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Private snorkeling options?


crAZytwinmomma
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Anyone care to share their experiences booking a private snorkeling excursion in Belize?

 

Looking to snorkel and get the best experience doing it. Thinking it will mean we do the option with the flight vs boat so we can enjoy more snorkel time.

 

 

 

 

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Belize is a fantastic place to snorkel and dive. Depending on where in the country you will be, check out the dive shops in the area for excursions. Splash dive shop in Placencia seems to have some amazing trips available. Want to go on some, but NCL has us pretty well captive on their "private" island, where a visit by ferry to the mainland town, Placencia ,is limited to 3 hours. That shoots just about every snorkeling excursion available, and NCL doesn't offer one from Harvest Caye.

 

I'm really bummed. I will rethink any trip to the western Caribbean with NCL in the future. I'll go with another line that does not keep me away from one of the most amazing resources in the world. (I've been on NCL over 25 times, so this is not a statement I make lightly. Can you tell I'm just a little upset?)

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We love to cruise to check out different countries that often leads us to vacation longer a different year in a particular one. Belize is the top of our list to "try" and we hope to follow up with a longer vacation there in the future. Snorkeling is our favorite thing so we often plan our vacation based around where we can snorkel.

 

We reached out to Lil Alphonse and got no response yet. We reached out to Grumpy & Happy and have their information. We'd prefer to choose among a few options but so far we've only found the one for a private organized day that includes plane, boat, snorkel.

 

 

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Belize is a fantastic place to snorkel and dive. Depending on where in the country you will be, check out the dive shops in the area for excursions. Splash dive shop in Placencia seems to have some amazing trips available. Want to go on some, but NCL has us pretty well captive on their "private" island, where a visit by ferry to the mainland town, Placencia ,is limited to 3 hours. That shoots just about every snorkeling excursion available, and NCL doesn't offer one from Harvest Caye.

 

 

 

I'm really bummed. I will rethink any trip to the western Caribbean with NCL in the future. I'll go with another line that does not keep me away from one of the most amazing resources in the world. (I've been on NCL over 25 times, so this is not a statement I make lightly. Can you tell I'm just a little upset?)

 

 

 

"Just" a beach day would be disappointing for us and probably a deal breaker. We love to snorkel and explore on our own.

 

 

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I'm going to assume that you're going to Belize City and not Harvest Caye. (NCL's private island) I have done a snorkeling tour to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley through shoreexcursioneer and it was a great time. It cost about $139 per person, and included the flight from Belize City to Ambergris Caye. Once you landed, it was a short walk to the pier, where you board a small boat out to the snorkeling sights... The only thing is that you must get from the port to Belize Municipal Airport on your own. I took a cab, and it is only about 10 minutes to the airport. https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/belize/shark-ray-alley-hol-chan-marine-park-snorkel-air.html I have also dne the same tour through coralbreezetours, which is basically the same thing, except you take a boat from Belize City to Caye Caulker first instead of flying to Ambergris Caye... http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Product.2/tours_add.html?t_product=2 Both were great tours.

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I'm going to assume that you're going to Belize City and not Harvest Caye. (NCL's private island) I have done a snorkeling tour to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley through shoreexcursioneer and it was a great time. It cost about $139 per person, and included the flight from Belize City to Ambergris Caye. Once you landed, it was a short walk to the pier, where you board a small boat out to the snorkeling sights... The only thing is that you must get from the port to Belize Municipal Airport on your own. I took a cab, and it is only about 10 minutes to the airport. https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/belize/shark-ray-alley-hol-chan-marine-park-snorkel-air.html I have also dne the same tour through coralbreezetours, which is basically the same thing, except you take a boat from Belize City to Caye Caulker first instead of flying to Ambergris Caye... http://www.coralbreezetours.com/Product.2/tours_add.html?t_product=2 Both were great tours.

 

 

 

Thank you for links. We are not interested in a group so we are avoiding Coral Breeze since they have a reputation on theses boards as having booking minimums beyond what we want.

 

We want a very personal experience. I will look at the other one though!

 

 

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Crazy,

 

When are you sailing? I know both Lil Alphonse and Happy and Grumpy and you will be well taken care of. If you are sailing soon and do not hear back post again and I will call to make sure that they have received your emails. Unfortunately we do not have great internet in Belize. It sounds like you need to see more of Belize so that you will be people who will return for a longer stay and really enjoy our beautiful country.

 

Janice

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The time that I went on the excursion through shoreexcursioneer, I was the only one on the tour... Literally just me and the guy who drove the small boat out to the reef.

Thank you for links. We are not interested in a group so we are avoiding Coral Breeze since they have a reputation on theses boards as having booking minimums beyond what we want.

 

We want a very personal experience. I will look at the other one though!

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Just wanted to update we went with Happy and Grumpy. We arrived in port and took a taxi to the municipal airport. We took a plane to Ambergris Caye and snorkeled. We had a great time. In our day we did snorkel shark alley and Hol Chan. At the end we flew back and got back in time to shop the shops by the port terminal. The guys in the boat were very friendly and personable. c27eb73c2d4adf0e2e6ff4b10dbdf26d.jpg

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just wanted to update we went with Happy and Grumpy. We arrived in port and took a taxi to the municipal airport. We took a plane to Ambergris Caye and snorkeled. We had a great time. In our day we did snorkel shark alley and Hol Chan. At the end we flew back and got back in time to shop the shops by the port terminal. The guys in the boat were very friendly and personable. c27eb73c2d4adf0e2e6ff4b10dbdf26d.jpg

 

 

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Thank you for sharing this! I'm having the hardest time trying to find the perfect snorkeling excursion in Belize for just my husband and I. We're only going to be there from 8am-5pm with Carnival Freedom. Grumpy & Happy seem like a good company, they are expensive but their reviews and website seem promising. Do you have any more tips? Was it difficult getting to and from Belize Municipal airport/Tourism Village?

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Thank you for sharing this! I'm having the hardest time trying to find the perfect snorkeling excursion in Belize for just my husband and I. We're only going to be there from 8am-5pm with Carnival Freedom. Grumpy & Happy seem like a good company, they are expensive but their reviews and website seem promising. Do you have any more tips? Was it difficult getting to and from Belize Municipal airport/Tourism Village?

 

Belize has these things called taxis you get in the car they take you somewhere and you give the drivers some money. The best diving and snorkeling in Belize is out on the atolls but they're just too far out to be practical from a cruise

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Well darn, who would've guessed? :rolleyes: My question was are they readily available to flag down, or are you required to call for them in advance. Seeing as other people have done it successfully I don't recall asking you Geiko

 

Belize has these things called taxis you get in the car they take you somewhere and you give the drivers some money. The best diving and snorkeling in Belize is out on the atolls but they're just too far out to be practical from a cruise
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Well darn, who would've guessed? :rolleyes: My question was are they readily available to flag down, or are you required to call for them in advance. Seeing as other people have done it successfully I don't recall asking you Geiko

 

Go ahead and read what you posted cuz that's not what you asked

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Thank you for sharing this! I'm having the hardest time trying to find the perfect snorkeling excursion in Belize for just my husband and I. We're only going to be there from 8am-5pm with Carnival Freedom. Grumpy & Happy seem like a good company, they are expensive but their reviews and website seem promising. Do you have any more tips? Was it difficult getting to and from Belize Municipal airport/Tourism Village?

 

 

 

We were able to get off the ship fast (we had purchased Faster to the Fun). On the Breeze there was a one hour time difference so we actually emailed happy and Grumpy early that morning and were able to get an earlier flight there and back so we flew back at 1:30 Belize time and last tender was 3pm Belize time.

 

Any taxi there should be fine. Just specify MUNICIPAL airport. The taxi there was $20

On the way back taxi from the airport was only $10 and there was a taxi there already waiting. The airport wanted us to change into dry clothing to fly back...

 

For us, we prefer private trips where we can have a lot of time in the water.

 

Jolene emailed us multiple times the morning of our arrival and was able to push ahead the flight times. So her communication was excellent. We only had email service so her prompt responses ensured a great day. Her taking care of all the flight arrangements really helped us relax and just enjoy the day.

 

On the boat, Johnny was great. He was in the water with us, pointing out so many things we would have missed. We saw nurse sharks, rays, eagle rays, lion fish, lobster, eel, barracuda, conch shells, various coral formations, sergeant majors, and many more. We also did the feeding nurse sharks - where Jonny and the other guide (Bergelio?) feed them while we were in the water snorkeling. Then we did a drift snorkel with Bergelio to see more of the reef.

 

The whole time we were snorkeling we avoided any crowds. It felt very personable and private.

 

They had water and pineapple on the boat. Next time, I’d bring a snack for flight back (I’m gluten free and there weren’t any places to buy food).

 

It was a bit pricey for sure but we really wanted the time in the water. One group on our ship booked the excursion taking boats there not the flight. On the way back, the boat ran out of gas. They were lucky to get into another boat that came to help that was nearby. Then THAT boat ran out of gas!!! A third boat came along, but smaller. Not everyone fit into the third boat. Some were left behind. I guess the people on the third boat made the “last” official tender. Luckily the people left behind made the “unofficial” last tender. With a lot of stress and a good story to tell!

 

 

 

 

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We were able to get off the ship fast (we had purchased Faster to the Fun). On the Breeze there was a one hour time difference so we actually emailed happy and Grumpy early that morning and were able to get an earlier flight there and back so we flew back at 1:30 Belize time and last tender was 3pm Belize time.

 

Any taxi there should be fine. Just specify MUNICIPAL airport. The taxi there was $20

On the way back taxi from the airport was only $10 and there was a taxi there already waiting. The airport wanted us to change into dry clothing to fly back...

 

For us, we prefer private trips where we can have a lot of time in the water.

 

Jolene emailed us multiple times the morning of our arrival and was able to push ahead the flight times. So her communication was excellent. We only had email service so her prompt responses ensured a great day. Her taking care of all the flight arrangements really helped us relax and just enjoy the day.

 

On the boat, Johnny was great. He was in the water with us, pointing out so many things we would have missed. We saw nurse sharks, rays, eagle rays, lion fish, lobster, eel, barracuda, conch shells, various coral formations, sergeant majors, and many more. We also did the feeding nurse sharks - where Jonny and the other guide (Bergelio?) feed them while we were in the water snorkeling. Then we did a drift snorkel with Bergelio to see more of the reef.

 

The whole time we were snorkeling we avoided any crowds. It felt very personable and private.

 

They had water and pineapple on the boat. Next time, I’d bring a snack for flight back (I’m gluten free and there weren’t any places to buy food).

 

It was a bit pricey for sure but we really wanted the time in the water. One group on our ship booked the excursion taking boats there not the flight. On the way back, the boat ran out of gas. They were lucky to get into another boat that came to help that was nearby. Then THAT boat ran out of gas!!! A third boat came along, but smaller. Not everyone fit into the third boat. Some were left behind. I guess the people on the third boat made the “last” official tender. Luckily the people left behind made the “unofficial” last tender. With a lot of stress and a good story to tell!

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for your details! I appreciate it very much!

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Doesn't take a genius to know it's implied. Or do you take everything literally? :eek:

 

There is nothing implied on the internet because there's no way to read a person.

 

Another option is to rent a kayak when you get to San Pedro and Kayak Out To The Reef and use the tie offs and snorkel. The Marine reserves do require a guide.

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