PerkelFlirp

Traveling to Belize on the Carnival Dream in October. We are in port from 10am-6pm. Trying to find the best place to snorkel given the time we have. I've seen many recommendations for the Coral Breeze tour to Caye Caulker and Shark Ray Alley. I'd really like to go to Hol Chan Marine Reserve. I found one tour operator - Star Tours that does this by boat. There are some mixed reviews on Trip Advisor. I've come across a few operators that offer a tour with flights to Ambergris Caye then getting on a snorkeling boat from there. Thoughts anyone? Tour operator recommendations? Is it worth the extra time and money to go out to Hol Chan? I'm a very experienced snorkeler, but it's a first time for my sister and the other two family members have done it a couple of times.

Thanks!

volcanogirl

We loved, loved, loved Hol Chan. We've snorkeled all over - Hawaii, St. John, BVIs, Mexico, Greece, etc. and Hol Chan has been our absolute favorite. We saw huge sea turtles, rays, nurse sharks, and tons of colorful tropical fish. We did a guided tour where the guide actually went into the water with us, and he was constantly pointing this way and that for us to see everything. We loved it. If you can swing the cost, I'd fly to Ambergris and then take the boat out to Hol Chan. Shark Ray Alley is interesting, but it's basically their chumming the water to get the big nurse sharks to come in.

ShellD

Ditto what volcanogirl says! We loved Hol Chan as well. It's amazing snorkeling. I also did a DSD (discover scuba dive) there and it was superb! We were staying in Ambergris at the time, but we used Ecologic Divers.

http://www.ecologicdivers.com/snorkeling.htm#1

I'm not sure if they could arrange something for you as a tour from your cruise ship or not - but if you can get to them, they were great. If you do get to Shark Ray Alley, they are one of the few outfits that do NOT encourage petting the rays - that is the right way to do it. They really want the environment left unspoiled.

If you can only do one location, Hol Chan is the place to go.

volcanogirl

Shell, if we go back, I'd love to do the DSD - that sounds awesome.

ShellD

v-girl, are you planning any trips this year? I was thinking you were heading back to Belize for some reason. We're taking the kids to Mexico (their 1st trip there), leaving tomorrow! I'd LOVE to take them to Belize - but the airfare for a family of four is so expensive! Maybe next year!

volcanogirl

Have a great trip! We haven't decided if it's Belize or CR for us this year. We love both so it's a toss-up. Good problem to have though, right? I just realized my passport is expired, so have to get that taken care of. Enjoy Mexico!

Deb15July

VG...am I missing something. Is a flight to Ambergris and then a boat to Hol Chan doable with a port stop from only 10 to 6?

volcanogirl

I think so. Our flight to Ambergris was about 15 minutes. The trip to Hol Chan from our hotel was around 10 minutes or so. And then our snorkeling tour was around 2 hours.

hopefulist

volcanogirl - I got a kick out of your Belize/CR admission. I'll spend a few weeks in Guatemala but can't decide between Belize and Honduras for the blue water time....hmmmmm.

Deb15July

thanks VG...hadn't really researched flights yet and those times are way less than I would have guesses. Of course...my next question is how prompt are the flights?

volcanogirl

Sounds good, hopeful. I always love your pictures.

Deb, for us the flights were very prompt. In fact, our flights left early because everyone was there. You know how casual they all are, and they just said, "Everyone's here so get on the plane." And we took off - lol. We used the municipal airport for one of our flights because it was cheaper. And it seemed like the flights ran pretty regularly. I remember that at one of the airports, they just handed us a laminated card that said "Boarding Pass" with nothing else on it, and then we all had to hand the cards back to them when we boarded - it amused us how casual everything is.