Adventure Antiqua (Elis eco tours)

I apologize if this is already posted somewhere, as I cant find it. We will be in Antiqua in April and wondering if anyone has done the Eco tour or the Extreme Circumnav tour? What was your experience? And do you know about how much you paid?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

We di the eco tour and loved it! Climbing Hell's Gate was one of the all-time great experiences and the snorkeling was terrific (we have snorkeled all over the Caribbean, Mexico and the Bahamas and this was some of the best). Eli and his team are terrific and will take great care of you. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I apologize if this is already posted somewhere, as I cant find it. We will be in Antiqua in April and wondering if anyone has done the Eco tour or the Extreme Circumnav tour? What was your experience? And do you know about how much you paid?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

We've done both, multiple times, love them! Eli's tours are our absolute favorites. Prices are on the website, and I believe that there is a discount for booking on line.

Thanks so much for the recommendation!! I'm trying to convince hubby ;)

Thanks!!

We did Elis Eco tour in 2012, cant remember price, but whatever it was was totally worth it!! Amazing day!! Climbing Hells Gate was unbelievable. We also had our 12 yr old daughter with us, and she still talks about it :) Snorkeling and food were great too! A must Do!!

No hesitation to recommend Eli's Eco Tour based on our experience with them 2 years ago.

We haven't done the tour yet but are booked on it next week based on all the reviews from here and Trip Advisor. We are doing the Xtreme tour because it included swimming with the stingrays.

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I apologize if this is already posted somewhere, as I cant find it. We will be in Antiqua in April and wondering if anyone has done the Eco tour or the Extreme Circumnav tour? What was your experience? And do you know about how much you paid?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

We did the Xtreme Circumnav a few years ago and the EcoTour last month. The circumnav is very fast and the seas are rough. You will get bounced around. Swimming with the stingrays was really cool. Lunch was good.

The EcoTour (IMHO) was just okay. Climbing Hell's Gate was the highlight of the day. A great experience and we kind of booked the tour just for this. Lunch was okay. Staff was not very engaging. Our snorkeling was very bad. Strong current where they took us and even when paddling hard you barely moved forward. Could not really see anything. 10 minutes in the water and I was back on board.

The cost for both is about the same.

-Kristi

I agree with the above post from Cruisin' kls regarding the Eco tour - it was just 'ok' and we had the exact same observations (crew not that engaging, snorkeling just OK, climb on Hell's gate was the highlight). The biggest disappointment we had was with the boat actually. We expected it to be a catamaran with SAILS. Boy were we surprised when we walked up to see an older powerboat catamaran. We actually thought about not doing the tour but 1) we had paid a significant deposit and 2) we didn't know what else to do for the day in Antigua. One of the things we really enjoy about a snorkeling tour is sailing on a catamaran and relaxing by lying on the front deck/nets. Eli's Eco Tour just has bench seats. A very different experience. The other misnomer is they talk about snorkeling in multiple spots. The first opportunity is at a beach where the crew said there was nothing to see and it was really just to get beginner snorkelers in the water. They recommended we just go in and swim. We had wanted a full day of snorkeling. This tour spent a lot of time doing other things. For us, we would not do it again. But it really depends what you are looking for - if you don't want a sailboat for relaxation/experience, want to learn a lot about the ecology of the area, and want to do some walking then it could be a match for you.

I agree with the above post from Cruisin' kls regarding the Eco tour - it was just 'ok' and we had the exact same observations (crew not that engaging, snorkeling just OK, climb on Hell's gate was the highlight). The biggest disappointment we had was with the boat actually. We expected it to be a catamaran with SAILS. Boy were we surprised when we walked up to see an older powerboat catamaran. We actually thought about not doing the tour but 1) we had paid a significant deposit and 2) we didn't know what else to do for the day in Antigua. One of the things we really enjoy about a snorkeling tour is sailing on a catamaran and relaxing by lying on the front deck/nets. Eli's Eco Tour just has bench seats. A very different experience. The other misnomer is they talk about snorkeling in multiple spots. The first opportunity is at a beach where the crew said there was nothing to see and it was really just to get beginner snorkelers in the water. They recommended we just go in and swim. We had wanted a full day of snorkeling. This tour spent a lot of time doing other things. For us, we would not do it again. But it really depends what you are looking for - if you don't want a sailboat for relaxation/experience, want to learn a lot about the ecology of the area, and want to do some walking then it could be a match for you.

There is nothing on the Adventure Antigua website to lead you to believe that this tour is done on a sailing catamaran. Nor is it advertised as a snorkeling tour. A little research into what the tour actually is would have saved you that anguish. Read the tour description on their website - http://www.adventureantgua.com

Sorry Erniesband but I disagree with your comments. I did do research on their website before booking. Below is what the Eli Eco Tour website lists regarding snorkeling in their FAQs:

"On Eco we give you the opportunity to snorkel three times on the tour. The first is off the beach, and this is where we give our in depth snorkeling lessons for people who haven’t done it before or for people who need a refresher course. We then give you the choice of snorkeling again after lunch at Hell’s Gate Island , and one last time off Welch Rock before the trip home."

As for the type of catamaran, I never said the site erroneously described the boat. I said that I was personally disappointed to see it didn't have sails. I didn't say I was told it would have sails. Just that I was surprised it didn't. Of the 12 or so catamaran excursions I have done in the Caribbean this was the FIRST that had no sails.

To me, these boards are to help someone with making a decision on a tour. I wrote about my observations based on the website reading I did, previous experiences, and then what occurred. If you had different observations to provide I recommend you write about those.

Sorry Erniesband but I disagree with your comments. I did do research on their website before booking. Below is what the Eli Eco Tour website lists regarding snorkeling in their FAQs:

 

"On Eco we give you the opportunity to snorkel three times on the tour. The first is off the beach, and this is where we give our in depth snorkeling lessons for people who haven’t done it before or for people who need a refresher course. We then give you the choice of snorkeling again after lunch at Hell’s Gate Island , and one last time off Welch Rock before the trip home."

 

As for the type of catamaran, I never said the site erroneously described the boat. I said that I was personally disappointed to see it didn't have sails. I didn't say I was told it would have sails. Just that I was surprised it didn't. Of the 12 or so catamaran excursions I have done in the Caribbean this was the FIRST that had no sails.

 

To me, these boards are to help someone with making a decision on a tour. I wrote about my observations based on the website reading I did, previous experiences, and then what occurred. If you had different observations to provide I recommend you write about those.

Sorry your day wasn't what you expected, and you're entitled to your opinion. However, did you actually look at the pictures on Adventure Antigua's website? Plenty of pictures which clearly show the power cat which is used for the EcoTour (with captions, as appropriate). Zero picture of a sail catamaran. When you were researching did you ask about the boat, either on the boards, or when you communicated with the company? And the description of the tour describes multiple activities available at various sites, including snorkeling opportunities. It is not described as primarily a snorkeling excursion.

I've done all of Adventure Antigua's tours, all more than once, and have posted favorably about all of them.

Like I wrote, when I arrived to meet the boat I was surprised to not see sails on the catamaran. If I had noticed there were no sails on the website then I would not have been surprised when I arrived.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with pointing this observation out in my review as there could be other people that would like to know this prior to booking. Some people really look forward to a relaxing day on a sailboat versus a powerboat. It was an oversight that I didn't notice this in the pictures you pointed out and I would like to help others that may not notice either.

Like I wrote, when I arrived to meet the boat I was surprised to not see sails on the catamaran. If I had noticed there were no sails on the website then I would not have been surprised when I arrived.

 

I don't believe there is anything wrong with pointing this observation out in my review as there could be other people that would like to know this prior to booking. Some people really look forward to a relaxing day on a sailboat versus a powerboat. It was an oversight that I didn't notice this in the pictures you pointed out and I would like to help others that may not notice either.

The way you worded your review makes it seem as though the vendor did not show up with what was advertised and that is not the case. I just want to clarify the fact that the Eco-Tour isn't and never has been on a sailing cat. At no time were you misled on the type of boat you would be on and I don't want anyone thinking you were.

Never said I was misled. I am trying to help others make a decision on what they are signing up for. It's my review based on my observations/experience.

It can't hurt to explain to others that the boat is not a sailboat. That's a fact - not an opinion.

Never said I was misled. I am trying to help others make a decision on what they are signing up for. It's my review based on my observations/experience.

It can't hurt to explain to others that the boat is not a sailboat. That's a fact - not an opinion.

Directly from the Adventure Antigua website -

A day of beachcombing, caving, guided snorkeling, exploring the reefs, mangrove forests and wildlife is disturbed only for a delicious lunch and perhaps a nap on a deserted white sand beach.This tour is also famously known as “Eli’s Eco Tour”. Using our open 52 foot powercat designed to get into shallow waters and tight reefy spots

With a picture of the boat right under it.

Anyone can see it's NOT A SAILBOAT!

And I'm done :p

Again, my goal was to help others with a mistake I made in terms of three stops for snorkeling and the type of catamaran. Hopefully with your clarity and my clarity others will have a good understanding of what is being provided.

If I missed the information on the website possibly others did too.

I agree with the above post from Cruisin' kls regarding the Eco tour - it was just 'ok' and we had the exact same observations (crew not that engaging, snorkeling just OK, climb on Hell's gate was the highlight). The biggest disappointment we had was with the boat actually. We expected it to be a catamaran with SAILS. Boy were we surprised when we walked up to see an older powerboat catamaran. We actually thought about not doing the tour but 1) we had paid a significant deposit and 2) we didn't know what else to do for the day in Antigua. One of the things we really enjoy about a snorkeling tour is sailing on a catamaran and relaxing by lying on the front deck/nets. Eli's Eco Tour just has bench seats. A very different experience. The other misnomer is they talk about snorkeling in multiple spots. The first opportunity is at a beach where the crew said there was nothing to see and it was really just to get beginner snorkelers in the water. They recommended we just go in and swim. We had wanted a full day of snorkeling. This tour spent a lot of time doing other things. For us, we would not do it again. But it really depends what you are looking for - if you don't want a sailboat for relaxation/experience, want to learn a lot about the ecology of the area, and want to do some walking then it could be a match for you.

I agree with this as well. My family did the eco tour in February, and we all thought it was just okay. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it didn't stand out as anything extraordinary in our opinion. Again like the others, I agree that Hell's Gate was definitely the highlight. (bring your own water shoes if you have them - otherwise you can borrow the shared ones which have been used a lot!)

Boating around Antigua was beautiful, and we did see a lot of the island and got a great explanation from very knowledgeable staff of everything we saw. We did a short hike on an island (forget the name), but I would have liked to spend more time here, looking for the snakes that were almost extinct but came back on this island, and getting a more 'eco' feel of the land.

I am not slamming the tour in any way, but compared to tours I have done on other islands, I was expecting to be Wowed, but it didn't happen on this trip. It was a beautiful day to boat around Antigua though. What I liked about this trip was that there wasn't any booze, so there weren't any partiers on board, and made this a very relaxing excursion.

The banana bread was delicious and the tamarind juice was too.

This a perspective from an older person...male, over 65 and bit out of shape. My advice is be careful. I am glad I did it but it is nothing that I would rush to do again. Hell's Gate comprises a lot of very sharp limestone and it can be a serious challenge in the beach shoes provided. I have done a lot of snorkelling in the Caribbean but where we snorkeled had a lot of current and very little to see. I really saw very little ecological on Bird Island....but that is my take on things.

We did Xtreme Adventure and it was by far our best outing of the whole cruise. And that was even with starting out the day with an hour worth of hard, cold rain. Noelle was just awesome and we had a great day. I would go with them again in a heartbeat.

We did Xtreme Adventure and it was by far our best outing of the whole cruise. And that was even with starting out the day with an hour worth of hard, cold rain. Noelle was just awesome and we had a great day. I would go with them again in a heartbeat.

Noelle was with us on the EcoTour a couple of years ago, she's terrific!

We did the Eco tour a few years ago and thought it was fabulous, one of our all time favorites.

Climbing Hells Gate and hiking on Bird Island were the highlights for us. Hells Gate was the first time I understood how a body of water that all runs together can be deemed an ocean and a sea. You can literally see the line that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Carribean Sea. Calm water on one side, and rough on the other (the boat going over both sides also demonstrates this!)

The lunch provided, though simple, was absolutely fabulous and authentic to what Antiguans eat. The island actually has very few "local food" restaurants, when you go there on vacation and ask for local food, they will tell you "on Sundays" or "go to a locals house". The fact that it is cooked by a neighbor and not a restaurant, says you are getting a local lunch.

I didn't care for the snorkeling. Having snorkeled and scubaed in other parts of the carribean, I didn't feel there was much to see. But swimming in the waters was a fun part of the day.

I also enjoyed boating around the island and learning about their history.

runnergirlcinci, I appreciated your observation about the catamaran, and probably would not have realized I needed to scrutinize the photo either. Thanks for your review - I've decided this excursion is not what I want.

We did the circumnav tour a few years ago and it was fabulous. Even when the water got a bit rough, we never felt in danger. Highly recommended!:)