Coral Breeze snorkel, manatee and beach day OR Carnivals beach break?

[motherchic]

For those in the know: which do you suggest?

We want to snorkel and enjoy the beach .. My older kids would like to kayak also. can we rent them?

Was the manatee watch fun?

As for Carnival , do they take you to the same beach?

Pros cons?

Thank you so much.

We will be there in August (5 of us )

Nadine

[MamaParrotHead]

For those in the know: which do you suggest?

We want to snorkel and enjoy the beach .. My older kids would like to kayak also. can we rent them?

Was the manatee watch fun?

As for Carnival , do they take you to the same beach?

Pros cons?

Thank you so much.

We will be there in August (5 of us )

Nadine

 

I believe they do both end up at Bannister Island, but there is no snorkeling off the beach there. If you want to snorkel, you'd have to book a tour (to my knowledge). I've read that the manatee watches are hit and miss, depends on how quick you are and how good your guide is. No clue on the kayaks, though.

[OntCruise]

We were on the Glory last week and did the Coral Breeze Snorkel, Manatee Watch and Beach break.

 

Coral Breeze were very friendly and helpful, but here are a few comments.

 

Snorkeling: it was rough water that day and we were all first time snorkelers so I found it a bit scary. The guides were excellent. My daughter was a bit freaked out and the one guide held her hand the entire time. Her mask was also a bit leaky and he gave her his mask which was much better. The waves made me nauseous but the snorkeling was great - saw lots of fish. They said 45 minutes of snorkeling but it seemed much shorter than that.

 

Beach Break: Bannister Island is beautiful. In hindsight I should have just done the beach only. Nice white sand, clear water, lots of chairs, nice bar/restaurant. Great view - the colour of the water in Belize is amazing. The tour said 135 minutes at the beach, but we were not there that long.

 

Manatee Watch: I was under the impression you would see them in the water, perhaps swimming around the boat. We only saw a little glimpse of a nose poking through the water about 300 yards away. Sitting in a boat for 45 minutes "hoping" to see something is not my idea of fun. It was HOT and pretty boring! The guide did give us the option of staying at the beach longer and skipping the manatee watch (should have listened to him). I asked him what were the chances of seeing any and he said 50/50 so we decided to go for it.

 

Any other questions.. just let me know.

[sugarsmacks]

Used Coral Breeze in January. They are very friendly. I agree that the water is a little rough but the guides stay with you at all times. We saw many manatees. We came really close to a few. The guides usually turn off the motor and coast the shore line. We went to a few different places to see them. They do only come up for a quick second so you have to have a camera ready.

Bannister Island is great. I could stay all day there. They do rent kayaks. I believe we paid 20 or 25 for an hour.If you don't book with a tour guide , you can book snorkeling from the island.

[NDCruiser]

We just returned from a Belize stop & used Coral Breeze, but we did the snorkel/stingray/Caye Caulker. I would second everything above about the helpfulness of the guides. They guided us around the reef & knew where interesting critters hang out. It was very calm the day we snorkeled. Instead of looking for manatees this tour makes a second snorkel stop at Stingray Alley where you can swim with & pat the very tame rays. Much like Grand Cayman, but in deeper water. You can stay above the rays if you want to. Lunch on Caye Caulker was quite good. There's not much there except a beach and 1 souvenir shop on the dusty main street--very laid back place. It is a very scenic 45 minute ride by speedboat from the port. Can't help you about Carnival--we were on HAL and they use various islands; they wouldn't tell us which. I do know that HAL's tours were shorter & more expensive.

[azkcruizers]

I believe that Carnival has pulled the beach break excursion. It is no longer offered on my sailing and others have stated the same thing.

 

Karen

[Goingaway]

They did pull it . . just got off the phone w/them awhile ago. Does anyone know why they pulled it???

[Will in sunny FL]

Carnival probably pulled it because of Bannister Island ?

We are from FL, one block to the beach, & IOHO Bannister Island was a joke as it was full & there were no chairs, long lines, etc.

Coral Breeze is the way to go - on their snorkel tour mentioned above.

Bill in FL