Belize - snorkeling options

Hi All,

Just booked Carnival Miracle for March '06. Yup...time to give the
"new" Carnival a chance. Really looking forward to the cruise.

Last time in Belize, I booked a cave tubing tour with Reggie and had a
great time, but don't feel it's something I need to repeat. Belize is
known for it's reef, so this time, I'm planning to snorkel.

There are four snorkeling options from Carnival. I'd like opinions on
these, if anyone has anything to say. Or, if anyone knows of a private
contractor that offers an excellent snorkeling tour, I'd definitely be
open to that, as well.

Here are Carnival's options:

Barrier Reef Snorkel at Rendevous Caye (3.5 hours)

Goff's Caye Snorkeling (4 hours)

Horseshoe Reef Snorkel Combo at Caye Caulker (4 hours)

Sergeant's Cay Snorkel Adventure (3.5 hours)

I'm an experienced snorkeler. No problems with snorkeling from the boat
in deep water.The actual beauty of the reef & fish are the most
important to me, rather than time spent on a beach, refreshments
offered or mode of transportation. Plenty of time for that other stuff
in other ports. This is probably the only port I'll be officially
booking an excursion ahead of time, so would like to pick a great one.
They're all within a price range I'm comfortable with, so expense
doesn't need to be considered when offering your opinions.

Thanks so much! Only 176 days until embarkation! Yippee!!

Lee

"LeeNY" <leeschw@campmor.com> wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>Just booked Carnival Miracle for March '06. Yup...time to give the
>"new" Carnival a chance. Really looking forward to the cruise.
>
>Last time in Belize, I booked a cave tubing tour with Reggie and had a
>great time, but don't feel it's something I need to repeat. Belize is
>known for it's reef, so this time, I'm planning to snorkel.
>
>There are four snorkeling options from Carnival. I'd like opinions on
>these, if anyone has anything to say. Or, if anyone knows of a private
>contractor that offers an excellent snorkeling tour, I'd definitely be
>open to that, as well.

The only one I've been to is Goff Caye, and that is a small island and
you can swim (or I could swim) all the way around it in about a hour.
Not deep. I think Sergeant's is probably similar. Some coral and
fish, but not the reef that Belize is known for.
>
>Here are Carnival's options:
>
>Barrier Reef Snorkel at Rendevous Caye (3.5 hours)
>
>Goff's Caye Snorkeling (4 hours)
>
>Horseshoe Reef Snorkel Combo at Caye Caulker (4 hours)
>
>Sergeant's Cay Snorkel Adventure (3.5 hours)
>
>I'm an experienced snorkeler. No problems with snorkeling from the boat
>in deep water.The actual beauty of the reef & fish are the most
>important to me, rather than time spent on a beach, refreshments
>offered or mode of transportation. Plenty of time for that other stuff
>in other ports. This is probably the only port I'll be officially
>booking an excursion ahead of time, so would like to pick a great one.
>They're all within a price range I'm comfortable with, so expense
>doesn't need to be considered when offering your opinions.
>
>Thanks so much! Only 176 days until embarkation! Yippee!!
>

I'm not sure where Horseshoe Reef is. The most amazing snorkeling for
me was Hol Chan which we did from Caye Caulker but can also be done
from Ambergris. We went with Driftwood Dive shop but not only would
it probably not be wise to book an independent person in Belize*, but
I'm not sure that shop exists anymore. It is possible that Horseshoe
Reef is inside Hol Chan. If so that's what I'd go for.

* too much chance of not getting back to the ship on time - Rocke took
additional people that had their trip canceled at the last minute, and
then we went farther out than he had originally intended, so he ran
out of fuel and had to borrow some to get back.

OK -- I got out my chart and looked. I still can't find Horseshoe
Reef, but Sergeants, Goff and Rendezvous are all in a line south of
Caye Caulker and SE of Belize City.

Sergeants according to the chart is a very small caye with an oblong
reef south of it. Goff is next, and it has a lot of shallow water
around it. Then a good distance south of Goff is Rendezvous west of
the Turneffe Islands in a long reef line. Of these, my choice based
on the chart would be 1) Rendezvous 2) Sergeants 3) Goff.



grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote:

> Sergeants according to the chart is a very small caye with an oblong
> reef south of it. Goff is next, and it has a lot of shallow water
> around it. Then a good distance south of Goff is Rendezvous west of
> the Turneffe Islands in a long reef line. Of these, my choice based
> on the chart would be 1) Rendezvous 2) Sergeants 3) Goff.

Thanks Rosalie. That's a great help. I probably will book this one
through the cruiseline. Prices don't seem that outrageous, and I know
the tour operators will be trustworthy. I booked an independent snorkel
tour in Costa Maya, and it wasn't that great, so I really don't want to
squander another opportunity.

Thanks, again.

Lee
>
>
>
> grandma Rosalie