Activities in Belize & Santo Tomas de Castilla

[flashdog_1]

You might want to tell Javier to fix his website as it states "Personalized tours are guided by Javier Putul, with a minimum of seven passengers" which is likely what discouraged Bonnie from looking further into his tour.

 

I will do it! I just remember that he said the price would be the same whether we had 4 or 7, so we'd just divvy up the cost by the # of passengers.

 

Personally, we were very happy with Gus's tour, and I think the boat only had maybe 20-25 people in it.

 

There is a big difference in having 20-25 people and only 7! Both tours are similar and great! I met Gus and he is most personable. All I was saying was that it is easier to personalize a tour for one family than to herd 20-25 perhaps strangers. Just moving that many people out of a boat and back onto it takes much longer than to maneuver one family, not to mention bathroom breaks.

[big green]

our tour with Gus had 12 people--it was very comfortable--not crowded etc.

The tour number will depend on howm many ships are in port.

 

Big green

[BonnieVA]

My husband and I, our two sons, a daughter-in-law, and 4 grandchildren ages 8-11 would fortunate to get to do the tour with Jaxier on January 21st. It was awesome and all of the various ages had a great time! We paid $50 pp, but the meal at the hotel was extra. Some of us had the tapado soup which has a broth base of coconut mild and shrimp, fish, crab, and plantains that cost us $14 and others had grilled shrimp served over rice and veggies for $12. The tapado was wonderful, but one of my big, brave sons wouldn't touch in when he saw the whole fish and crab in it. haha One of the highlights was visiting a village and the children sang to us. It was a great experience for all of us, especially the grandchildren. If you take this excursion be sure to take candy, etc. to hand out to the children.

 

The next day we had the Lamanai Ruins excursion booked through NCL and I was afraid that the river part would be too similar to GT for the kids, but they still loved it. They were busy watching for crocs, which weren't to be seen on the GT tour. And then the ruins themselves are the best we have ever visited. Hope this helps.

 

It seems they have changed ... acc to Sbarbow, Javier now charges per person. So I wonder what else has changed. I sent an email to them last night so I'll post when I hear back.

 

Thanks, Sbarbow, for telling me about the kids' differing experiences on the rivers.

[BonnieVA]

He does now charge per person & it seems kids are same price as adults because he only gave me one price, knowing the ages of my kids. I do think he's confused about "minimum/maximum" because I told him of my confusion & this is what he said:

 

"Our price per person is US50.00 with a minimum of 7 people. It includes only boat transportation from Santo Tomas de Castilla, trip around Rio Dulce and back to Santo Tomas de Castilla. So if you would like to book the trip with your family of 6 I can do it."

 

So he might want to get that changed on his web site.

 

He sent me a very detailed itinerary & I was very happy w/ his quick response & details he sent my way.

 

So, as of right now (but subject to change at a moment's notice!) we are planning on touring the Rio Dulce as well as seeing the Belize river. We just have to decide between Gus, Javier, & Happy Fish.

 

Thanks for all the perspectives!

[flashdog_1]

He does now charge per person & it seems kids are same price as adults because he only gave me one price, knowing the ages of my kids. I do think he's confused about "minimum/maximum" because I told him of my confusion & this is what he said:

 

"Our price per person is US50.00 with a minimum of 7 people. It includes only boat transportation from Santo Tomas de Castilla, trip around Rio Dulce and back to Santo Tomas de Castilla. So if you would like to book the trip with your family of 6 I can do it." Thanks for all the perspectives!

 

I did email him and he said it was probably his imperfect English that caused the confusion. I guess you know by now that you can get the entire boat to yourselves for the price for 7, or $350, if that is how you want to do it because of the convenience of having just your family on the tour.

 

The person who handles his website is not local, so he's going to contact them to re-word it.

[paulgduck]

I have been in contact with Javier the last couple of weeks, we are trying to decide whether to do his tour or not. There are 17 of us, 8 adults, one 16yr old and the rest are aged 6-12. He did offer us a price of $45 for the adults (and the 16yr old) and $40 for the kids. Will probably take him up on the offer (so March 24th will be booked up).

[BonnieVA]

I did email him and he said it was probably his imperfect English that caused the confusion. I guess you know by now that you can get the entire boat to yourselves for the price for 7, or $350, if that is how you want to do it because of the convenience of having just your family on the tour.

 

The person who handles his website is not local, so he's going to contact them to re-word it.

 

So maybe what he's saying is that you would have to pay for at least 7 people, even if you have fewer? I assumed our cost would be $300 since it's $50/person & there are 6 of us. I thought the "7" people thing had to do w/ how many he would take on his boat, but seems it has more to do with the cost.

[BonnieVA]

One thing I keep forgetting to ask those of you who have been here is if we should be concerned that there will be 3 ships in port that day? If we don't pre-book (because we're so wishy-washy!) - if we wait until we get off the ship to pick a tour - will we be out of luck because there are so many others doing the same? Or can Santo Tomas handle 3 ships?

[Toyz711]

One thing I keep forgetting to ask those of you who have been here is if we should be concerned that there will be 3 ships in port that day? If we don't pre-book (because we're so wishy-washy!) - if we wait until we get off the ship to pick a tour - will we be out of luck because there are so many others doing the same? Or can Santo Tomas handle 3 ships?

 

 

santo tomas is a working frieght port, the only tourist area is the shopping building over at one side. there are some local vendor selling tours out of that area. everything good, about santo tomas, is away from the dock and city.

[BonnieVA]

santo tomas is a working frieght port, the only tourist area is the shopping building over at one side. there are some local vendor selling tours out of that area. everything good, about santo tomas, is away from the dock and city.

 

Basically what I meant to ask is if there are enough tour ops for 3 ships-worth of tourists? Or will they run out, potentially leaving people without pre-booked excursions w/ nothing to do? I imagine, if there's just one ship in port, there are enough tour ops & taxis ... but what about 3 ships full of pepole?

[nucoryamato]

I'm hoping this doesn't get moved. I'm trying to figure out what to do in Guatemala so I'm looking for past Spirit cruisers who have been to both of the above ports.

 

We are going to Lamanai w/ NCL in Belize, which includes riding up a river by boat. I've heard the Rio Dulce in Guat is also beautiful. But if we see the river in Belize have we basically "been there, done that"? Should I try to do something which will take us up the Rio Dulce if we will also see the river in Belize? If you've seen one central-American river have you seen them all, lol?

 

Thanks in advance!

Just got off the Spirit this past Sunday. Guatemala - we did the waterfall tour. Save your money on this one - if you have ever seen Dunns River Falls in Jamaica, this is nothing in comparison. We were very bored and very disappointed. They tell you that you can get in the water but there are so many people in a group, there is no way all of you can because the area is so small. Belize - we did the Aerial Trek and the Cave Tubing Tour. We LOVED this one. Well worth the money and can't wait to do it again!!!

 

When booking your excursions..... keep in mind, if you book outside of NCL, you are on your own. This means...if your excursion runs late and you are not back on time...the ship will leave you. However, if you book directly thru NCL, they will wait on you no matter how long the wait is. (piece of mind at a little higher price) The reason I bring this up is because when we docked at Cozumel there were 2 people that were left. We were suppose to be back on deck by 4:30pm and at 5:30pm, all of thier belongings were packed and given to the Cozumel authorities and the ship left them. (just something to keep in mind).

[cruisingforsix]

Lamanai is wonderful ,took kids their 2 years ago and are taking sis and b-i-law in nine days. We are also booked for the Humanitarian tour with gus. who can resist kids , lunch and a dip in natural springs sounds wonderful.

[flashdog_1]

are WELL aware of the time the ship leaves, and will always allow about an extra hour, at least, to get you back to the port. This leaves you time to browse in the shops at the pier if you so desire, if you did not do so before your tour.

 

Booking with Gus or Javier, for example, ahead of time, guarantees you what you want. It is not the same as taking your chances at the pier, Bonnie. Since there are 3 ships in port, I think I'd pre-book to be sure I had a good day. Is there some reason you are hesitant to pre-book?

 

Although there may be lots of tours available on the pier, I think I'd go with those who've been recommended for the very reason that you know they will give you a good tour and also get you back in plenty of time. They are licensed and have permission to be at the pier, and speak English. Anyone you book with outside the gate may not be licensed, and may not speak English. If you do not speak Spanish, I'd be very hesitant to try to bargain outside the pier.

[BonnieVA]

Is there some reason you are hesitant to pre-book?

 

We don't want to book ahead because we really don't know what we want to do. We keep going back & forth between a river-based tour & a land-based tour (the falls, city, etc). We don't want to get locked into something & then change our minds, which we keep doing already.

 

And I made a mistake when I said there'd be 2 other ships in Guat. We're the only one ... the 2 others will be in Belize, which won't matter because we've already booked THAT excursion to Lam; that one we knew we wanted right away.