Valor - Belize - Coral Breeze Shark/Ray Alley

I was on the Coral Breeze Shark/Ray Alley tour March 22, 2005.

Tendering could have been a nightmare off of the Carnival Valor, but was easy thanks to Cruise Critic. :D Tender stickers were to be handed out starting at 8:30am (ship time), but I knew to get in line eary. Was in line around 7:50am and ended up with Tender 2, whic is fine because they called tender tickets 1 and 2 together.

Had lots of time (within reason) after picking up tender tickets to eat breakfast and finish getting ready. They were good about announcing what they were doing over the PA system so you had some notice of you need to be ready now, before they said "head for the tender".

Got to the dock before the 10am (local time) meeting time. It was easy to find the meeting place. Some people who were supposed to be on the tour didn't read Cruise Critic, so missed out on early tender tickets. They called From The Ship to say hold the boat. :mad:

I know if it was my group, I would have appreciated them waiting, however. We waited until 11am, which would reduce some of our time in Caye Caulker, but then off we went. Not sure that the stragglers ever made it onboard. Oh well. Think there were about 13 on our trip and the week before I had been told there would be 19, so don't think so.

With that number there was LOTS of room on the boat. The trip to Caye Caulker was about 40 minutes. On the ride out, some information was provided on Belize and some maps and pamphlets available. Some snorkel equipment was handed out, not sure if more was picked up in Caye Caulker, but we had to stop anyway. Picked up some ice, some bait, a pineapple (for a snack) and not sure what else.

The first stop was Coral Gardens. Life jackets were NOT required if you were comfortable, were WERE available for all who wanted. I chose not.

There was NO strong current (actually I didn't even notice one) and the water was relatively calm. No close encounters with coral. We were supposed to follow the leader, with one guide in front and one bringing up the rear. I mostly followed the leader, with some random variation on my part, but if you got too far out of bounds they would let you know. We were not tightly bunched together, so there was not a lot (if any) of the snorkelers kicking each other.

Then onto Shark/Ray Alley. There were some boats already here. They did tell us that the sharks would be around only as long as they were gunning the engines. We saw some swimming around, but they did disappear quickly.

The area where we anchored was pretty shallow, with grass on a sandy bottom. There were lots of rays swimming around, no doubt helped by the baiting. We stayed here for quite a while. Then onto lunch.

Lunch at Tropical Paradise was pretty good and very filling. I had the chicken burrito with rice and beans and a coke. IT was pretty tasty, but I added some of the habanero hot sauce and BAM. Yaaaa Hooo. Had to have a beer after I finished that. $2.50 Belizean or $1.25 US as I recall. (It might have been $3.50/$1.75). I don't believe the lunch includes tip, which I left, but others didn't seem to. I think you should probably tip anyway.

Some people didn't opt for lunch and headed off for the Split. There are some bars and swiming there, and I think some snorkeling, but I've never made it that far.

Because of the early delays, we did not have a real long time to explore after lunch, but did have some time.

On the way back to the dock, some dolphins were potted, but I never saw them. We were running a little tight on time, but stayed for a while in the area.

By the time we got back to the dock, it was a little close the the "theroretical" last tender time, which was not close to the last tender. There was still a long line. So I guess the Coral Breeze folks really do know what they are doing. I think they could (maybe do) just call on a cell phone or radio to find out the tender situation.

I had enough time to walk around the village and check out the pharmacy before getting in what was still a long tender line.

Probably my biggest gripe is that we couldn't use fins at Shark/Ray alley. I know that fins aren't a good idea if you want to just stand and play with the rays, too much chanve to hurt them or you, but I would have liked to be able to swim out and find the sharks. I did notice some people from the other boats there were using fins to swim around.

This was my first time using a new camera (for me), so I missed a number of shots and some others aren't as good as they could have been, but anywho, here are too many pics:

zydecocruiser's Album:Valor - Belize

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Were the dolphins really "potted?" It must have been cool to watch drunk dolphins. I know that people can get potted but didn't realize dolphins could, too!:D

Oops. Yes, they were stoned! er, I mean SPOTTED.... Good spot!

Zydecocruiser, I am sailing on the CC group cruise on Valor on June 12. We have booked cavetubing with Wet-N-Wild. We have one van for the 20 of us going and as soon as we can get off the ship, the van will leave. So, we are very motivated to get off as quickly as possible and get underway since time is a concern. Your tips on getting off the ship early have been very helpful. I hope you don't mind but I've pasted the links to this information on our roll call. :)

We all thought your pictures were great!!:D

No problemo. One person can collect up to 4 tender tickets, and the others can fetch coffee and danish (or full breakfast) for those in line if time is short. Enjoy.

The time the line starts forming may grow earlier. Dunno. May send an early bird scout down to spy on. The tender ticket stand is opposite the Java Java on Deck 5.

In GC, the others had caught on, so the line was longer, earlier, but tendering is quicker there.

I noted the charge was $5.00 to have lunch added. Should we do this or just order lunch on our own? Is there any difference in what you can have?

I noted the charge was $5.00 to have lunch added. Should we do this or just order lunch on our own? Is there any difference in what you can have?

That's one of the questions where the answer is, "It depends".

If you are prepared to skip lunch, then you might want to see what you can do on your own and do more exploring. There will be more restaurants and more choices to chose from. Some people just like to drink lunch. Sometimes there may not be enough time to order and eat lunch. You will almost certainly get change in Belizean dollars and what in the heck do you do with them (hint - use those as tip money for crew and add US as appropriate.)

By taking the $5 option, the order is already placed and pretty much ready when you get to the restaurant, so you can take you time eating and then a leisurely stroll around, or you can wolf down and run around the island.Or both is a group.

On the other hand, if there are lots of people onboard for lunch, you don't really have a choice for lunch, it is buffett style, as I understand. In this case, I would probably choose to take my chances, but it is too late to decide by then.

I think we had a little over an hour on the island, instead of the 2+ hours the schedule states, due to our waiting for the late comers.

The golf carts rent for $10/hr so you can get around relatively quickly.

Hope this helps.

Thank You Zydeco... $5.00 isn't much in the overall scope of things. If we pay the $5 and then do lunch on our own I don't think we would miss it. I think I'll book it and see what happens. Again, thank you.:)

Great Pictures, zydecocruiser! They took me back......Thanks for sharing!

Thank You Zydeco... $5.00 isn't much in the overall scope of things. If we pay the $5 and then do lunch on our own I don't think we would miss it. I think I'll book it and see what happens. Again, thank you.:)

Think that would be my plan. Habeneros restaurant is supposed to be one of the more "upscale" (a loose term) places but I didn't notice if they were open for lunch and they aren't on the water.

Hey Staylor!

Once again...great pics ZYDECO! I am going on the Valor on 5/29 and have been thinking about booking with Coral Breeze for a while now. I just haven't gotten around to it. But would you recommend this tour? I was expecting to see more colorful coral btu appears to be a little on the blah side. Can you give me a little feedback?

Then onto Shark/Ray Alley. There were some boats already here. They did tell us that the sharks would be around only as long as they were gunning the engines. We saw some swimming around, but they did disappear quickly.

 

The area where we anchored was pretty shallow, with grass on a sandy bottom. There were lots of rays swimming around, no doubt helped by the baiting. We stayed here for quite a while.

so how would you compare the ray experience to that of Grand Cayman?

Su

I would say the coral was on the blah side, but probably not as blah as my pictures indicate. This was the first time I had used this camera underwater and spent some time getting used to it. A number of pictures weren't in focus or were otherwise hosed. When you are touring and taking pictures, you almost always miss some of the more interesting stuff that you would have otherwise seen. So I just have to keep going back. ;)

In addition, the snorkel through the Coral Gardens is guided, so needed to mostly keep moving and not my usual pause to take several pictures until I got one I was happy with. I saw some more interesting stuff, but of course, it wasn't in the direction we were going in. I have decided I don't care for guided snorkel tours but they are good for less experienced snorkelers. I prefer to go out on my own and see what kind of trouble I can get into. With shallow coral formations, you can get into some trouble. :eek:

To me, the Coral Gardens were not the main reason to take the tour, just sort of an extra. The main reason I went is for the shark/rays, mostly for the sharks. I only was able to see sharks from the boat this time. The last time I was able to use fins and swim out to find the sharks. But I had some issues with that operator also, so have yet to find the perfect shark/ray/snorkel/island experience for me.

A third part of the tour is the Caye Caulker experience. On this trip, while some of the island time was lost, I did have more time to explor the island than I did last time.

Onto the stingrays...

There are lots of stingrays and they do a great job of keeping them in the area. It is a different experience than stingray sandbar in Grand Cayman. None of the everyone pose with a stingray for the photographer like GC - there was no photographer along. More on your own to observe and interract with the rays.

In both locations the rays are friendly and motivated by food. Each has merits.

If I could only do one (Grand Cayman stingrays or Belize stingrays), I would pick Grand Cayman, if for no other reason than it is an incredible value. I think both are worth doing.

I'll be back in Belize in November, if not before. Will I try shark/ray alley a third time? The jury is still out on that one. In hindsight, despite my gripes, I'm glad I did it the first two times, however.

Here are my pictures from the previous time, with a camera I was a little more familiar with, and also fins so I could go find the sharks:

zydecocruiser's Album:Elation - 2005

Well Zydeco, I must say that I am a big fan of yours. hahaha

You come up with the best details of every trip and of course the best pictures. I think I will try out the Coral Breeze tour since this will be my first time in Belize. I feel more comfortable with a tour rather then exploring the island on my own and taking the chance of not getting back to Belize City on time...these tenders make me nervous!! But anyway, I thought that Coral Breeze had a great layout. I was mostly interestedin it because of the sting ray and sharks...not as much the coral, although, that can be a wonderful expierance too. I like the fact that lunch is included and still time to relax on the beach or explore the little island before heading back to the ship.

I guess it helps that ship time is different then Belize time. (this will give us 2 extra hours)

Well Zydeco, I must say that I am a big fan of yours. hahaha

 

I guess it helps that ship time is different then Belize time. (this will give us 2 extra hours)

Thank you. I would check the tour times with Coral Breeze though, 'cause they may change them when daylight savings time kicks it. But Belize time doesn't change.

Thank you. I would check the tour times with Coral Breeze though, 'cause they may change them when daylight savings time kicks it. But Belize time doesn't change.

Do you know if the ship will be on Belize time? From my understanding they won't but I'm not 100% sure on that. My trip is next month.

Do you know if the ship will be on Belize time? From my understanding they won't but I'm not 100% sure on that. My trip is next month.

Depends on ship. Some are, many aren't. What ship, from what port?

Coral Breeze folks should be able to tell you what's going on, also.

When I mentioned times might change - the TOUR start/finish time, perhaps.

I'll be on the Valor which sails out of Miami on 5/29/2005

Littlebit,

The way I understand is that Belize is on Central Standard Time. However, they do not follow daylight savings time meaning they did not spring forward one hour. They should be two hours behind Miami ship time.

Also, Corral Breeze web page has info on this. They do adjust their tour times to compensate.

The Valor did not change times when I was onboard and don't think Daylight Savings time will affect that.

Here is a post by Coral Breeze and you might want to read through the thread.

There will be a 2 hour time difference between the ship time and Belize time, but it sounds like the tour start/finish time might slide by an hour.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3325897#post3325897