Rendevous Cay v. Sargeants Cay

[Linkslady]

I see Grand Princess cancelled the new waves snorkeling (march) and are offering these two Cays to snorkle... Does anybody know the difference and does the snorkle boat pick you up from the ship or do you tender to the mainland and then board the snorkle boat?? We will be traveling with a 1st time Caribbean snorkeler and were wondering if the water was as pretty as Coz or Grand Cayman?? Thanks!!

[39august]

Did Rendezvous Key last week. Too many people on that excursion. I've seen clearer water in GC and Coz, also more fish and coral. I think recent winds had stirred up sand in the water. Some folks we met in Coz had done the Sargeant's Cay and were't too happy. It is a tiny sandbar, no way to lie on the beach. On the other hand, Rendezvous Cay is a small island with some palms and beach mats. We waded to the island after snorkeling and had free rum punch and sat in the sun for a while. The crew for the Rendezvous catamaran is great, knowledgable, friendly and most concerned for your saftey, with guides in kayaks circling the snorkel area. The ride back was fun with rum punch and music. The Rendezvous Cay catamaran leaves from the ship and returns to the ship, so no tendering. Don't know about the other. You could call Princess and ask. I will be searching for a dependable private operator for a snorkel or cave tubing excursion for Grand's Dec. 3, 2005 cruise. I booked thru' Princess this time only because of the time constraints of the port time. Next year there will be more info from folks about independant tours that I can rely on. I have snorkeled off of Caye Caulker and it was the clearest water I've seen and my best snorkel experience ever, so I know there are better snorkel experiences available in Belize!

[Linkslady]

Thanks for the reply! I too have been researching independent operators in Belize, but because of the time limit I'm afraid we're "stuck" with a Princess tour.

 

I do like the idea that they pick you up from the ship and take you directly to the "island" to snorkle.

[enzee]

We did the Sargeant's Caye this month on the Carnival Legend. The shore excursion boat picks you up right at the cruise boat b/c you anchor out in Belize. We had a good time here !! The excursion guides were a lot of fun and very helpful. Our group was only like 30 people. There were 5-6 guides which each took a group snorkling so they really spread you out so you're not running into people and fighting to see stuff, and such -- which I think was a great idea !! They take you to this cute little place first to get your equipment, then you sail out to Sargeant's Caye. We had our nephews with us, so we were in the "beginners" group. For that, they took us to a tiny island, and we snorkled off the reef close to that. Don't get me wrong -- it was great. We saw tons of coral and colored fish, even a jellyfish (don't be scared!). Two of the groups snorkled off the island -- each from a different side, and then the other groups (advanced) snorkled out at sea a bit right off of the excursion boat !! If you want to lay on the beach instead of snorkle, you can do that on the little island! But the BEST thing -- as we were sailing out to the Caye, 6-8 DOLPHINS decided to join us and played along-side the boat for a bit !! IT was THE MOST beautiful thing I've ever seen !!! ON the bad side, our Carnival tour explanation stated that we would see manatees -- we never did, and manatees weren't even mentioned. BUT -- hey, we saw dolphins, and that was fine with us !!! ANyway -- Sargeant's Caye is a great excursion -- nothing bad to say about it. AND -- the guides were wonderful !!!!!

Good luck, and have fun !!!!

[Linkslady]

Thanks Enzee for the post! Glad you had a great time! The jellyfish don't worry me... I would love to see the dolphins! We're intermediate snorkelers and hope to see alot of fish/coral etc.. We were on Grand Princess In November and it got dark pretty early (6:00 ish) so I'm hoping in March that we'll have a little more daylight to work with!

[mnsawyer]

There are too many snorkeling excursions for Belize! It's confusing!! What about Goff's Caye? The Carnival website has a couple of photos and the beach looks nice with palm trees and a hut or two? Anyone done this tour?

[39august]

Can anyone tell us about thier Princess Sargeant's Cay snorkel?

[Linkslady]

Just bumping this up so maybe more responses will be posted to help decide! I agree with a previous post - this is confusing!!

 

Caye Caulker - how do you get there? We'll be on Grand Princess and that ship doesn't offer an excursion...???

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

Goff's is where we have opted to go. We will be on the Carnival Miracle, and booked this thru the ship. I am taking my 2 small kids along, I think they will love the beach and DH and I can take turns snorkeling off shore here OR if gma and gpa are willing to watch them on the beach we can snorkle a ways out from shore from the boat. I really didn't want to book a ship tour, but just couldn't find what I was looking for at a good price thru a private tour company that had good reviews. Plus....not really willing to take chances here as all tours are too far away from the ship. I would like to go to Caye Caulker...but for time reasons and the fact that it is impossible to rush sometimes with kids along..we just decided on Goff's. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. FYI..do a Google image search to see more pics of these places. GL whatever you decide :)

[39august]

linkslady: Caye Caulker is one of the Grand's excursions; I think on the power boat excursion. The Princess web site describes it. Caye Caulker is not a great beach destination if that is what you want. There is only one good beach at The Split as the natives call it. Water there is calm and shallow so good for kids, but there's not a large beach area. However, I love Caye Caulker for just walking around a very low-key little island with no cars, just golf carts. There are no paved streets, just all white sand and very friendly natives. Acutally, much of the island is beach, but most of the beach areas do not have good swimming as the water is full of sea grass near the shore.

[Linkslady]

Thanks 39! I see the "high speed thriller" boat goes to Caye Caulker and they also have the Rendevous or Seargents Caye's for snorkle trips.. one is $10 cheaper than the other... I'm really looking for a place to snorkle and sun without tons of people... but I don't know if that's possible doing a ships tour...

[39august]

There are mixed reviews of Rendezvous snorkel. One person raved, but I found there were too many people on our tour. Also the water was not crystal clear. The little island is big enough to lie out and get some sun and the rum punch flowed freely after snorkeling. I know Sargeant's cay is much smaller, really just a dot in the ocean. So, for sunning, I'd go for Rendezvous. I agree that the optimal experience is probably not possible due to the Grand's timetable which seems to preclude private excursions.