Best Snorkeling in Belize - Please Help!

[eastexascruiser]

We will be in Belize in early November. We are a family of 4 and love to snorkel. We prefer doing our own excursions versus large group tours. However, from reading the posts, I don't really see a lot of options. We really are not interested in the cave tubing. Last year, we swam with the sting rays in the Caymans ... I imagine swimming with the nurse sharks is a similar experience. It was fun, but not really what we are looking for.

 

We really want something more off the beaten path. Any suggestions? Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any tips. Thank you, thank you!

[sddiver]

Most of the places to snorkel are not near the ship. You can water taxi to the cayes, either Ambergris or Caulker and hire your own snorkel tour from there. This way you avoid the crowds and do your own thing. But it will take some travel time to do.

 

Rich

[divinggirl]

Most of the places to snorkel are not near the ship. You can water taxi to the cayes, either Ambergris or Caulker and hire your own snorkel tour from there. This way you avoid the crowds and do your own thing. But it will take some travel time to do.

 

Rich

Ambergris Caye is awesome...you don't have to water taxi there, you can take a puddlejumper 10 min flight from BZE. From there, all you have to do is walk to the beach and there are lots of operators advertising a variety of snorkel trips, just tell them you dont' want to do Shark/Ray Alley...if you go there, go to Fido's (pronounced Fee-do's) for a drink and some lobster burrritos.:D MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[eastexascruiser]

We will be in port from 8am - 6pm. What Caye / snorkeling tour group could you recommend (other than Coral Gardens & Shark Alley)? I really appreciate your input. I knew there had to be more to do than cave tube & swim w sharks!! Thanks!

[storm chaser]

I just returned from the Royal Caribbean cruise of which one port was Belize! Magnificent! We snorkeled at Rendevous Caye and it was really nice. The brain coral was awesome. I intend to travel again to Belize soon.

[sddiver]

eastexascruiser,

 

 

8-6 would give you time to get to the cayes and back in one day. If you want to really get away from the cruise crowd Ambergris caye(San Pedro) would be better than Caulker. Cost may be an issue, in that if you water taxi it is $25-30, the plane about $50 each roundtrip. Once there you would need to pay for a snorkel tour through a dive shop or other at additional cost. Here is a link to a thread I posted to a couple of months ago about going to Ambergris via plane to snorkel. Do a search on the Belize board or internet for Belize City Water Taxi to find details on that option.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=28352

 

 

Rich

[eastexascruiser]

Thanks for the responses. We are still weighing our options. I like the idea of escaping to Ambergris Caye. I will look into the options. If $$ looks to high we might just need to leave the kids on the ship :D . We can take them snorkeling in Cozumel.

 

I also got some info from Star Tours. They do a Coral Gardens, Shark Ray Alley and Swash or North Channel tour.

 

My 3rd option so far is doing Goff Caye or Rendevous(?) Caye on our own.

 

For the best snorkeling experience, what would you recommend?

 

1) Ambergris Caye then snorkeling 2) Star Tours snorkeling excursion (Shark Ray Alley, Coral Gardens & Swash) or 3) Goff or Rendevous Caye on our own?

 

Thank you so much for your help. These decisions are KILLERS!!

[sddiver]

Hard to say which is better without the prices. If it includes transportation to and from the ship and the tour for less than you could do on your own it is probably OK. I would try and find one that does not go or emphasize shark ray alley. Between the ships excurisons and all the independent tour operators you will be with hundreds of your close personal friends there. I went snorkeling there with one small boat of 6 people. There are not that many sharks or rays there to start with. With potentially hundreds of people in the water, I would doubt it would be that great at all. If you can time it during the day to be there before the hoards or well after it may be fun. Coral Gardens I understand is nice, the other two spots I'm not familiar with. If you do make it to San Pedro make sure to have lunch or a drink at Fido's.

 

Rich

[JettaGirl]

In Belize I HIGHLY recommend Coral Breeze Limited. We did their snorkel tour in March and it was AMAZING. They meet you right at the Belize port and the take you to the snorkel spots <3 of them> about 30 minutes away. It was awesome snorkeling. Since it wasn't through the ship, there were only 4 other people on the excursion with us. We went to 3 different stops. One was Stingray and another was Coral Gardens. They then take you to Caye Caulkner where you eat lunch and walk around the island.

 

Any questions about it you can email me at anglcakes7@aol.com

[eastexascruiser]

Ok, I have it limited down to the Coral Breeze tour (Shark Alley Coral Gardens & ...) vs Goff Caye vs Rendezvous Caye. Which has the best snorkelling of these locations? I REALLY appreciate your help!

[cruisingchic]

Hi eastexascruiser

 

If this helps, we were in Belize this January. We took the Goffs Caye tour through Sealand Tours, have a look at www.belizesealandtours.com We thoroughly enjoyed it, wonderful coral reef accessible from the island or the boat, you choose. But one thing I would say is if you choose to stay on the beach as I did while my other half went on the boat further out, is that you would need to take your own snorkel equipment, so you don't have to wait for the boat to return. This is a very small island with just a churringuito where you can buy food and drink. The cost of the tour was $40.

 

Hope that wherever you end up you have a great time.

[dmoseley]

eastexascruiser

 

Did you contact Sealand tours ahead of time or just catch them at the port? We did a snorkel with them last Jan. also and loved it. I would like to set up another one for our trip this Jan. I have tried e-mailing them and did not get a response.

[Cruiseresq]

We're interested in diving in Belize. Any suggestions? We're going on the Glory this Sat!

Thanks, :D

[BobbieSu]

Ok, I have it limited down to the Coral Breeze tour (Shark Alley Coral Gardens & ...) vs Goff Caye vs Rendezvous Caye. Which has the best snorkelling of these locations? I REALLY appreciate your help!

 

 

Hey Eastexas

My son is in Wood county right now and lovin catchin those catfish. :p

 

I am asking the same questions you are and wondering if you ever decided where to snorkel. One thing I was wondering was what constituted good snorkeling? Is it more and better fish, clear water, lots of time, good coral? I'm thinking that going to more than one place would give us a chance to test different areas but that the travel time would take away from the snorkel time.

 

Su

[eastexascruiser]

We live on Cedar Creek Lake (Kaufman Co). I have a brainfreeze as to where Wood County is! But yes, the fishin' is great!

 

We have snorkeled quite a bit over the past several years. What I consider "good" snorkeling is healthy reef and a good variety of sea life.

 

We've been to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, St Thomas & St Marteen. The best snorkeling was at Trunk Bay at St John. Of course, that was 6 years ago!

 

I still haven't decided. We probably will go with Coral Gardens. I have learned through my research that some of the Belize tour operators don't really like the cruise industry. Too many people & too hard on the eco-system.

 

Ugghhh :)

[BobbieSu]

Eastexas,

Hi, Wood county,,,east of Dallas, north of Tyler.

 

I was websurfing last night and got the same feeling from some of the sites I encountered. A couple of guide books I have been looking at were the same. They totally ignored the cruiseworld. I didn't know if I wanted to try some of the independant operators because of some predjudice they might have. After all I'm going to be there for maybe five hours, not a week.

 

I'm getting a better sense of the areas to go to though, and coral gardens sounds great. I have not read anything about rendezvous caye though,,,what is that like?

 

I've forgotten when you are going,,,I'd love to hear how it went.

 

Su

[eastexascruiser]

Ok, now I know where Wood Co is!:D We set sail on Elation Oct 31. I think we are going to try that Coral Sands Resort that seems to be the hot topic on the Belize board. They offer a snorkel trip. Under 12 passengers are free so that will really help us since we will have 2 kids. I'll let you know how it goes!

[simonv]

I hope it doesn't go to Shark Ray Alley. I found it to be digusting. Just some tame rays, no fish, no healthy coral and murky water. Lots of beginers in life vest. Very opposite of what I consider to be good snorkeling. So my opinion of Beliz isn't too high. I hope you have better luck there.

[eastexascruiser]

The snorkeling from Coral Sands Resort goes to Sargeant (?) Caye. I haven't been to shark alley, but from what I've read, I wouldn't really want to go there. Unfortunately, the best snorkeling in Belize is not possible if just there for a day ...

[BobbieSu]

Eastexas

 

I would really love to hear how the Coral sands beach resort is from a recent passenger. If you go please give a review when you get back. We will be there in Feb. Our 17 yr old son, whenever I ask what he wants to do, says "go to the beach".

I just can't see being close to the best reef in the western hemisphere and not seeing some part of it.

 

Su