My family and I are coming in on a cruise ship to Belize City. We would like to snorkel, swim with the sharks or see the monkeys. How do we get to the north side of the island from there without flying?

Book a tour! I found Belize on Cruses. Not enough time to do it yourself on a cruise. to much time waisted on waiting for the water taxi. It will work out better if you book something instead of trying to do it your self. The people on this board are great and i am sure will respond in detail. All of the private tours are great and reliable. no need to book thru the cruise line.

Next time I'm sure you will fly in and stay a while!!!!

If you google or use SNORKEL TRIPS BELIZE CITY as your search topic quite a few sites come up, I believe it would be cheaper to book your own than what the cruise ship charges. I would suggest you have them make a quick lunch stop on Caye Caulker so you can get some local interaction, Belize City does not represent the country too well.

A warning, if you book your tour by yourself and for any reason you are delayed and you don't make it back to your tender on time they WILL NOT wait for you. If you do manage to contact the ship (next to impossible) and convince them to hold a tender you may find yourself with some shocking charges at the end of your cruise. It's fully your responsibility to make it back in time.

I believe Simon is referring to a group tour, he would be right... I was assuming when the poster said he was traveling with his family he may have at least 4 people...which is minimum on most tours..in which case the boat would wait..and get them back on time as it would be their boat..but it would have to be confirmed that the boat was for private hire so the tour company did not add other people to the charter..still cheaper than cruise ship$$$$

What I'm talking about is any independent tour that is not booked directly from the cruise ship line. If they are delayed for any reason (weather, poor timing by the tour operator, problems with the boat (or vehicle) that delays return, traffic if doing a land tour, plane if flying) then they're on their own. This is all based on first hand knowledge.

Saw a guy left in Key West that way on a cruise did not make it back in time.