Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island, Harvest Caye, just off the coast of Belize, contains 11 mahogany-trimmed villas that can be rented for the day for $499. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Harvest Caye, a 78-acre island a mile offshore from southern Belize, might be the best in class in the cruise industry’s growing portfolio of privately built destinations in the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Completed by Norwegian Cruise Line over the course of 31 months, the island has a combination of standout features.
To start with, it has a dock big enough to accommodate a megaship such as the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Getaway, the result of dredging more than a million cubic meters of sea bottom to make a channel.
Not having to tender to a private port makes everything safer, faster and more convenient for guests.
Also, while it feels like an island experience, Harvest Caye is only a 15-minute boat ride from mainland Belize, where available tours include the Mayan archaeological ruins, a tropical spice farm, a savannah ecotour by boat and a rainforest river tubing and rafting excursion. Prices for these experiences top out at $109.
On the island, a nature center displays boa constrictors, scarlet macaws and toucans, the national bird of Belize. Run by Tony Garel, an award-winning naturalist recruited from the Belize Zoo, it is the only such center in a port owned by a cruise line.
One popular zoo feature is a screened butterfly house filled with bobbing, iridescent blue morphos.
A branded restaurant adds another dimension to Harvest Caye. The tropically themed, two-story LandShark Bar & Grill was designed by Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Holdings and is operated by local food purveyor Provisions Belize. The restaurant overlooks a 15,000-square-foot pool that, unlike those on most cruise ships, comes with lifeguard supervision.
Harvest Caye’s most visible feature is a 136-foot-tall lighthouse-like structure called the Flighthouse, an anchor for two ziplines, including the 1,300-foot Superman, in which riders fly prone, swooping low over the beach like a jet coming in for a landing at the airport. When both ziplines are running, guest services director Dan Drahozal said they can serve up to 192 people a day.
When a ship arrives around 8 a.m., guests will be greeted by a band playing drums and singing songs from the Afro-Caribbean Garifuna subculture in Belize. On the beach, 2,500 blue-cushioned loungers await.
To beat the brutal summer heat in Belize, Harvest Caye is outfitted with an abundance of fans, misters and shade umbrellas. A low canopy also protects the pier walk from the ship to the entrance.
Several free-standing locker towers provide storage around the island for $5 a day. Harvest Caye’s shopping village is lushly landscaped with a variety of tropical plants and mostly local vendors, rather than the chains that crowd other ports of call.
Finally, it’s worth noting that many of the Harvest Caye buildings, including the 11 villas that rent out for $499 a day, are trimmed in tropical hardwood milled by a Mennonite community in Belize. It gives a richer-than-expected look to the beach architecture.
“Mahogany is widely used in this country because it’s so abundant,” said Dustin Bowen, CEO of Provisions Belize, “whereas in the [U.S.] it’s scarce and expensive.”
Harvest Caye, Norwegian Cruise Line’s destination island in Belize, is set to open on Nov. 17, with the first call being made by the Norwegian Dawn.
The project has been at least three years in the making and will be the most elaborate island destination Norwegian Cruise Line has developed to date.
About seven acres have been groomed for guests who can choose between a long white-sand beach, a water sports lagoon or a 300,000 gallon tropical pool to start their recreation ashore.
The venue serves as the first landside outpost of Norwegian’s partnership with Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville franchise, with the debut a Landshark Bar & Grill in Belize. (There are Margaritaville restaurants on three Norwegian Cruise Line ships.)
The “Flighthouse” will serve as the anchor for a pair of ziplines and a freefall jump.
There is a shopping village with Belizean products, art, food and drinks. Guests wanting to explore more of Belize can board two 275-person catamarans or 60-seat motorboats for the short ride to the mainland.
Towering above the action is the 130-foot tall “Flighthouse” that serves as the anchor for a pair of ziplines and an apparatus that drops guest from heights of 40, 60 or 100 feet before easing them gently to the sand at the end of the drop.
Unlike some private cruise destinations, Harvest Caye has a built-in dock so tenders aren’t needed. Guests walk through a ceremonial set of gates with the Harvest Caye name displayed in a wrought-iron arch.
The island’s buildings are made of rustic stone trimmed with mahogany and other native hardwoods. Landscaping includes 15,000 newly planted mangroves.
Eleven air-conditioned beach villas are available for rent, at $475 per villa. They accommodate six adults and feature a bathroom with a shower, a deck and Bluetooth connections for concierge services and music.
Also, there are 15 pool cabanas for rent at $199 for the day. The cabanas accommodate two adults. A beach clamshell with a pair of loungers is priced at $29.
Norwegian will offer a variety of watersports and toys. Mini speedboats are available for $69 for adults, $49 for children, and eco-friendly electric boats rent for $40. Kayaks rent for $25 and stand-up paddleboards for $20. The zipline attraction has packages starting at $59 for adults and $49 for children. There is a river float feature for $79/$59.
Air-conditioned beach villas will rent for $475 per day.
In the lagoon, Norwegian runs a wildlife boat tour for spotting manatees that costs $49/$39. Tours to see Mayan ruins run $89/69, or $109/$79 with an add-on visit to a spice plantation.
While the name Harvest Caye doesn’t sound particularly indigenous, Norwegian said it was the name used by Belize for the island before Norwegian arrived. “We choose not to change it,” a spokeswoman said.
After the initial call by the Norwegian Dawn sailing from New Orleans, Harvest Caye is scheduled to host the Norwegian Jade on Nov. 18, and then the Norwegian Getaway on Nov. 23. A call by Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a cruise line owned by Norwegian Cruise Line’s parent company, is slated for January.
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