Shark Ray Alley Snorkeling
Snorkel at Shark Ray Alley and Coral Gardens
It's the Belize you won't believe! After meeting your driver for your Belize excursion, you will drive to the nearby airport where you will board a scheduled flight on a Cessna Caravan for your scenic 20-minute flight over the world's second-largest barrier reef. At 1500 feet you will be able to see the magnificent underwater formations and the many islands that dot the reef system.
Upon arrival in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, you will walk to the dive shop where you will receive your included gear and meet your guide. You will then be taken by boat to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, four miles southeast of the caye, home to the famous Shark Ray Alley. Your first snorkel of this Belize tour will be at the Coral Garden where the colorful reefs are home to a host of colorful and sometimes strange-looking underwater inhabitants. After approximately 45 minutes of snorkeling, you will take a leisurely 30-minute cruise to Shark Ray Alley. Here, during your 45-minute visit, you will snorkel in the clear waters and have a personal encounter with the local, docile nurse sharks and graceful, southern stingrays, which have a wingspan of 2-4 feet.
Returning to San Pedro, you will have approximately one hour of free time to shop for local gifts, sample the local cuisine, or explore and see why many describe it as still the unblemished, less commercialized Caribbean of 30 years ago.
San Pedro Town, the only inhabited area on the island, is a small but bustling village, complete with colorfully painted wooden houses of Mexican and Caribbean decor, with some that still retain their English colonial architecture. They are now home to gift shops, boutiques, bars, cafes, and restaurants. Take a walk in town (which is only three streets deep) and you can feel the friendliness of the people and see the ease of their lifestyle; shoeless with tee-shirts and shorts is the typical dress code. The people of the island speak English, Spanish, Creole, and Mayan, all at the same time, making it their own dialect. Most transportation is by foot, bike or golf cart.
San Pedro's restaurants range from seafood to burritos, from Italian to Chinese, but when in Belize, try the local cuisine (fish, barbeque, rice, and beans, etc.).
Leaving the shopping malls behind, you will find quaint little gift shops and street-side vendors offering tropical apparel, as well as the work of local artisans showing their paintings, pottery, sculptures, handmade dolls, hats, baskets, beach chairs, and hammocks.
All too soon, it is time to return to the airport for your commercial flight back to Belize City. From there, you will be returned to the tender pier.
Please Note: There is a marine park fee of $10 US that must be paid in cash at the beginning of the snorkel trip. Free time is dependent on what ship you are on and your ship's scheduled departure time. To place an order for this tour, we need the first and last name of EVERY guest as it appears on the picture ID they will need to present at the airport. Your order will be refused if we do not receive ALL names at the time of booking.
Shore Excursions Group was created with one goal in mind: to provide exceptional travel experiences to cruise passengers in the ports they visit around the world. To accomplish this, we have compiled an exceptional array of tours delivered by local experts with decades of experience serving travelers and delivering excellent tours. Our owners and management team are comprised of seasoned travel industry executives who leverage their considerable experience to deliver memorie ...
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