Shore excursioeer for harvest caye Belize?

We'll be in belize at harvest caye in a few weeks. The manufactured island, although beautiful to look at, doesn't thrill us. Prefer the real deal. Looking at shore excursions involving snorkeling but are so disappointed with the ship's options. So we'd like to go off island and do some real snorkeling,especially since we'll be in one of the best snorkeling spots in the world.

Shore excursioneer has one called Laughing Bird Caye Nat'l Park excursion that looks very interesting but there's not a lot of detailed info as to escaping the confines of Harvest Caye in order to get there.

Has anyone done this excursion that can help me out a little? How was it, was it hard to get out, what's the timing like, what condition are the transfer boats in, etc? Thanks in advance

I have not done this tour, but from what I can tell, you would first need to tender over to Placencia. (Not included, and must be booked through the ship - $20 round trip) I was at Harvest Caye on the first day that they allowed passengers to tender from HC to Placencia, and at the very least, it would get you off of the "manufactured island" There is a small village there (similar to Caye Caulker) and I was glad to be able to experience more than just what NCL had to offer. shoreexcursioneer is a reputable company, though I have never used them at HC. They are a "middle man" type company that books you with the available vendors in each port.

The blurp on the SE site seems to indicate the ferry is included in the price. And reviews from vacationers in Placencia, are very very good. I would allot 4-4.5 hours for this though. Not sure if the 3.5 includes the ferry trip and there could be other issues that arise.

Further perusal of the info on shore excursion site revealed that indeed, the $20 ferry trip to Placencia is not included. Now I have some questions about the ferry itself. Do you know about how many passengers it takes and how often it leaves and returns? Do I have to book the ferry while on board ship, or should it be done in advance of embarkation?

The ferry holds around 50 passengers, and is available for booking once on board at the Shore Excursions Desk... It leaves roughly every hour, and takes about 15 minutes to get to Placencia. As of the time I went, they only allowed 3 hours on Placencia, but that may have changed now that their allowing outside excursion companies to do excursions.

Further perusal of the info on shore excursion site revealed that indeed, the $20 ferry trip to Placencia is not included. Now I have some questions about the ferry itself. Do you know about how many passengers it takes and how often it leaves and returns? Do I have to book the ferry while on board ship, or should it be done in advance of embarkation?

Thank you both for your replies. I have been unable to determine whether NCL has changed their ferry schedule or not. So bummed! I saw some awesome sounding excursions, but I'd need to have at least 5 hours between coming and going. looks like it's not going to work, and I certainly can't chance it. But if you happen to hear differently, can you please pop back and post what you learned?

Yes, please post back. We don't really want to stay on Harvest Caye--did that last year--or take a NCL excursion, but would love to do something fromPlacencia. But 3 hours seems too short.

[deleted, I posted in the wrong thread, sorry]