Shark Alley, go carnival or private?

Just got back from Belize and already planning my cruise for next year. College DD is balking about a cruise and then said she wants to swim with sharks. Ok, we can do that in Belize.

I've already started researching tours because I have to convince her prior to booking. DH and other DD will likely do a Mayan ruins tour with carnival. So I need advice on a tour that gives you some time with the nurse sharks. I like doing private but it will be just my youngest DD and me, so DH will need to be sold on it if we split and do an independent tour. We don't want to miss the tender!

I read the reviews of the carnival trip, ok but not great.

The itinerary we're looking at also has a stop at Grand Cayman and we will use the private tour we used last week there for Stingray City, so this stop would focus on the sharks.

Also, we would not want to just take a water taxi and do completely on own, so please recommend transport from pier with companies.

We did the Shark Ray Alley by Air tour with Eco Tours Belize and had the best day ever! The flight over to San Pedro was amazing as was the snorkeling! They also offer a boat trip that's cheaper that also includes a stop at Shark Ray Alley.

What was the times for your tour etc.? DH is funny about us with a private tour since we will b separating in Belize. Also, not real sure about the flying part.

Lots of posts on this but DO NOT use Coral Breeze as they have gone to the dogs..ECO tours is your best bet at this point..

Thanks, I had noticed the negatives on coral breeze.

I just checked and the shark excursion is not on the list for my Conquest sailing. I'll check again a little closer but right now leaning to Eco tours. I just don't want to be stressed getting back to ship.

We did this tour on our cruise this past Feb. Unfortunately I cannot remember the tour operator we utilized (I do know it was NOT Coral Breezes). We originally looked at doing the air/snorkel tour and decided against it due to margin for error. Planes break frequently (my husband's a pilot) and was worried about missing the tender back to the ship.

We had no issues with having enough time to get back to the ship. In fact we had extra time after returning from our excursion.

Our tour included lunch and 1.5 hrs of free time to explore Caye Caulker. LOVED Caye Caulker so much that we leave later this month for 10 days o this little island.

I wouldn't hesitate to book this tour if you are worried about having enough time to return to the ship. Go for it!

We use Ivar--independent operator. Snorkeling, swimming with the sharks and rays and then to Caye Caulker for time there and a local beach lunch. We really enjoyed it. We are using him again on our December cruise! pbuay@yahoo

Just to update, still searching for best tour to Shark Ray Alley. We actually switched our cruise from Conquest to Liberty in order to have an extra hour in Belize.

Dd is not thrilled with a small plane.

Any other experiences? We're only interesting in snorkeling and do not care to spend time on a Caye for lunch. One DD is gluten-free, other vegetarian and DH allergic to seafood. Rather take some power bars, fruit and water and spend our time snorkeling.

Check out booking thru ShoreTrips, Have used them for years with no problems.

Bob

Check out booking thru ShoreTrips, Have used them for years with no problems.

 

Bob

Thanks, just checked. Unfortunately no snorkel tours.

There is another option we found for the Belize Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan Marine Park Snorkel Excursion by Air ... a bit cheaper and they offer child rates (we always love child rates lol).

Has anyone used Belize specialties or Belize excursions to go to shark alley and San Pedro island on the carnival magic

We did the Shark Ray Alley by Air tour with Eco Tours Belize and had the best day ever! The flight over to San Pedro was amazing as was the snorkeling! They also offer a boat trip that's cheaper that also includes a stop at Shark Ray Alley.

Tell me more! We are booked to do this in March and am so excited.

Just to update, still searching for best tour to Shark Ray Alley. We actually switched our cruise from Conquest to Liberty in order to have an extra hour in Belize.

 

Dd is not thrilled with a small plane.

 

Any other experiences? We're only interesting in snorkeling and do not care to spend time on a Caye for lunch. One DD is gluten-free, other vegetarian and DH allergic to seafood. Rather take some power bars, fruit and water and spend our time snorkeling.

I see you leave in 33 days. Did you decide on a shark swim excursion? I am looking into this also for my December Liberty cruise.

We have a private booked with Ivar Marchand. He will pick us up at port and we will go by boat to shark ray alley plus another snorkel stop.

We can't wait!

We are trying to go to Shark Alley and another stop but can't book with one company unless they have 30 people sign up and no one has signed up yet for our day in Belize. How did you book your trip, what is the cost p/p and does he have to have a certain number of people. We went with another company two years ago but we had to spend an hour and a half at Caye Caulker and we really don't care about going back there. Does your excursion go there also?

We are trying to go to Shark Alley and another stop but can't book with one company unless they have 30 people sign up and no one has signed up yet for our day in Belize. How did you book your trip, what is the cost p/p and does he have to have a certain number of people. We went with another company two years ago but we had to spend an hour and a half at Caye Caulker and we really don't care about going back there. Does your excursion go there also?

Ours is being handled like a private all day charter. The total price is $450 for up to 6 people. There will be 5 of us. I just emailed and asked based on recommendations on this board. I don't have his email in front of me but it's been posted before on this board.

There will be two snorkel stops and a short stop for food, that we can decide on further that day. We don't want to waste time at Caye caulker either like a lot of the stops. Our purpose is to snorkel, even if we eat granola bars we take for lunch.

Thank you for the information. There are only two of us and the company I looked at says a 15 person min. I don't want to do the Carnival one because it looks more like a stringray swim...I have done that a few times and I am more interested in the sharks.

We are trying to go to Shark Alley and another stop but can't book with one company unless they have 30 people sign up and no one has signed up yet for our day in Belize. How did you book your trip, what is the cost p/p and does he have to have a certain number of people. We went with another company two years ago but we had to spend an hour and a half at Caye Caulker and we really don't care about going back there. Does your excursion go there also?

Please let me know how you made out when you get back, if you booked with someone or not. Also, please let me know why you do not want to go back to Caye Caulker. One of the stops on the one I am looking into is Caye Caulker.

After we snorkeled at Shark Alley and another site, they took us to Caye Caulker for an hour and a half. Some people paid more to eat lunch on the island but our family did not. We walked around a little but there wasn't much to see. We spent most of the time sitting on the ground waiting because the company we booked with wouldn't let us sit in the boat. One young lady chose to stay on the island instead of going to the snorkeling site with her husband and she was not happy when we got back from snorkeling because there wasn't anything exciting to do. We would have preferred to just snorkel and go back to the port and shop. I think the tour companies want to help out the locals on Caye Caulker.

We are still hoping others will sign up when we are in Belize so we can go for $60 p/p. The cruise line is over $100 p/p.

Thank you for the information. There are only two of us and the company I looked at says a 15 person min. I don't want to do the Carnival one because it looks more like a stringray swim...I have done that a few times and I am more interested in the sharks.

Try Sea Sports Belize. They were going to be my back up plan.

Or there are several that will fly you over to San Pedro. It's just my DH and one DD nicked the small plane.