Bannister Island ...look out!

In Belize you cannot dock right at a port. You 'tender' at sea and take boats for transportation into the city. There were numerous excursions that we could have signed up for and I had it down to 3 choices, until Lauren broke her arm. Then everything went out the window and we had to regroup. I didn't end up booking anything before we boarded but had one in mind. After we got on board I ended up stopping by and booking the Bannister Island Beach Breakaway. We got picked up by a boat that would take us directly there. We ended up going away from Belize City which was 3 miles the opposite direction.

Bannister Island was about a 15-20 minute boat ride. Coming up on it was breathtaking. The island wasn't big at all, but big enough to handle hundreds of people and not be considered crowded. There wasn't anything else around, looking out in all directions, just beautiful blue water and a small island here or there but other than that...nothing...which was perfect.

There were probably 70-100 people on our boat that signed up for this excursion. We were with another cruise line excursion that had just arrived about the time we did. There were beach chairs, kayaks, a bar, a store, restaurant, volleyball court, hammocks, and covered tables scattered everywhere.

The girls wanted chairs almost to the end....which took all of about a minute to walk to. You could probably walk from one end of the island to the other in a couple of minutes. But it was beautiful. The swimming area was roped and blocked off. The sides had actual wood docks built with the back of it using a net. The water within the swimming area was a bit murky, but outside the docks....totally amazing. The water was so blue and clear and absolutely beautiful. Wow, did I pick the best excursion we could have done on this stop. I would definately come back here. And well worth the money.

Lauren couldn't wait to get her 'claw' on and collect some shells. She stayed in the water almost the entire time we were there. The kids loved it. And the cast/cover and arm wasn't going to stop her. She was pulling out shells by the handfuls.

They also had a starfish pool that was blocked off by a wood divider but they interchanged the starfish daily. There were quite a few in there when we went to look. I wasn't too excited about getting in but the girls didn't hesitate. They were beautiful. The girls were beautiful too, but the starfish were amazing. They were alot heavier than what I expected. No biting or anything, but wow...again, beautiful.

This was one of the girls favorite things. They picked up every one in the pool. And then we found some on the outside of the wall and one of the workers switched that one out with another one. How cool!

Here, I am standing at the beginning of the starfish pool, looking back onto the ocean. How gorgeous is this? The water was totally clear and absolutely beautiful. I think I could build a house and live here. I would definately do this excursion anytime I had a stop in Belize. We headed back to the boat in order to take us into Belize City after about 4 hours. It was one of the best 4 hours we had.