If not Bannister Island - which beach can we go to?

[blessedwith12]

I will be on the Legend in November and had planned on going to Bannister Island. I really only want to go to a beach at this stop. We're not really into snorkeling and my husband doesn't want to go cave tubing. If Bannister Island is not offered by Carnival at that time, and we don't want to do the snorkeling with Coral Breezes, what are our options for a beach day in Belize?

[Perfect Stranger]

Apparently none. I can't find anything either. :confused:

[jstewie23]

we just did the coralbreezes Bannister Island snorkeling/beach/manatee watch. We were on Royal, but booked independently. You have the option to not do the snorkeling. There were 6 of us and only 2 of us went snorkeling...the other 4 went to the beach.

 

They take everyone on one boat and go to the beach and drop off the non-snorkelers first to maximize their beach time. Probably had about 3 hours of beach time. Snorkelers met back at the beach and had about 90 minutes of beach time and then everyone left at the same time for the manatee watch.

[blessedwith12]

Thanks for the reply. How did you like Bannister Island?

[shari1737]

We are going to Belize on Sept 8 & are thinking of the doing the Bannister Island through Coral Breezes to. I did notice that its $10.00 cheaper if you don't do the snorkel part. That is probably what we will wind up doing too. I would love to snorkel but my boyfriend doesn't swim very well & doesn't want to attempt it. Will let everyone know how it went when we get back!

[blessedwith12]

We are going to Belize on Sept 8 & are thinking of the doing the Bannister Island through Coral Breezes to. I did notice that its $10.00 cheaper if you don't do the snorkel part. That is probably what we will wind up doing too. I would love to snorkel but my boyfriend doesn't swim very well & doesn't want to attempt it. Will let everyone know how it went when we get back!

 

I don't leave until Nov. 1, so that gives me time to hear what you think. I'm mainly wondering if that will give us very much beach time. I'm guessing, that with taking a tender into Belize and then the boat back out, this excursion will take up most of the day. I just don't see anything else in Belize that I want to do. I'm just not very good at snorkeling, but maybe I'll need to give it another try.

[jstewie23]

The snorkeling was great. Everyone had to wear life vests, but they also assume everyone knows how to swim.

 

We met at the Wet Lizard bar at 8:30 which is right where your tender docks. We left around 8:50 and headed to Bannister Island. We got stuck waiting for 2 folks for an extra 5-10 minutes. It's took about 20-25 minutes. Beach folks were dropped off and 10 minutes later all of the snorkelers got back in the boat for a 5 minute ride to the reef. We snorkeled for about an hour (with a guide) and then headed back to Bannister Island. Had about 90 minutes on the beach once we got back and then headed out for the manatee watch. That was probably about 45 minutes or so but it is back towards the Wet Lizard bar so the ride back seems much shorter. Had about an hour back at the pier before the last tender back to the ship.

 

Bannister Island is small. It has volleyball, a zillion beach chairs, kayaks, restaurant/food hut, showers (outdoor for rinsing), changing rooms, bar, and some other stuff. Very nice island, but can get crowded depeneding on how many cruise ships are in port that day. There were 3 when we went - Enchantment (ours) and 2 Carnival ships.

 

The advantage of the cruise ship excursion (if they offer it) is you don't have to tender to the pier and then back out (past the cruise ships) to Bannister Island so you get there first. However, I think they all left the island before we did.

 

I will certainly answer more questions if you have them...

[blessedwith12]

Thanks for the information. I am still leaning towards Bannister Island, so I may have to check out Coral Breezes since it looks like Carnival isn't offering it. Can you book with Coral Breezes on the day of the tour - do they have a booth set up there?