Southern Caribbean shore excursions

I am looking for the best shore excursions that don't cost a lot and are worth the money. I like beaches and tours. Going to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Barbados, Dominica, Granada.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. There is an area here called Ports of Call, and one board features all of the Caribbean islands. Venture over there and look around.

Also join the ROLL CALL for your cruise and see what other CC members sailing with you are planning. EM

Get a guidebook from your library, if you don't want to buy one! It's the best, most comprehensive info you will find! Beaches generally require NO excursion at all! There will be charges for lounger/umbrella rentals, and bus or taxi fare...but all in all, a beach day can be quite inexpensive, if you DIY! There is also info on shopping, points of interest, food/drink, transportation and safety!

So...head to your library, read up on your ports and start deciding WHAT you are interested in in each place....we can help with the "how to"!

Check out Trip Advisor for the ports you mentioned.

1. The Caribbean Ports of Call forum. There's a separate subforum for each island with current info and reviews of recommended beaches, private tours, transportation options, etc. Here's a link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

2. The Roll Call for your particular sailing (look for the Roll Call board on the main page, and select your cruise line.) Roll call members frequently organize private excursions amongst themselves.

3.TripAdvisor is a great site to find out activities, beaches, restaurants, etc. The forums can answer specific questions you might have.

4. Google the tourism board for each island or port you will be visiting.

5. If all else fails, you can probably find a guidebook in a bookstore or library.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. There is an area here called Ports of Call, and one board features all of the Caribbean islands. Venture over there and look around.

Also join the ROLL CALL for your cruise and see what other CC members sailing with you are planning. EM

To be honest, sometimes the ports of call boards aren't very active and it's hard to get current info. And lots of roll calls are also pretty slow, so maybe the OP was just trying to get some info from another source.

Will briefly mention that in St. Maarten there is a beach right in town which is ok for sunbathing.

In Barbados, Carlisle Bay is near the port- very nice beach. We went to Harbour Lights for entrance and amenities. On the Barbados forum there is

more info on beaches.

In Dominica, we took a 3 hour excursion as it is hard to get around there without one- our experience.

I am looking for the best shore excursions that don't cost a lot and are worth the money. I like beaches and tours. Going to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Barbados, Dominica, Granada.

Best will vary from person to person.

Based on what you said you enjoy, in St. Marteen you can grab a cab & go to a beach party type place called the Boatyard. It's not great but it has lots of amenities & isn't cost prohibitive.

In Greneda book a island tour with a guy named Mandoo. Somebody else booked it for me but he was great! I usually see him in the terminal picking up passengers when we go back. For something shorter & cheaper, take the train. I did it by myself. Not the most interesting but not a bad overview.

In Dominica book a trip to the falls.

In St. Marteen we took a public ferry for the adventure of it & then rented chairs on the beach near the ferry dock. We also walked around town a little. Very cheap excursion.

Best will vary from person to person.

 

Based on what you said you enjoy, in St. Marteen you can grab a cab & go to a beach party type place called the Boatyard. It's not great but it has lots of amenities & isn't cost prohibitive.

 

I think you meant Barbados not St Maarten. Boatyard is on Barbados.

I think you meant Barbados not St Maarten. Boatyard is on Barbados.

Yes. I meant the Boatyard is in Barbados.

On St. Maarten, walk off the ship and go to the left where there is a water taxi stand. Buy wristbands to take you into town and back. Get on the water taxi. Once you dock, the beach ( I believe it is called Great Bay Beach) is right there along with several restaurants and bars. You can rent lounge chairs and umbrellas if you want. Delphine's is great for lunch.

Thank you so much. I want info from people that have actually went on an excursion not what I can read about in a book.

I am looking for the best shore excursions that don't cost a lot and are worth the money. I like beaches and tours. Going to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Barbados, Dominica, Granada.

Haven't been on St. Croix but on Barbados, I think they've mentioned the Boatyard which is a fun time. Grab a taxi at the terminal and take a short ride (I think you can actually walk it but it's HOT so you can decide). I think it's only about $5.00 a person each way. You go through the bar to get back to the beach. They have a patio area where they sell food and drinks and I think they have entertainment. At the beach you can rent a chair and umbrella or rent water toys like sea dos. Then grab a taxi back to the ship. On St. Maarten, on our first trip we went to Orient Beach and went parasailing. I can't remember the cost but there were 5 of us and since it was "tandem", one of us had to go twice - so my 81yr old mother-in-law went again with my niece. Seems like it was about $60.00 per person but it was a great time. Again you grab a taxi at the the terminal. It was a minivan type and it was a per person cost. The more people the less it cost each. Out last trip, we took an excursion through the ship that went to the French side of the island - it was just OK. Our first trip to Dominica, we pre-booked a "tube ride" down the river. It was only about $25.00 per person and they had a bus that picked you up at the terminal and during the ride up the mountains, the driver gave you a nice description of the island and it's people and the different plants and stuff like that. They would stop at different spots along the way and you could get nice photos of the scenery (and of course buy drinks or trinkets). The tube ride was fantastic - and the kids that were positioned along the route to help you get by the larger rocks and "hazards" were great. My wife and I really had a good time (I'm in my 60s and my wife as in her 50s so it's not that stressful). You leave your outer clothes and cameras and things on the bus and after you're all done, they take you back to the ship. On Grenada we just grabbed a taxi - more like a small pickup with benches - and went to Grand Anse Beach. Very pretty beach with different places to eat or drink - or there were locals who would bring drinks to you at your chair. The beach curves back around and you can see your ship in the distance. As usual, the taxi was only about $5.00 per person and it was only about 15 to 20 minutes to the beach and back.

In general, almost any of the islands will have a line of taxis waiting when your ship docks and you can grab one and do whatever you like - they all know where there's a nice beach or the best bar. A lot of sites tell you to agree on a price before you go so you may want to do that. There are people all over trying to entice you to go on this tour or that (again ask their price - you may be able to haggle a little). Of course there are shopping stalls all over with folks selling whatever the island produces. My wife is a little suspicious of eating on most of the islands but we have on a few and everything has been fine (on the French side of St Maarten, they have some of the best french pastry shops anywhere). Enjoy yourselves, you may spend a little more than you'd like but how many times in your life are you going to be in such a wonderful place?

Dominica go w/ Bumpiing Tours. Levi Baron and his crew are the best guides and not super expensive. Also included in the price are the site passes for the venues.

Thank you so much. I want info from people that have actually went on an excursion not what I can read about in a book.

Have been to St. Maarten a number of times and most times we rented a car and drove around the island at our leisure (Coastal Car Rental). We head west towards Maho, go north to the French side (Sint Martin / Marigot), have lunch in one of the many mom and pop seafood places in Grand Case, and make our way back around the east side of the island, stopping at various beaches along the way. Lots of beautiful beaches, and each one is unique. We avoid coming back into Philipsburg through downtown, as the traffic is bad when people are trying to get back to the ship.

Before we enjoyed exploring on our own, we have done the self-powered boat and snorkel tour (really fun) as well as an island tour with zip lining (not so much fun - the zip line was pretty hokey, compare to others we have done).

On Barbados, my husband had recently taken up photography so I surprised him with an excursion with Ronnie Carrington and it was one of the best excursions we've ever taken - I wasn't even taking photos but was just riding along, but Ronnie is so interesting and my husband got some great photography pointers from Ronnie and it just made for a really outstanding day. The tour goes all over the island and Ronnie knows everyone who lives there! Worth every cent!

http://www.ronniecarrington.com

St. Maarten - Maho Beach via taxi. Allow plenty of time to return though as accidents and breakdowns are frequent on the hill. But watching the plans from Sunset Bar is great fun and the beach is OK.

My brothers and their wives did an sail/snorkel excursion at Dominica to Champagne Beach/Reef which they enjoyed very much and given their limited budget at the time could not have been too expensive. They enjoyed diving down in the bubbly warm water.