Booking snorkeling on Caye Caulker, anyone done this?

[SillySally13]

I was at Cay Caulker this winter and would like to try it again this fall. We will be there in October and I prefer to ride the water taxi over and then try and book something from the island and was wondering if anyone has done this. Our ship gets into Belize at 8:00AM and with the time change (this is when we docked in the spring) it was quite still everywhere outside the port area and at Cay Caulker when we got there.

 

If you have ridden the water taxi over or stayed on the island and can give me any information on getting out from Cay Caulker with a local to snorkel.

One more question. When we were there this winter we walked around the island and never found any beach area. When you ride the water taxi in where is the white sandy beach from there? Around where we docked it was really dirty and we never did find any sandy beach.

Hope to hear from someone and thanks:D

[SillySally13]

We have been on Cay Caulker but on a vacation in Belize, not on a cruise. Honestly, it is quite a ride out there and I am not sure if I would do it on a cruise. We found some really good snorkeling just from the mainland, so we do not depend on being back so much in time...what if the motor breaks down on your water taxi? We went further to San Pedro and it was beautiful...much nicer than Belize City. But on a cruise, we prefer to stay closer to the port.

 

I guess I am a adventurist! I really didnt think about any problems until we were on the water taxi out in the middle of "who (I didnt) knows where"! and then the thought of "what if we break down and cant get back to the ship" came to me.

But since I am a free spirit kind of person I told myself, enjoy the ride, the sights and dont worry be happy. Worst case senerio -

BUY A HOUSE!!!!!

The water taxi takes the locals back and forth so if one was to break down they would just send another out to pick up stranded passengers.

I would really like to hear from anyone that has cruised into Belize and then booked off the island of cay caulker for a snorkeling trip?

[Will in sunny FL]

Sally

When our cruise ship stops in Belize, we usualy go with Coral Breeze for two snorkeling stops & an optional local lunch on Cay Caulker. You will snorkel & visit & play with the Rays & have time to walk around Cay Caulker.

All of their info in on the Coral Breeze site.

Have fun !

[sns101]

We were just there on July 1st. We did not book any excursions but just took the water taxi over. My husband and two friends we met on the boat wanted to snorkel, but my daughter and I went there to meet a local lady who runs an animal shelter and do some volunteer work with her.

 

We were fortunate that we got off our ship's tender in time to make the local 8 am (10 am ship's time) taxi, so we were on Caye Caulker by 8:45 am. There were several locals waiting at the pier (I guess they knew it was a cruise ship day in port!) and one guy offered to set us up with a snorkeling excursion for $25 pp with gear included. We probably could have negotiated that with him, but my husband and friends were just going to beach snorkel. I saw several established companies there with set excursions from 10am-1pm or 2 pm. However, we planned on taking the noon taxi back, with a fallback taxi of 1:30 pm, so those excursions wouldn't have worked for us. The noon taxi got us back to port by 12:45 pm (2:45 pm ship time), which gave us plenty of time to catch the last tender of the day at 1:15 pm (3:15 ship time). The 1:30 taxi would have had us running like crazy people to make the last tender. Honestly, I wish that Carnival would extend the time in port by another hour or two.

 

Considering how many locals use the taxi as daily transportation, we didn't have any concerns about reliability. The ticket agent in the Belize City terminal couldn't have been more helpful! They ran a tight operation and were right on time in both directions. If you are not on the pier and ready to go when they arrive, you WILL get left.

 

To answer your question about the beach, "The Split" is supposed to have the best beach. From the water taxi pier, turn to your right and walk about 1/3 of a mile. However, my DH and friends said the beach was great but the snorkeling was only so-so. To see the best stuff, you really need to go out offshore. He considered the Coral Breeze tour but wanted to accompany us on the water taxi. Next time he would probably book Coral Breezes.

[christyred]

sns101: can you give me more information about volunteering for the animal shelter in belize?