Belize..stay on boat?

[cruisin_fanatic]

Okay I have been searching the Belize thread for some time now and I am starting to wonder if I should remain on the boat. I really was looking forward to doing some shopping in Belize or a tour that does not require a lot of walking/hiking. Can anyone please give me some suggestions for what I am looking to do. I already have beach time planned in Cozumel and Freeport and would rather not do the beach in all ports....please any other suggestions for what I want to do would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[A&Jfamily]

Shopping in Belize is so-so at best. Cozumel and Grand Cayman are your shopping ports on the Western route.

 

We just came back and did the snorkel at Seargent's Caye - it was a great trip; Belize has the 2nd largest strip of barrier reef in the world, and it is well protected. But if you don't want more "water time" what about some ruins?

[Grayce]

Don't stay on the ship! Belize is one of my favourite ports. I would definately recommend snorkeling there, it is amazing. There are various snorkel tours that are offered by the cruiseline. Some are a whole day and some are half a day. The 2 tours I have been on they picked me up in the tour boat right at the ship so no walking at all. I went on the shark/ray alley tour and it was the best tour I have ever done anywhere. Another tour I took included snorkeling and then a stop at Bannister Island, it was nice too.

The shopping at Belize really isn't very good.

[addicted to cruising]

Def...get off the ship! You might want to rethink your other port plans.

So Belize is not a good shopping port but a great port to see things you will not see elsewhere.

 

Shop in Coz/GC....if you like the beach/water/snokel then do that in GC, pristine beaches and then think about doing it in Belize. Beaches are not pristine but the view under the water is. If your not a big snorkel person, then think about the Baboon Sanctuary. I had a really hard decision between that and cavetubing. Friend went to the baboons and her pics are amazing. I dont think its real intence walking. You could cavetube but if you during "dry" season it is alot of work and the walk up to the caves is on a dirt path that can be tough. There is the zoo, also look for the rain forest tour. Not sure what is included in that but it could be fun and then there is Altun Hu, mayan ruins.

 

Dont worry about time...plan a long excursion as there isnt a whole lot to do at the tender dock. You can browse those shops in 1/2hr -1hr easy.

[clackey]

This is a port that screams TOUR. Some of the best snorkeling around, cavetubing is a blast and some of the cayes are gorgeous. Do your research here on the boards and find something of interest. There are several tour companies to book thru at the tender dock. And don't forget the ruins tours. They have some nice ruins here. (oxymoron?)

[ladycaveat]

I'm with the OP . . . haven't a clue what to do in Belize. I don't want to do a lot of walking (arthritis in my left knee and don't want to put too much wear and tear on it). On my last two trips to Belize, I went snorkling with stingrays. Can't do that now because can't do the ladder up and down the boat. I'm also going to be in the water in Cozumel (swimming with "my" dolphins again). I'm just sort of at a loss as what to do on this trip to Belize next month. :confused:

[DonMar]

I would visit one of the three great Mayan sites. We went to Lamanai and LOVED it. Lamanai is a bit far afield, but there are others that are closer and more easily accessed.

[vbsnyder]

I can tell you that this is our 3rd visit to Belize and we booked this year after cave tubing there last year. This time we are taking our 17-28 year old children. Our guide was tops and I never felt afraid even though it was just myself and my husband (and we are 50). I would be glad to email infor ifo you want to post your address...I think you can do that without getting flagged??? It was about $45.00 and if you want to do a whole day you can add the zipline. We did the ruins several years ago-in May-it was very hot, but a unforgetable experience-DO NOT STAY ON THE SHIP IN BELIZE!!!

[crzer]

Okay I have been searching the Belize thread for some time now and I am starting to wonder if I should remain on the boat. I really was looking forward to doing some shopping in Belize or a tour that does not require a lot of walking/hiking. Can anyone please give me some suggestions for what I am looking to do. I already have beach time planned in Cozumel and Freeport and would rather not do the beach in all ports....please any other suggestions for what I want to do would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

I did the Western Caribbean in October /07 and Because of Belize and Roatan I am doing it again in a week 3/30/08. Belize, cavetubing with Cave-tubing.com was a blast. I did their tubing and ATV combo. It is a great deal. It cost $45 for tubing, which includes transportation to place and back to port. These people are reliable and very professional. There is walking involved once in jungle to get to river. It was not bad. Walking in the jungle you get to see the fauna which is splendid. The moist, humid air is clean. A total experience. When you going?

[cruisin_fanatic]

I think we may end up doing the lamanai excursion or the bannister island...but it seems we are leaning more towards Lamanai though. Everyone has been a big help!!!!! I will be sure to post of my experience upon my return:)

[mrsneurotic]

My son (16 at the time) and I did this excursion through Carnival and absolutely loved it. Nice bus, beautiful scenery, great ruins, great food...don't stay on the boat. Belize is fascinating!

[ChBoxers800]

Okay I have been searching the Belize thread for some time now and I am starting to wonder if I should remain on the boat. I really was looking forward to doing some shopping in Belize or a tour that does not require a lot of walking/hiking. Can anyone please give me some suggestions for what I am looking to do. I already have beach time planned in Cozumel and Freeport and would rather not do the beach in all ports....please any other suggestions for what I want to do would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

We had a snorkle excursion planned for Belize last week and the water was so rough, all water excursions were cancelled. Of course, there wasn't much left in the way of tours and not having internet access to try and come up with alternatives at the last minute, we just looked at what our ship had left. We settled on a tour of the city and an airboat ride through the marshes. We were pleasantly surprised and had a wonderful time. Our city tour was great (fantastic guide) and the airboats were a ton of fun along with seeing some great native wildlife (mostly birds). This is not a tour I would have booked originally but am glad that we did it. Very little walking at all.

[smarks]

Okay I have been searching the Belize thread for some time now and I am starting to wonder if I should remain on the boat. I really was looking forward to doing some shopping in Belize or a tour that does not require a lot of walking/hiking. Can anyone please give me some suggestions for what I am looking to do. I already have beach time planned in Cozumel and Freeport and would rather not do the beach in all ports....please any other suggestions for what I want to do would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Check out this site. It is highly recommended by people on this board. Maybe you can find something that interest you. Good luck. http://www.coralbreezetours.com/

[GORDONCHICK]

We took a private custom tour at $35 pp, and the guide was fantastic. His name is Maurice, and he will take you where ever you want to go. We went to some ruins (can't remember which ones unless I get out my photos) and a couple in our group wanted to see the howling monkeys, so Maurice drove us into the jungle looking for them. As he drove, he named every kind of flora and fauna. If you didn't believe him, he had Auduban books in his van. And he would stop when ever you wanted photos. And we did find those howling monkeys! We each tipped him $5 - he was fantastic. If anyone wants his email, just ask and I'll dig it up.

 

I almost forgot to mention - his info on the ruis was unmatched. We had people from other groups joining ours just to hear him give his history lesson!

[peanut11]

Snorkel in Belize! The best water and the best reefs. Take an underwater camera and get amazing shots. I am not a huge water person but did this and loved it. It remains my favorite excursion and port to date.

[ChBoxers800]

Snorkel in Belize! The best water and the best reefs. Take an underwater camera and get amazing shots. I am not a huge water person but did this and loved it. It remains my favorite excursion and port to date.

 

Okay, now you have me crying. :D

 

Our snorkle excursion in Belize was cancelled due to rough seas. And then, our ship had to skip their private island due to rough seas also. I had our whole trip planned with excursions in every port and as it ended up, we didn't get to snorkle at all due to the cancellations at those two ports.

 

A wonderful trip but the loss of snorkling was by far my biggest disappointment. :(

[onlydreams]

Next time you will have bether luck, Tanks for the pics

[eileen0862]

We were in Belize last Tuesday and did the Altun Ha ruins tour with Belize Cruise Excursions. Our guide was Michael and he was great. We got off to a slow start because we were waiting for another group but the wait was worth it. Michael was an extremely knowledgable guide and made the tour interesting. In addition, he stopped to pick up some fresh cashews that we were able to taste and got us back to the port with plenty of extra time to have lunch at Iguana Rana, which is directly across the gate from the port. The chicken with Rice & Beans were excellent!

 

The ruins at Altun Ha were located on flat grass, so the walking was easy. There were also some souvenir shops with local vendors with their handmade wood carvings which were absolutely beautiful and cheaply priced.

[ladycaveat]

Has anyone ever taken a fishing excursion in Belize? If so . . . info please.

[Boo's Mom]

Okay I have been searching the Belize thread for some time now and I am starting to wonder if I should remain on the boat. I really was looking forward to doing some shopping in Belize or a tour that does not require a lot of walking/hiking. Can anyone please give me some suggestions for what I am looking to do. I already have beach time planned in Cozumel and Freeport and would rather not do the beach in all ports....please any other suggestions for what I want to do would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

check out this tour company....

experience belize tours .com

 

I felt that we were in good hands.... the entire day.

 

Here is a link to my review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=518965

[clackey]

Okay, now you have me crying. :D

 

Our snorkle excursion in Belize was cancelled due to rough seas. And then, our ship had to skip their private island due to rough seas also. I had our whole trip planned with excursions in every port and as it ended up, we didn't get to snorkle at all due to the cancellations at those two ports.

 

A wonderful trip but the loss of snorkling was by far my biggest disappointment. :(

Cheer up, CH,

 

This just gives you an excuse to go back. We missed Belize on our first cruise there because of weather, so we booked the same trip the following year. The snorkeling is worth the wait.

[Voidman]

We are the same cruise and Belize is the only stop where we don't have anything booked. We are thinking of booking the fly to San pedro and snorkel shark ray alley through ecotoursbelize.com.

[mikeswrld1]

Def...get off the ship! You might want to rethink your other port plans.

So Belize is not a good shopping port but a great port to see things you will not see elsewhere.

 

Shop in Coz/GC....if you like the beach/water/snokel then do that in GC, pristine beaches and then think about doing it in Belize. Beaches are not pristine but the view under the water is. If your not a big snorkel person, then think about the Baboon Sanctuary. I had a really hard decision between that and cavetubing. Friend went to the baboons and her pics are amazing. I dont think its real intence walking. You could cavetube but if you during "dry" season it is alot of work and the walk up to the caves is on a dirt path that can be tough. There is the zoo, also look for the rain forest tour. Not sure what is included in that but it could be fun and then there is Altun Hu, mayan ruins.

 

Dont worry about time...plan a long excursion as there isnt a whole lot to do at the tender dock. You can browse those shops in 1/2hr -1hr easy.

 

 

Can someone tell me when the dry season is in Belize and whether it is worth trying to do the cave tubing during this time? We will be in Belize in late July.

Thanks,

Mike

[iscotty1]

Carmen:

 

I would appreciate it if you could "dig-up" the email address for the guide. One other thing, do you need a minimum number of people to get the $35 rate?

Thank you

Richard

iscotty1

[Sailaway123]

We are going to be there next week, Carnival Valor leaving Miami on 4/27. There are many tours available. Check out coralbreezestours.com. Mike is very nice and returns your emails right away. We are looking into the "Captain your own Boat" tour.