left a little early so that we would have more time to shop before boarding the ship. Then the trip back to the pier was another 30 minutes or so. The guides showed us Bannister Island from all directions. THey were great guides and were very friendly. I know that there were and probably still are negative reports of Coral Breeze, but we had no troubles at all. Let me know if you have more questions.