Princess - Sergeant's Caye Snorkeling Excursion

Because I could find virtually no information on this excursion - which we took yesterday - I wanted to report on it for any other Princess passengers who may be considering it.

Some important basic information: the excursion boat actually picks up passengers directly from the ship and drops them back at the ship at the end, avoiding the need to take a tender into port and back to join the excursion. They pull their boat right up to the tender docks lowered from the side of the ship, just like tender boats. This was very convenient.

The boat first takes a 20-25 minute trip to Spanish Caye, a small island with a beach, an open air restaurant, a gift shop, dive shop, restrooms, etc. On the way, the crew gives a safety briefing, and at Spanish Caye the passengers pick up swim fins, sign a mandatory waiver form (and have time for a bathroom break.)

The passengers then re-board the tour boat and take about a 10 minute trip to the reef (which is actually Sergeant's Caye.) During this time passengers are provided masks and snorkels and the usual inflatable yellow float vests (which are required, as they are on most ship-based snorkeling excursions.) I don't know if Sergeant's Caye is ever above water, but when we were there it was entirely submerged, though there is a sandy bottom all around where the boat anchors, in about 3 feet of water.

Once anchored at the snorkeling site, they lower 2 ladders off the bow of the boat, making it very easy to enter and leave the water. The crew breaks the excursion group into small groups with a guide assigned to each (our groups were 7 people). The guides lead their groups to various locations around the reef, pointing out and describing the different corals and sea life, and picking up some animals - such as conch, urchins, crabs, lobster, shells, etc. - to show the passengers. The actual time in the water was maybe 30-40 minutes. This excursion might be good for novice snorkelers or families with children looking for a snorkeling excursion.

At this point I do want to say that the entire crew working on the boat and on shore were very nice, friendly, professional and careful to make sure all guests were safe.

That having been said, however, I'm afraid I have to say that I can NOT recommend this excursion to experienced snorkelers or those who wish to explore a reef in any detail. This is because, in my opinion, there were far too many passengers packed into far too small an area on the reef for the experience to be enjoyable. There were 40 passengers on our excursion boat, plus there were 2 other boats anchored in the same area of the reef, so there were probably more like 75 people in the water at one time. It was just way too crowded.

In addition, perhaps in their zeal to assure passenger safety, the guides were very strict about not allowing passengers to stray from the guided tour. However, because there were so many groups (6 or 7 on our boat alone), and because the trip was "guided" we all seemed to end up in the same places at the same times. It was very crowded and the crowds stirred up a lot of sand and silt, reducing visibility in the water. I have been snorkeling for decades, and have taken ship-based snorkeling excursions all over the world for the past 15 years or so, and have never experienced one that was this structured or crowded or, to be frank, this disappointing, especially for a location such as Belize.

After we all climbed back aboard the boat, they headed back to Spanish Caye. The crew passed around some light snacks on the trip. At the island, we had about 20 minutes to use the rest room, walk the small beach, grab a snack or beverage at the little restaurant (the local beer was good, as were the conch fritters.) We then re-boarded the boat and returned to the ship. In total, the trip was almost exactly 3 hours.

I hope this information helps others who might be looking for first hand information about this excursion, as I was before our cruise. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the detail report. I find it very helpful. I'm following your "live" thread and enjoying it too!

Do they allow the option of staying on the private beach rather than taking going on

to the snorkel site?

Thank you so much for this info! We were seriously considering this excursion but it does not sound like what we are looking for. Thanks again!

Do they allow the option of staying on the private beach rather than taking going on

to the snorkel site?

Yes, they do. Three or Four people chose this option on our trip, while others in their party went snorkeling. They seemed to enjoy the beach.

Also, there is another Princess excursion that seems to offer more beach time on another small island; don't recall the name offhand, but you'll find it among the excursions listed for Belize on Princess.com.

Thank you so much for this info! We were seriously considering this excursion but it does not sound like what we are looking for. Thanks again!

Glad I could help. I had a heck of a time finding any information about this before our cruise, so was hoping to provide information others would find helpful.

Thanks so much for your help! We've done this itinerary on Carnival, but you've answered several questions in your review that will be helpful with Princess. Glad you had a good trip!

Thank you so much for posting your review. We are avid snorkelers, too, which is why we picked this itinerary. We've been debating what to do in Belize and booked the Snorkel and Beach Break at Water Caye rather than Sergeant's Caye, because we were concerned it might be just as you described.

We also considered booking our own trip, but it seems like a challenge to tender ashore, get the ferry out to Caye Caulker, board another boat, etc. I could snorkel for hours, but it just doesn't seem possible with a ship's excursion, and Belize seems like one of the more difficult DIY ports.

Another thank you for your excellent posts on the Princess board, very helpful and informative.

Thank you for your informative review on this excursion.i Did you happen to talk to anyone who had done the barrier reef excursion instead of this one? we are signed up for it but don't want to be in the situation you were! thanks

Thank you for your informative review on this excursion.i Did you happen to talk to anyone who had done the barrier reef excursion instead of this one? we are signed up for it but don't want to be in the situation you were! thanks

Unfortunately, I did not. And I was actively trying to find people who did the other excursion for a comparison. Perhaps someone else will post on here or in the Belize forum. I'll post here if I get any information.

Thanks! I have put a post on the Princess board and on Belize board but 3 days now..no response:(

Just an update on this trip from the Caribbean Princess in port on 23 April. For reference we had two other boats anchored with us that day, Carnival and I think, Norwegian. Neither had any groups sharing the island break with us. Apparently that is a Princess exclusive. I assume one of the boats we saw at the dive site were from one of those ships.

I didn't have high expectations for this trip due to the description by Princess and the summary above. We took the morning trip mostly because we didn't want to deal with the long tendering and we'd had good snorkeling, as expected, on Roatan. I knew the snorkeling location would be marginal without going further out to the reef and having such a large group of 50 is problematic. That said, i think Princess does a disservice to the vendor in their description as they imply a short bathroom break on the way back.

We had a large group, but the boat was not overpacked and the guests were divided into five groups, which was manageable. Each group had it's own guide who did a great, non-rush job to provide at least one hour of snorkeling. There was another boat group on the other side of what is essentially a sandbar now, but they didn’t impact us. As our five groups of ten worked somewhat of a figure eight on our side of the sandbar/island it really wasn’t that crowded and I worked the back and edges of the group without an issue. As groups crossed toward the end, it felt a bit like a rush hour intersection, but no big deal.

The snorkling was crystal clear after a week of good weather and in certain locations I could have worked a formation for an hour alone. Overall it was an OK snorkel trip, but the beach snorkeling from Roatan’s beach is better, just because the reef is ‘right there’ at whatever depth you want to work.

The big surprise for me is when we returned to the island, we had over an hour to kayak and snorkel the small lagoon and hang out in the shade or on the beach. With a five to ten minute walk you can visit and dive store and museum, that you just get a glimpse of on the way out as you pick up your gear. The staff working the drinks and food were great. Evelyn lives on the island for 10 out of 14 days and cooks for visitors and staff. First time for conch fritters, which I enjoyed and a large portion of six. Pass on the nachos, no microwave unless you go to the bar at the dive shop….so you end up with cold, liquid cheese something over chips. ;-) Michelle was the waitress and has a personality that is being wasted on that island, i.e., bubbly in an honest way. If they could work out the logistics, it would be an great add-on to be able to stay the afternoon there and hang-out and catch the boat back with the afternoon group, or the dive boat.

We all know the premium you pay for an excursion purchased through the cruise line, but in this case I considered $59 a great deal, if you don’t care to deal with the tender into port and out again for an independent trip.

As an aside, the crew had a small head bump injury that they dealt with quickly and appropriately on our trip and a somewhat more serious one in the afternoon, where someone had breathing issues due to what we assume was a previous illness and salt water inhalation. In that case they were able to place a guide with the patient on one of the dive boats based on the island and take them directly back to the ship, helping the client without impacting the experience of the remaining group.

Think We will try the Sergeants Caye this trip.. I heard it's really nice.

Did the Barrier Reef last time with the Ocean Runner and my absolute novice wife.... Very good, great crew, good equipment. Picked us up off direct off ship and a fast 25 min zip... to the reef, snorkeled in organized groups with the Mrs in life vest and towed her with the O ring... was a great intro to snorkelling . Then stopped a small islet for bevvies/sun lounger time. and then.. That boat flys back!!!

Rpm, if you are still following, from which beach in Roatan did you snorkel?

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Will you come back and report on this excursion when you get back? We're on the 2/1 Emerald sailing and are signed up for this excursion and looking for recent feedback.

thanks!

Think We will try the Sergeants Caye this trip.. I heard it's really nice.

 

Did the Barrier Reef last time with the Ocean Runner and my absolute novice wife.... Very good, great crew, good equipment. Picked us up off direct off ship and a fast 25 min zip... to the reef, snorkeled in organized groups with the Mrs in life vest and towed her with the O ring... was a great intro to snorkelling . Then stopped a small islet for bevvies/sun lounger time. and then.. That boat flys back!!!

Yes i would be interested also as we are shoving off in 49 days!!! Never done anything in Belize but the pier and that sucks big time!

Thanks for the insights on this excursion. I'm going to to the ruins instead.

Sorry, this is way late... but,

We went to West Bay on a Princess Tabyana Beach Break.