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Goff's Caye or Caye Caulker?

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CENTEX CRUISER

CENTEX CRUISER

Posted
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If you can hook up with Coral Breeze island escape , it goes to caulkner where you can do both, and the island, although small, is much bigger than Goff's , and I think would be a lot more interesting..I don't think there are many ship sponsored tours that go to caulkner.

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CrusingGolfers

CrusingGolfers

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Arriving on Crown Princess in Feb. Have studied the forum and can't decide between Goff's Caye or Caye Caulker. I want to snorkel and my husband will probably just want to snorkel for a short time, then relax on the beach with a cocktail. Suggestions please, am ready to book. thanks!

 

I will be there Jan 31st and 90% sure I'm going to Goff's because I've read the snorkeling is better.... I can report back for you if you'd like.

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kwbound

kwbound

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I will be there Jan 31st and 90% sure I'm going to Goff's because I've read the snorkeling is better.... I can report back for you if you'd like.

 

Pls do report back. We haven't decided yet what we are going to do in Belize. How are you getting to Goff's?

 

Thanks! Have a wonderful cruise!

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cruznluvr

cruznluvr

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We went to Goff's Caye in 2010 & plan to return there when we cruise this Nov. We have been on 9 cruises & it ranks as one of our favorite excursions of all time. We booked through Eco-tours Belize for 45pp adults. Our daughter was under 5 at the time & was free. Both pics on my signature were taken there.

The excursion included snorkeling; but we opted not to do this since the water was choppy that day. There are also strong currents, so be careful with your little ones.

I have more pics I can post from our visit there, if anyone is interested.

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cruznluvr

cruznluvr

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I will probably book next time with island Marketing too. A little cheaper than Belize Eco-tours. The day we were on the island, a guy from Islnad Marketing was there taking pics for their website. The pic of my daughter & me is now also on their website. :)

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marshhawk

marshhawk

Posted
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We did Goff's Caye in 2010, and will be remembered by me as the most beautiful tiny island in the world. It was very choppy when we went, there were too many people in the snorkeling group, and we saw very few fish-but afterwards, when we could just sit out on our own, it was truly wonderful. We booked through our ship, they picked us up from the ship, and took us back to the ship, and we did not have to go into port at all. Enjoy-hopefully the reef has built itself back up since we went. Best snorkeing I have had- was on my own at El Cid in Cozumel.;)

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

Posted
Posted
We did Goff's Caye in 2010, and will be remembered by me as the most beautiful tiny island in the world. It was very choppy when we went, there were too many people in the snorkeling group, and we saw very few fish-but afterwards, when we could just sit out on our own, it was truly wonderful. We booked through our ship, they picked us up from the ship, and took us back to the ship, and we did not have to go into port at all. Enjoy-hopefully the reef has built itself back up since we went. Best snorkeing I have had- was on my own at El Cid in Cozumel.;)

 

What ship were you on? Do they normally pick you up on the ship without having to tender to the port and then get on a boat?

 

BTW, loved the picture of the Lobster meal. Did that come with your tour price or did you have to pay more? If so, how much was the meal? How long did they give you there?

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CrusingGolfers

CrusingGolfers

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Ok so I am back pictures aren't loaded but I will get them on as soon as my wife puts them on Facebook lol.

 

The day started awful!! Carnival was a disaster with the tender process it was laughable how little control they had. We were told to meet downstairs at 8:30 am to pick up a tender ticket and we would be getting off by numbers starting at 9 am. Perfect I knew we wouldn't get the first tender boat due to the fact that we booked private. So I figured by 9:30 ship time (8:30 local time) we would be getting off and headed to shore. My meeting time was 10 ship 9 local time and we left 30 minutes later. Well this is where Carnival turned into a circus.

 

9:00 rolls around first groups go booked through ship then tickets 1-3 we were 6. So all was working to how I felt it should. Then around 9:40 the next groups go more carnival groups and 4-5 hmmmm ok not good. Then we notice about 50 of these "pirates" that we're on our cruise with numbers 7-12 just get up and leave with the 4-5 tickets. This particular group was awful all week the rules didn't apply to them in their heads and Carnival did NOTHING about it. So now the extra 50 people that break the line makes it worse for us. When myself and several others go complain. We were told well now that they are down there it will be too hard to get them back up. REALLY??? Then why do you have rules? This only made it worse because many of the "pirates" saw how furious others were. They got away with it ruined many other people's day and became more annoying the rest of the week.

 

So now we are over a hour late and I'm beyond furious I ran off the tender boat ahead of m wife and her parents to meet Island Marketiing. The guy standing at the end of the pier with the sign knew I was late and could clearly see I was pissed. He said all was ok they are used to dealing with Carnival and to relax and enjoy my day it woud be stress free from here. They had a later boat for some of the Princess Cruise people so they squeezed us on that one. We left 80 minutes later then we were supposed to which put us back on the pier 15 minutes before the last tender left. My wife was worried about boat trouble coming back or any issues that would make us late.

 

When we got off the boat on Goff's Caye I spoke to the tour director Leon and I explained our boat time is a hour ahead of local time and my wife was worried that we would one cutting it close especially if we have boat troubles. He said he wanted to speak with her and sat down in the sand with our family and explained he would never put us in jeopardy of missing the boat. If we had boat issues he would have another boat come out and take us straight to our ship. He wanted to reassure everyone that we had his word no issues would occur and we will be back in plenty of time. For him to go out of his way and sit down with us for a for minutes to relax everyone after a stressful morning was great.

 

So we made a pact to not stress and enjoy the island. Wife and I got ready for the snorkeling and her parents just wanted to relax on the beach and wade in the water. We saw a few sting rays before heading out on the boat to snorkel but the water was pretty rough. So we knew that the visibility wouldn't be great. We headed out to the reef by boat which takes about 3 minutes. Jump off the boat and your on the reef. They break you up into groups of 7-10 people and they guide you around. We didn't get a great guide no idea what his name was but we stuck close to him to hear him which was the only good part. Visibility was 50% which sucked but there is nothing you can do about that. Our guide did say you usually can see perfectly clear from 30 feet. We saw plenty of fish and very nice coral. Not the best snorkeling we have done but it wasn't terrible.

 

However back on the beach was a treat. The beach is gorgeous, the island is gorgeous, and the water around it is gorgeous. We loved the island and her parents had made friends with the locals by the time we came back. So we hung out for another hour around the island with the employees and other people from cruise ships. We had the chicken which was $8 and plenty for 2 of us. Rum punch was free and good, water was also free, any other drinks you had to purchase. Lobster was also $10 but we were lobstered out.

 

We headed back and made it with plenty of time. Leon, Richard, and Jose took very good care of us and made sure we didn't worry about things once they saw we were stressed. I wouldn't hesitate to book with island marketing or ecological tours. If you book with island marketing they use ecological tours so it doesn't matter which company you book with you will get the same company.

 

Time table: Local time

Left dock: 10:20

Arrived: 11:25

Beach time before snorkeling: 20 minutes

Snorkeling: total time in water was 50 minutes plus another 30 of instruction and hearding everyone on and off the boat

Beach time: 60 minutes

Back to dock: 2:50

 

Which gave us plenty of time to get to tender, we even got a chance to shop. Ask any questions and I will help out. Also will post pics soon. Hope this helps.

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Bluestar01

Bluestar01

Posted
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Ok so I am back pictures aren't loaded but I will get them on as soon as my wife puts them on Facebook lol.

 

The day started awful!! Carnival was a disaster with the tender process it was laughable how little control they had. We were told to meet downstairs at 8:30 am to pick up a tender ticket and we would be getting off by numbers starting at 9 am. Perfect I knew we wouldn't get the first tender boat due to the fact that we booked private. So I figured by 9:30 ship time (8:30 local time) we would be getting off and headed to shore. My meeting time was 10 ship 9 local time and we left 30 minutes later. Well this is where Carnival turned into a circus.

 

9:00 rolls around first groups go booked through ship then tickets 1-3 we were 6. So all was working to how I felt it should. Then around 9:40 the next groups go more carnival groups and 4-5 hmmmm ok not good. Then we notice about 50 of these "pirates" that we're on our cruise with numbers 7-12 just get up and leave with the 4-5 tickets. This particular group was awful all week the rules didn't apply to them in their heads and Carnival did NOTHING about it. So now the extra 50 people that break the line makes it worse for us. When myself and several others go complain. We were told well now that they are down there it will be too hard to get them back up. REALLY??? Then why do you have rules? This only made it worse because many of the "pirates" saw how furious others were. They got away with it ruined many other people's day and became more annoying the rest of the week.

 

So now we are over a hour late and I'm beyond furious I ran off the tender boat ahead of m wife and her parents to meet Island Marketiing. The guy standing at the end of the pier with the sign knew I was late and could clearly see I was pissed. He said all was ok they are used to dealing with Carnival and to relax and enjoy my day it woud be stress free from here. They had a later boat for some of the Princess Cruise people so they squeezed us on that one. We left 80 minutes later then we were supposed to which put us back on the pier 15 minutes before the last tender left. My wife was worried about boat trouble coming back or any issues that would make us late.

 

When we got off the boat on Goff's Caye I spoke to the tour director Leon and I explained our boat time is a hour ahead of local time and my wife was worried that we would one cutting it close especially if we have boat troubles. He said he wanted to speak with her and sat down in the sand with our family and explained he would never put us in jeopardy of missing the boat. If we had boat issues he would have another boat come out and take us straight to our ship. He wanted to reassure everyone that we had his word no issues would occur and we will be back in plenty of time. For him to go out of his way and sit down with us for a for minutes to relax everyone after a stressful morning was great.

 

So we made a pact to not stress and enjoy the island. Wife and I got ready for the snorkeling and her parents just wanted to relax on the beach and wade in the water. We saw a few sting rays before heading out on the boat to snorkel but the water was pretty rough. So we knew that the visibility wouldn't be great. We headed out to the reef by boat which takes about 3 minutes. Jump off the boat and your on the reef. They break you up into groups of 7-10 people and they guide you around. We didn't get a great guide no idea what his name was but we stuck close to him to hear him which was the only good part. Visibility was 50% which sucked but there is nothing you can do about that. Our guide did say you usually can see perfectly clear from 30 feet. We saw plenty of fish and very nice coral. Not the best snorkeling we have done but it wasn't terrible.

 

However back on the beach was a treat. The beach is gorgeous, the island is gorgeous, and the water around it is gorgeous. We loved the island and her parents had made friends with the locals by the time we came back. So we hung out for another hour around the island with the employees and other people from cruise ships. We had the chicken which was $8 and plenty for 2 of us. Rum punch was free and good, water was also free, any other drinks you had to purchase. Lobster was also $10 but we were lobstered out.

 

We headed back and made it with plenty of time. Leon, Richard, and Jose took very good care of us and made sure we didn't worry about things once they saw we were stressed. I wouldn't hesitate to book with island marketing or ecological tours. If you book with island marketing they use ecological tours so it doesn't matter which company you book with you will get the same company.

 

Time table: Local time

Left dock: 10:20

Arrived: 11:25

Beach time before snorkeling: 20 minutes

Snorkeling: total time in water was 50 minutes plus another 30 of instruction and hearding everyone on and off the boat

Beach time: 60 minutes

Back to dock: 2:50

 

Which gave us plenty of time to get to tender, we even got a chance to shop. Ask any questions and I will help out. Also will post pics soon. Hope this helps.

 

Just so timely review....I was going to book thru Island marketing this excrusion we are going there next wk. We've little kids w/ us, in your opinion is it good excursion for kids too? i was told by island marketing they they recommend this for families w/ young children. Also, are there shaded areas on the beach?any rice & beans kind of food available> I mean, no meat, & kid friendly?

Thanks.

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CrusingGolfers

CrusingGolfers

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Just so timely review....I was going to book thru Island marketing this excrusion we are going there next wk. We've little kids w/ us, in your opinion is it good excursion for kids too? i was told by island marketing they they recommend this for families w/ young children. Also, are there shaded areas on the beach?any rice & beans kind of food available> I mean, no meat, & kid friendly?

Thanks.

 

 

No kids on our trip but if your kids are ok with a possible bumpy ride on the boat they will be fine. If I were you I would do something off shore with kids as inland is very different and VERY poor. We have done cave tubing and the ride there is very eye opening. If you want you kids to appreciate how lucky they are take them inland lol:eek:

 

Not tons of shade but enough you can follow it around as the sun moves.

 

Food is great each meal comes with rice and beans. Rice is pretty bland but they have stuff to spice it up or make it taste a bit better.

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CrusingGolfers

CrusingGolfers

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So it takes almost 1 hour to get to the island by boat?

 

Thanks so much for your review. I can't wait to see your pictures. :)

 

We had very rough seas that day so the trip out was into the wind and current so it took awhile. Much quicker coming back. I'm home for a few days so wife and I will work on pics.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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We had very rough seas that day so the trip out was into the wind and current so it took awhile. Much quicker coming back. I'm home for a few days so wife and I will work on pics.

 

Ok, just wondering. Thanks for the info. I can't wait to see your pictures. :)

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