snorkeling with coral breeze or cruise line? bannister or caye caulker?

[springisch]

My husband and I are cruising with Carnival Glory at the end of January. We love to snorkel and are looking at different excursions. Last time we cruised we booked an excursion through a reputable company but felt we were a little ripped off as we sat and waited for, well we never did find out what we waited for. It sounds like people have been pleased with Coral Breeze, I was impressed with the itineraries on their website (actual timeline which is a start).

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding snorkeling with Coral Breeze and stopping at Bannister or Caye Caulker (so far we like the one with Caye Caulker better because you can snorkel longer).

 

We were a little leary of booking through the cruise ship because it looked like there might be large crowds of snorkelers and we are looking for a smaller group.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!!

[nixnutz]

My husband and I are cruising with Carnival Glory at the end of January. We love to snorkel and are looking at different excursions. Last time we cruised we booked an excursion through a reputable company but felt we were a little ripped off as we sat and waited for, well we never did find out what we waited for. It sounds like people have been pleased with Coral Breeze, I was impressed with the itineraries on their website (actual timeline which is a start).

 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding snorkeling with Coral Breeze and stopping at Bannister or Caye Caulker (so far we like the one with Caye Caulker better because you can snorkel longer).

 

We were a little leary of booking through the cruise ship because it looked like there might be large crowds of snorkelers and we are looking for a smaller group.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!!

 

Hello!

 

We did the Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray Alley snorkel excursion with Coral Breeze Nov. '07. It included the lunch stop at Caye Caulker. It was a fantastic excursion, which addicted us to Caye Caulker. We spent a week in Cay Caulker in Jan '08 and we're headed back for another week in 18 days!!

 

Just a quick note--you don't have alot of time on Caye Caulker. You'll be picked up at the Wet Lizard in Belize City then a 30 minute boat ride to Cay Caulker, where your guides will get sardines for the sting rays. The tour operators will also put in your lunch order, so it's ready when you return from the reef. Off for a 2 or 3 stop snorkel and then back to Caye Caulker for lunch.

 

After you've eaten, you'll have 30 minutes to 1.5 hour to explore Caye Caulker. If you're lucky, you'll get the 1.5 hours (all depends on how long your ship is in port). You can see almost every square inch of Caye Caulker in 1.5 hour.

 

ENJOY!! If you're on Caye Caulker between Jan 20th and 27th, swing by "Da Real Macaw" and say hello--I'll be chillin on the hammock :)

[streaks23]

We just came back from an excursion with Coral Breeze/Hammerhead - Bannister Island/Snorkel/Manatee watch.

Had plenty of time for awesome snorkeling...Bannister Island is lovely...

didn't see any manatees, but wasn't from lack of trying...

[jcjky]

We are thinking about this tour. How was the snorkeling? While looking for manatees was there any other wildlife to see? Did you see dolphins?

[MDSue]

Hello!

 

We did the Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray Alley snorkel excursion with Coral Breeze Nov. '07. It included the lunch stop at Caye Caulker. It was a fantastic excursion, which addicted us to Caye Caulker. We spent a week in Cay Caulker in Jan '08 and we're headed back for another week in 18 days!!

 

Just a quick note--you don't have alot of time on Caye Caulker. You'll be picked up at the Wet Lizard in Belize City then a 30 minute boat ride to Cay Caulker, where your guides will get sardines for the sting rays. The tour operators will also put in your lunch order, so it's ready when you return from the reef. Off for a 2 or 3 stop snorkel and then back to Caye Caulker for lunch

 

After you've eaten, you'll have 30 minutes to 1.5 hour to explore Caye Caulker. If you're lucky, you'll get the 1.5 hours (all depends on how long your ship is in port). You can see almost every square inch of Caye Caulker in 1.5 hour

Hello, we are thinking of booking this tour also. Can you tell me if there are any shops on Caye Caulker or is it strictly beach? We mainly want to snorkel, but Belize has some beautiful woodwork and I was hoping to do a little shopping also, preferably outside the main port area.

[MTinGA]

HI...we decided to go with Coral Breeze/Hammerhead tours. We took the snorkeling/Bannister Island beach break/manatee watch tour. I would do this again in a heartbeat. The snorkeling was awesome. On the way to the island, 2 dolphins raced our boat. The island was gorgeous. We then went on a manatee hunt. We did see several. Of course you only see a white shadow and maybe a nose coming up for air, but they were there! The guides were terrific and so was the tour. Oh, it was also about 75 dollars cheaper per person compared to the ship sponsored tour. Cannot go wrong!

[streaks23]

I am in total agreement with MTinGA...the excursion was great.

Although, we didn't see any manatees, it was fun looking for them and they tried very hard to locate them. We did pick up a dolphin! The snorkeling was amazing. We also had amazing snorkeling off Tabyana Beach in Roatan. Both ... wonderful!

[MamaParrotHead]

I also have heard a few recommendations here on Amphilife tours, going to Rendezvous Caye. I've emailed a few times back and forth with Roger there and he seems very nice and quite professional. He says he actually is a vendor for tours for some of the other cruiselines. You may want to check it out, I just thought I'd mention the option.

[OZjones12]

Coral breeze was a great trip... Have fun!

[World Gallery]

Barrier Reef Snorkel & Beach Break with Norwegian Spirit or Coral Breeze Snorkeling?

Coral Breeze has some great reviews. We are wondering, what is the difference between Coral Breeze snorkeling trips with a stop at Caye Chaulker and the Barrier Reef Snorkel and Beach Break? What beach does Norwegian go to (it only states "white-sand island. I called them but nobody knew)? The one advantage I can see by going with the ship is that they take you straight to the reef, no tendering into Belize only to leave again by boat. Anyone have suggestions or gone with the cruise ship tour? We have 5 children ages 8 - 14 so didn't want a tour that had too many people on it.

Thanks!

[dvan68]

Hello!

 

We did the Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray Alley snorkel excursion with Coral Breeze Nov. '07. It included the lunch stop at Caye Caulker. It was a fantastic excursion, which addicted us to Caye Caulker. We spent a week in Cay Caulker in Jan '08 and we're headed back for another week in 18 days!!

 

 

What time did you come back to Belize City? We are only in port until 5pm, and was wondering if we would have time to shop if we did this excursion.

 

Thanks!