Snorkeling Wonders of the Barrier Reef Rendezvous Caye Review

Since we were going to Belize my DH & I wanted to see the second largest Barrier Reef in the world.

So we booked the Snorkeling Wonders of the Barrier Reef excursion through Carnival.

$70 for 4 hrs

Boat ride was at least 40 minutes.

Very crowded.... 75 people. :cool:

We were slightly disappointed since we though we were snorkeling at a spot near or around the barrier reef.

Instead we were taken directly to Rendezvous Caye Island beach and snorkeled from shore.....

To me, the snorkeling was just average. Nothing to write home about.

Didn't see much.

Very few fish and very little of the reef itself.

I ended up seeing only flippers, arms and legs due to the amount of people on this excursion.

Do have to say, The staff was efficient and friendly. They divided the snorkelers into separate groups, intermediate group, one beginner, one advanced.

DH found this....forgot the name...it was crawling on his hand.

Don't worry, he released it back to his home....

The beach is made of crushed shells, NOT powdery sand at all.

Very small area where you can swim off the island.

90% is blocked by a brick wall.

Storm came rushing in. Poured like the dickens.

I can not recommend this excursion.

Very disappointing to say the least.

Sad, I was SO looking forward to snorkeling the reef in Belize! This excursion was a BIG disappointment! Total let down.

We had over 200 people when we did this.

We had over 200 people when we did this.

:eek:

All I can say is WOW!

The reef in Belize is amazing. I had read reviews similar to yours prior to our May trip.

Never do a ship's snorkel tour. Too many people.

Thanks for your review and the warning on Rendezvous Caye!

Certainly doesn't sound like the best way to see the Barrier Reef. :(

We have always taken excursions that have a snorkel stop from the snorkel boat or catamaran. Totally awesome!

LuLu

Thanks for your review and the warning on Rendezvous Caye!

Certainly doesn't sound like the best way to see the Barrier Reef. :(

We have always taken excursions that have a snorkel stop from the snorkel boat or catamaran. Totally awesome!

LuLu

We always take tour boats (private or through the ship) and snorkel right from the boat.... not dropped off at a beach :cool:

Their excursion overview

I should have read it more deeply. :o:rolleyes:

Thanks for the review. I'm looking for a Belize excursion to use some OBC on, so this won't be it. :D

The only time my hubby gets sea sick is on a boat that is sitting still while we snorkel...the whole way out he is ok but once we stop....ughhhhh...so we tend to stick to shore snorkels. That said, he is now going to be using the patches and we are hoping for the best. He is taking scuba lessons....we shall see if that works or not when he goes out next weekend to do his certification dives.

I didn't hate the snorkel at Rendezvous but if there was another option I would consider it now that I have thought about it some more....there were too many people and it was way too regimented for me...I like to go out slowly, really look around and just do a more relaxing snorkel. Hubby did the advanced snorkel and does a lot of underwater photography...he was quite disappointed when he was constantly being hurried and often did not the the photos he wanted. On previous excursions of this nature we were able to snorkel more independently and he was able to get better pics.

I forgot to mention.

My DH & I and another passenger on the boat were the only one's with snorkel gear. The rest had to borrow. 72 to be exact.

While on the boat they size you up with fins.

After being dropped off at the beach, they hand you the mask, snorkel and life vest.

After everyone snorkeled, I was sitting on the beach observing the tour guides.

They had a large pail filled with water, they "dipped" the snorkel/mask into it and then placed back in a huge bag.

If anyone does this excursion, I would suggest bringing your own. This way you can be sure you have well maintained and well cleaned equipment.

Can anyone recommend a snorkel tour that is not through the cruise line?

I forgot to mention.

 

After everyone snorkeled' date=' I was sitting on the beach observing the tour guides.

They had a large pail filled with water, they "dipped" the snorkel/mask into it and then placed back in a huge bag.

 

If anyone does this excursion, I would suggest bringing your own. This way you can be sure you have well maintained and [i']well cleaned[/i] equipment.

We always bring our own gear, but this is not a pail of water, it is bleach water. Dipping it in bleach is all it needs to kill the germs. Still not good enough for me, I'm not about to put something in my mouth that has been in hundreds of other mouths, bleach or not. But it is not as bad as it seems from a germ standpoint.

seashinesunshine

What I saw was a big barrel.

Crew "dipped" the snorkeling gear. :cool:

Specific Equipment Care:

Disinfecting snorkel mouthpieces and masks.

· Following advice from Red Cross the following procedure is recommended:

· scrub with a nail brush using cold soap and water.

· rinse in clean water and dry before disinfection procedure is carried out.

· immerse in either 70 per cent alcoholic chlorhexadine for 2 minutes or 5 per cent bleach solution for 10 minutes.

· rinse in cold water and allow to dry.

Bleach solution using household bleach (4 per cent hypochlorite) needs to be mixed in the proportion of 120 millilitres of bleach to 9 litres of water.

All disinfectant solutions should be discarded at the end of each session.

It is recommended that gloves, glasses and apron are worn when mixing bleach solutions.

Alternative Method as advised by the Department of Human Services, Environment Health Services Division regarding an economical and effective method of sanitising snorkelling equipment

After each use the snorkels and masks are:

· Rinsed with reticulated water containing mild detergent and scrubbed (lightly using a nylon brush)

· Soaked for a least 10 minutes in a solution containing 500 ml of sodium hypochlorite in 40 litres of reticulated water.

· Rinsed in fresh reticulated water.

An alternative source of disinfectant is “liquid swimming pool chlorine" containing approximately 10 % (100g/1) sodium hypochlorite. To maintain the concentration, use 200ml to 40 ltrs, reticulated water.

All containers of water and the chlorinebased solution should be appropriately discarded at the end of each day.

All I can suggest, is bring your own gear if you plan on taking this tour. ;)

seashinesunshine

What I saw was a big barrel.

Crew "dipped" the snorkeling gear. :cool:

 

 

Specific Equipment Care:

 

Disinfecting snorkel mouthpieces and masks.

 

· Following advice from Red Cross the following procedure is recommended:

· scrub with a nail brush using cold soap and water.

· rinse in clean water and dry before disinfection procedure is carried out.

· immerse in either 70 per cent alcoholic chlorhexadine for 2 minutes or 5 per cent bleach solution for 10 minutes.

· rinse in cold water and allow to dry.

 

Bleach solution using household bleach (4 per cent hypochlorite) needs to be mixed in the proportion of 120 millilitres of bleach to 9 litres of water.

All disinfectant solutions should be discarded at the end of each session.

It is recommended that gloves' date=' glasses and apron are worn when mixing bleach solutions.

 

Alternative Method as advised by the Department of Human Services, Environment Health Services Division regarding an economical and effective method of sanitising snorkelling equipment

 

After each use the snorkels and masks are:

· Rinsed with reticulated water containing mild detergent and scrubbed (lightly using a nylon brush)

· Soaked for a least 10 minutes in a solution containing 500 ml of sodium hypochlorite in 40 litres of reticulated water.

· Rinsed in fresh reticulated water.

 

An alternative source of disinfectant is “liquid swimming pool chlorine" containing approximately 10 % (100g/1) sodium hypochlorite. To maintain the concentration, use 200ml to 40 ltrs, reticulated water.

 

All containers of water and the chlorinebased solution should be appropriately discarded at the end of each day.

 

 

All I can suggest, is bring your own gear if you plan on taking this tour. ;)[/quote']

 

Yep I do, any tour. The first cruise, I was not so smart.

Can anyone recommend a snorkel tour that is not through the cruise line?

Anyone?

Anyone?

any tips for a snorkel excursion NOT thru the cruiseline? we have a group of 8, 4 to snorkel and 4 non snorkel

Thy looking at sea sports belize I think there the only dive shop on the main land we did a snorkel excursion with them in feb

You walk to the shop from the port 2 mins then take u out on a boat to an island with absolutely nothing on it and you snorkel from there we enjoyed the day very much

If I remember right there were about 5 or 6 snorkelling and about 4 for diving

Really good day remember to take sunscreen and t shirts

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