Easy Dream Vacations

We had been to Belize before on a cruise, at that time we really had not investigated where we were going.  We arrived in port via the tenders and shopped in the gated commercial shopping area.  We left the gated area and had way too many people wanting to give us a tour, our mission at that time was only to find a supermarket so someone in the group could purchase some nylons.  That walk left an impression in our minds that was not positive at all.  The city was dirty,  we saw too many scary people, we wondered why we left the gated area.  Upon arriving home from that cruise I spent some time looking into Belize.  I wondered how I could have missed all that Belize had to offer.  Including the 2^nd largest barrier reef in the world! The point I am making here is you really need to do some homework on the locations you will be visiting.  Or even better yet have your travel agent do the work for you.  As part of our cruise packages we provide destinations sheets to our clients.  These sheets provide them with weather, location, culture, shopping, beach, excursion information and more.

Our morning in Belize started with an awesome sunrise, when seeing this beauty you know that only God could have created this beauty for our eyes to enjoy.  We had booked an early excursion to Goff’s Cay for some snorkeling.  We boarded a boat for a trip in the opposite direction of Belize City, about 4 miles out to a small island on the edge of the barrier reef. 

When I say small, I mean small, the island was 1.2 acres in size,  had maybe a dozen palm trees, a few bushes, a grass roof hutch and a pier.  No building other than the hut where they made and served some food and drink.  There was one other structure, the porta-potty sitting on the pier.   The ride out to the cay was cool that morning, on our way there the crew from the boat sized everyone with flippers and handed out masks and snorkels.  Once on the island we scouted out a spot to leave our towels and such.  The crew from the boat gave some instruction and within minutes we were off on a snorkeling tour around the island and out towards the reef.  The water was very cold when we first started but we must have hit some currents as within a minute or so the water became warm and very comfortable.  Our guides were very good with taking care of the passengers that were not so sure about snorkeling, they had patience and help them along.  They even had the boat anchor out in the snorkeling area in case anyone became tired. They had us take the life jackets from the boat and had everyone wear them as a float around their waist.  It was optional to wear it and they had no issues if you did not.  The water was fairly clear but the crew said some weather early in the week had made it cloudy and that it is normally much clearer. The water ranged from 10-25 feet in depth and there were all different sorts of corral and fish. We did get out on the edge of the corral and there was a drop off that went deeper than you could see.  If I recall one of the crew members said it drops off into the channel to a depth of about 60 ft.  With the large group that was snorkeling the fish were scattered but as soon as I pulled out my zip lock back of fish food, (cereal compliments of the Valor) they were soon to be swimming all around.  We even swam over a barracuda that was just hanging out in an open area.  After our guided snorkeling tour we were free to go out on our own or just kick back and relax on this tropical island.  The excursion was 3 or 4 hours and it went by all to fast.  Back on the ship we freshened up, had some lunch and then headed of to shore aboard one of the tenders that went back and forth to shore all day long. 

In Belize the cruise ships anchor quite a way off shore, I am guessing about 4 or 5 miles off shore. They have some really quick tenders and for the most part they all seem to be relatively new and in good shape so the trip to shore is pretty fast.

Arriving at the port area in Belize City we found that the commercial shopping area had not changed too much, it seemed to have grown, there were a few more shops but over all it was your basic port tourist shopping area.  We always steer away from the brick and mortar shops and find some of the locals selling their goods.

In the commercial area if you go down towards the end you will find some of these locals in an open air shopping area. 

We did not leave the gated area on this trip so I can’t report on any changes outside of the gates.  We looked up the tourism office so I could get some information I was looking for, shopped for a while, had a cold beer and it was time to head back to the ship.  On our last trip to Belize we went into one of the pharmacies in the shopping area and started talking to a pharmacist who seemed to not be a local.  It turned out she was from the US, had previously worked as a pharmacist for Wal-Mart but was now running her own pharmacy in Belize.  We looked her up on this trip and she was still there and doing well.  The pharmacies in this part of the world sell almost all the drugs we need prescriptions for back home.  Here you don’t need a prescription and there is a large cost savings.

Back on ship we spent some time relaxing on our balcony and watching all the small islands go by as the ship headed away from Belize and towards Cozumel.  I was hoping we would go by Goff’s Cay so that we could get some good photos of it. Unfortunately we were off to our second formal dinner before we passed the island.  That evening we had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the show put on by the Carnival Dancers.