Snorkeling in Belize

[Cailey]

Is Coral Breeze a good one to book your self rather than the cruise ship? I have a 7 year old who is just learning to swim. I am not a strong swimmer myself. The tour we are looking at goes to Coral Gardens and The Shark/ray place to snorkel? What are your thoughts? Thanks

[NancyN]

Cailey are you a first time cruiser or quite familiar with the tendreing process? The reason I ask is that Belize is a tender port and there is a substantial tender ride involved to get to and from the ship. Alloting for that time is an important part of booking any excursion on your own. If you are a seasoned cruiser, that is one thing, but with a 7 yr old along - you might be better to stick to a cruise ship excursion at this port.
Nancy

[swimmersonboard]

We went on the Barrier Reef Snorkel excursion in Belize but I don't think I would reccommend it to someone who was not a fairly good swimmer. It was not that deep but you swam a fair distance. We have a 8,10,11 year olds we took who are competitive swimmers who swim anywhere from 2-4 hrs/6 days/wk and one of them needed to be picked up and taken to shore. I am also a good swimmer and I got tired, it was hard to tell where my kids were b/c there were so many people snorkeling at one time and that made me nervous.
It was beautiful there though and free drinks but it was a TEINEY,TINY island!