Best Excursion in Belize?

We are sailing the Legend in August and pretty much know what we are planning for Grand Cayman and Roatan, but I was wondering what would be a good excursion to take in Belize. After reading info on these boards it seems like that in our case the best bet would be to take a ship excursion that leaves directly from the ship as I would rather not go into the port town as it is just me and my two kids. DH is staying back at ship. Any suggestions?

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for Cozumel that would be appreciated as well. Thanks!:)

We loved the cave tubing, booked directly with cave tubing dot com. My family still talks about this one 3 years later! It would depend on the ages of the kids though as they have to carry their tube and it can be pretty muddy and hard to stay on your feet at times :)

Cozumel, we did a cruiseline excursion, catamaran took us out to snorkel, then time on private beach with kayaks, lounge chairs, beach volleyball, then dancing and music on the way back. Oh and if interested free alcohol after snorkeling!

All time favorite Goff's Caye. We booked at the pier and it was a combined snorkleing/beach day. This turned into an all day excursion as the snorkeling was at the caye. We haf four hours beach time while the CCL booked excurison get's maybe two hours.

Second is cave tubing. A unique experience.

We just returned from Belize and took the ship's excursion to Sargeant's Caye. It was a lot of fun. Our grandchildren were 15 and 9 and it was a perfect excursion for them. Snorkling and swimming off of a sandbar in the middle of nowhere. Watermelon and drinks were refreshing.

We were on Royal in March and did Bannister island..We were supposed to be picked up directly, but ended up tendering to town , and were dropped off directly at the ship after the excursion.. I ended up being glad we went to town as I got to talk to some locals. We did not go outside the tourist portion , and it was perfectly fine , and there is a lot of shopping available there. Bannister is really nice , but take shoes for shells in the water..

Thanks for the suggestions:)The Bannister Island looks nice, also considering the cave tubing. Has anyone done tubing through the cruise ship excursion?

If you want to do cave tubing, don't book it through the cruise line. It's more expensive and not as much fun. We went with Major Tom and his crew at cave-tubingdotnet. The people that went with Carnival were in a large group with a few guides. We were in much smaller groups with a more personalized experience. My wife and I were linked together with a guide that did all the work and told us to relax and enjoy our time. Also we were allowed to climb on top of a big rock and jump in the water. We spent a little more time in the water and got to sample different things like termites that tasted like mint and leaves from the allspice tree. It's also cheaper than through the cruise line and we were back to the ship with time to spare. This is still one of our favorite excursions we have done.

The Cays are really beautiful. Ambergris Cay is one of your favorite spots.

We did Cave Tubing, NOT THROUGH THE BOAT! We went with cavetubing dotcom. It was HALF the cost and a longer tour. Plus the company Carnival brokers with is a Jamaican company not a Belizian one. My DH was nervous about doing the tour not through the boat, but it was great. My DS (11 at the time) still talks about it.

We did the Mayan Ruins/River Wallace tour and LOVED it! The ruins were great, and the boat ride down the river was a lot of fun. We saw lots of crocs, howler monkeys, iguanas and manatee. Picked up right at the dock, dropped you off right at the dock. Depending on the ages of your kids, they may not be old enough for the cave tubing. And I had a VERY BAD experience with a local operator (years ago) so just be very careful that your operator is reputable. Mine was, but they were overbooked and "outsourced" our guide. It was a horrific experience (funny, now) so just be careful :)

Cozumel, we did a cruiseline excursion, catamaran took us out to snorkel, then time on private beach with kayaks, lounge chairs, beach volleyball, then dancing and music on the way back. Oh and if interested free alcohol after snorkeling!

Looking at doing this, how much beach time did you get? Was it Fury beach? also, did you need water shoes... thanks

Oh, one more quick question, did you snorkle close to the cruise ship....

an 'easy' day at Cozumel could include some time spent at Chankanaab..they have some pretty decent snorkeling there..you can rent equipment, or bring your own. Admission is $20, and food/drinks available for purchase.

There are several beaches that you can take a cab to on Cozumel, there is a cab stand near the port and all prices are clearly marked. You won't have a problem.

For Belize, we've booked a tour with Nacho and Cynthia..they have come VERY highly rated by CC members! We are going to Altun Ha, the Baboon Sanctuary, a beach in Old Belize for lunch, and a bit of touring around the town. They are providing beer, rum punch, soda, water, and cynthia has promise us some kind of fruit snack.. I'm not holding her to it, but it will be GREAT if she does it!

Stayed in Belize a couple times for a week and have been on two cruises there.. The bus rides a little long but scenic, but I vote for Xunantunich. The Mayan Ruins are cool to see and Xunantunich is the better of the two available. The Carnival excursion stop for a really great lunch too....

we really enjoyed our shark ray alley excursion of a lifetime. we booked it with coral breezes tours

http://www.coralbreezetours.com/belize/tour/snorkeling/diving/index.html

We also did cave tubing with Major Tom. Awesome trip, great service. And the food place you stop at after the tubing was amazing.

Having said that, I would consider booking through the ship. You go pretty far away from the port. We got back with very little time to get back on the ship. I'd hate to get left behind in Belize of all places....especially if you have kids.

Cave tubing is the bomb!

Cave tubing with Reggie was the BEST!!!!

Sorry, dreaded double post!

I guess everyone has a different experience but we found Cave Tubing dot com horrible. Our guide made homophobic jokes/commments on our bus ride over, which I didn't appreciate. Then we had to wear nasty old life jackets that smelled. You have to hike what seems like miles through the humid rainforest. When you finally get there they link you up feet to armpits with strangers. They pull you through a shallow rocky stream in a big double doughnut chain. You can't see much because of the lying back position with the life jacket restricting head movement, and weak headlamps. Don't forget to lift your backside or you will be black and blue from hitting rocks. One word...never again!

One ship excursion often overlooked but totally teriffic . . . .

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we did the cave tubing and ATV combo with cavetubingdotcom. Ashton and Richard were awesome. We had cashew wine on the bus, and soooo much fun. On 3 cruises, this was one of my groups, ages 11-50,most fav excursions and we want to do belize again just to do this again!

regtourbz dot com is who we used and had a fantastic time. It was just my DH and I and we did have to walk quite a ways (it was December so not quite as hot) but we were able to go up 2 entry points further than the crusie ship excursion and just had to hold on to each other and our tour guide (Reggie's son). We only came close to the wall once and didn't have any issues with shallow water either but we were there during their rainy season. We by passed the cruise ship excursion with chains of like 50 people holding on to each other. The water is COLD, but had no problems with any of our equipment.

One ship excursion often overlooked but totally teriffic . . . .

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http://www.bacabecopark.com/

 

 

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This looks interesting, did you do this one?

but I was wondering what would be a good excursion to take in Belize.

Cave tubing through VIV Tours was the best! Half the price of Carnival's tour and you get to tube further & longer. Also, they are the only ones that have the nice locking inter-tubes where you don't have to lock your feet underneath someones armpits.