Good Snorkling in Belize

[JimandChicky]

Went to Belize last year on the Miracle and did the cave tubing. We are going on the Glory in May and want to go snorkling this time. Any suggestions as to where to go? When we were there before we were whisked away so fast to the buses that I have no idea what the port or it's surroundings even looks like. Is there anywhere to snorkle near the peir or do you have to take a tour someplace else?

[rsmith55]

Offshore of Belize lies the 2nd largest coral barrier reef in the world. This means that the snorkeling and scuba diving can be fantastic. However, depending on where you want to snorkel, the good places can be far away and hard to get to. This is expecially true given the limited amount of time you have on a cruise ship stop. Because the water is shallow offshore, the cruise ships generally park a long ways out from the Belize mainland and tender the tourists in. This might not be what you want since the offshore islands are where the good snorkeling is. So this might be one of the few ports where you want to book a tour with the cruiseline. That way they pick you up right at the offshore ship and take you to a nearby island thus saving you the trouble of going to shore and back out.

I have snorkeled two places offshore of Belize. The first was Goffs caye, a tiny sand island with a few palm trees on it and plenty of cruise ship tourists. I certainly wouldn't call it the best snorkeling I have ever had, however there was plenty of shallow water and sandy bottom inside the reef for timid swimmers. I had almost given up on any great snorkeling there when I decided to swim outside the reef. The waves outside the reef were big and you shouldn't be there unless you are an expert swimmer. I did see some very nice coral and fish at that spot, making the trip worthwhile to me.

The second place was shark-ray alley near San Pedro. This was a very, very long boatride from the cruise ship (almost an hour at full speed). The snorkeling was very nice, with lots of pristine coral and some nurse sharks too. But being that far from the cruise ship made me nervous about getting back on time.

I haven't yet tried it but I suspect that Turneff Atoll is probably good snorkeling. So to summarize, there seem to be lots of places to try snorkeling offshore of Belize. Some are probably better than others. So pick one and hope for the best. Hopes this helps you out.

[JimandChicky]

Thank you so much for the information on snorkling. The last thing I want to do is get far away from the ship and worry about not getting back. I think I will take your advise and book through the cruise line at this port. Last year we took an independent tour and almost got left. Our ship decided to leave 3 hours early due to weather and we were a good hour and a half away from port. When we arrived back to port the smoke stacks were up and going and my heart was racing a mile a minute. We literally had to run to make the ship! I appreciate your input. Thanks so much!