Harvest Caye- NCL excursions: any good ones?

Has anyone experienced the NCL shore tour called "Lagoon Wildlife & Mangrove Estuaries"?

Was it enjoyable?🐋 Or any other of the more nature- oriented ones?

I would love to know the answer to this as well!

I have one for you to consider - and it's likely the tour you mentioned. It's called Monkey River with Ralph.

We did this tour 2 weeks ago and REALLY enjoyed it! We saw tons of birds, iguanas, crocodiles, monkeys, manatees and lots of other interesting stuff. Ralph is wonderful and extremely knowledgeable.

I don't have the link but I am sure you can find it. Here is what we did:

1. Used the NCL app to reserve the 9.30am ferry to Placencia. Even on the second day there was plenty of spots.

2. Took our time getting off the ship and wandered off around 8:45. We went to the ferry docks (just ask for directions, it's very close to the path you will take to get off the ship.)

3. At the ferry desk we got our wristbands for a 9.30am depart and 12.30pm pick-up. You only get a 3 hour window.

4. Boarded the ferry at 9.30am and arrived in Placencia around 9:45. Once off the ferry/water taxi, there will be 2 or 3 people at the end of the dock offering tours. We found a guy in a yellow shirt who was the sales person for Ralph's Tours. Paid him $75 per person and were pointed to Ralph's boat tied up near the ferry.

5. It was a 20-25 minute boat ride (right past the NCL ship, lol) to "Monkey River" which is indeed an estuary and has an interesting history. Ralph also offers lunch (I think it was $10pp) and they offered chicken or fish. It was a fantastic meal.

6. We arrived and navigated Monkey river and Ralph pointed out all sorts of wonderful things - animals and plants. He has an amazing eye for detail and incredible knowledge of the animals.

7. After 45 minutes or so of spotting animals we pulled up to a river bank and tied the boat off and went on a hike in the forest. Please bring bug spray. I really wish Ralph had some since the mosquitoes were pretty bad. While docking the boat you can hear the howler monkeys and it was really cool. We did a 20 minute hike and say some Monkeys towards the end up in a tree. We also smelled and talked about the native plants in the forest.

8. Back on the boat, we backtracked up the river to lunch. Again, lunch was really good! You pay the lady at the restaurant for your meal. After lunch we left for the manatee reserve - this was right off the coast of Harvest Caye and we did see about 20 manatee - but they come up and descend quickly. It was still very cool.

We went back to Placencia (I'd say this was around 1:45pm) and the tour is done. We got a great drink and smoothie at the bar right at the end of the dock - fyi - at first we thought the prices were high and didn't realize it was Belize currency which is double the USD - so drinks selling for $8 were only $4 - very nice.

We also were approached by a nice Mayan young lady who showed us some items she made and we bought 2 small baskets and a necklace.

9. Once done with our drinks we walked up the dock for the 2.30pm ferry. Although our bracelets said a 12.30pm return they were never checked and we were boarded with no issues - but the ferry/ water taxi was nearly full.

All in all a great time!

I am also going to copy and past most of this text into this forum for future cruisers.