Antigua - info needed

[MARYVB]

I am trying to pre-book my shore excursions for an upcoming cruise. The excursion I wanted to take at Antigua (sail and snorkle) has been cancelled.
I remember Antigua as having beautiful beaches and swimming. HAL is not offering any other beach tours at Antigua at this time. Please tell me how I can hook up with a private tour operator, or get to a beach on my own.
We are there from early morning until 11 P.M.. So I do have plenty of time to fill with fun. This is the sailing out of Norfolk on 10/30, Maasdam.
In your experiences, do you think it likely that HAL will fill the void of no beach excursion with another tour by the time we go? All opinions and information are welcome. Thanks! Mary

[gizmo]

Try the Antigua board on this site. I am sure you can get some info there.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=122

[michmike]

there are plenty of taxi drivers at the dock who will take you on a tour of the island. Just negotiate a price in advance. Be sure to go up and see the view from Shirley Heights. You'll see the definitive view of Caribbean waters, at least 8 shades of green and blue. Spectacular!!

[hdawson]

For a great tour of the beautiful island I strongly recomend Lawrence.
www.lawrenceofantigua.com. 5 1/2 to 6 hours seeing all the important sites and a couple of hours at a beach. Probably Turner's Beach. He is such a gentleman with a very clean, late model, well air conditioned van. Very flexible as to your wants and only $25-30.

[OCruisers]

MARYVB .... Per gizmo's suggestion, do go to the Antigua Ports section -- lots of good info on beaches and private operators. The taxi drivers in Antigua great -- never had a bad one there!

Try the Antigua board on this site. I am sure you can get some info there.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=122

It's a part of CC so you can ask questions there as well.

Happy Sailing! OCruisers

[Jacqueline]

Eli's Eco cruise is nice also.

[Orcrone]

Mary,

My wife and I are on the same cruise as you. Why don't you head over to the roll call for this sailing and say hi. Anyhow, the Antigua site on this board has a lot of info. People seem to rave about both Lawrence and Eli. My wife and I are probably booking Eli, but are also considering Lawrence.

Marc