Looking for Active Excursions

A friend and I will be hitting St. Thomas in May on the FotS. We are looking for active excursions, such as snorkeling or kayaking, and would be grateful for any recommendations! We want to maximize time spent 'doing' things in port rather than going on a tour or lounging on the beach. Unfortunately scuba isn't an option because we don't have certification, but I've heard good things about snuba. The reviews on the RCI site (for their own excursions!) are not great, so I'm not sold on going through the cruise line. TIA!

For a "self excursion" you will find good off the beach snorkeling at the East End beaches like Coki, Sapphire, and Secret Harbor, or there are several excellent daysails that moor off STJ and Great St James for deeper water snorkeling. You can also rent kayaks and jet skis at Sapphire.

You can just taxi to these beaches on your own for $20pp round trip, and perhaps hit someplace for a bite after like Paradise Point. But Banana Cabana at Sapphire has an excellent mahi mahi sandwich if you decide to go there.

We're you looking for a more organized or group experience?

Most of the active excursions are offered through your ship and there usually isn't a price advantage in booking directly with excursion company. Most offer the Kayak, Hike & Snorkel excursion, but that company also has a 5 hour tour that is not offered through the ships. Company is Virgin Islands Ecotours.

The zip line is another popular active excursion. SNUBA may be too tame for you if you've already tried a few dives. The ships offer underwater scooters, power snorkeling, mini boats, and other active excursions.

We are using this company in October for a snorkel trip but I see where they do offer kayak adventure also.

http://Www.stthomasadventures.com

We obviously haven't used them yet, but they have a lot of good reviews on trip advisor.

Thanks so much everyone! I have never gone on a dive before, so snorkeling/snuba would be fine with me. My friend has been several times, but not for years, so he will probably feel the same.

We aren't necessarily looking for a group/organized experience, just cool stuff to do! I am wary of snorkeling on our own since I have never gone before (like would we be able to find a good spot so close to the beaches full of people?), but not opposed to a self-excursion :)

St Thomas Adventure looks like a good option and we will look in to it more. My only concern is that all the excursions we are interested in are 5 hours and we are only on the island for 7.

On FoS in June, let us know about the trip you took. We are looking for something as well.

Will do! We booked the St. Thomas Adventures 3 Beach tour.

Will do! We booked the St. Thomas Adventures 3 Beach tour.

Please report back on how you liked it; this is what we have booked in October. Hope you have a great cruise :)

This excursion was AMAZING! Our tour guide was Max (we also met Squid, who was also awesome), and it was just the two of us and him! We saw sea turtles, sting rays, and tons of colorful fish, and got to hold a sea egg, star fish, and conch. The beaches we went to had (at most!) 5 other people on them, and with just the two of us and our guide it was a really intimate experience.

Max was really friendly and happy to talk about his experience living on the island for the past few years, and we had a great time with him. It was my first time snorkeling (and my friend's first time in over a decade) and he was very patient and helpful, and we both picked it up very quickly. He told us he often works with varied age groups, up to people in their 80s, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to bring anyone of any age on the trip in the future. He was also great about offering to take our picture (with our cameras) at any opportunity - holding small sea creatures, swimming near larger ones such as turtles, or while at the scenic points we stopped by on our drive between the beaches.

If we go back, we will probably spring for the slightly more expensive trip where you travel by boat, although we did enjoy driving through the island and seeing the sights, and given the opportunity we would LOVE to try their night time snorkelling adventure. When I get around to writing a review of our full trip I will include more details, but all in all: it was fantastic, I would absolutely recommend it, and we will definitely snorkel with them again if we revisit Saint Thomas!

This excursion was AMAZING! Our tour guide was Max (we also met Squid, who was also awesome), and it was just the two of us and him! We saw sea turtles, sting rays, and tons of colorful fish, and got to hold a sea egg, star fish, and conch. The beaches we went to had (at most!) 5 other people on them, and with just the two of us and our guide it was a really intimate experience.

 

Max was really friendly and happy to talk about his experience living on the island for the past few years, and we had a great time with him. It was my first time snorkeling (and my friend's first time in over a decade) and he was very patient and helpful, and we both picked it up very quickly. He told us he often works with varied age groups, up to people in their 80s, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to bring anyone of any age on the trip in the future. He was also great about offering to take our picture (with our cameras) at any opportunity - holding small sea creatures, swimming near larger ones such as turtles, or while at the scenic points we stopped by on our drive between the beaches.

 

If we go back, we will probably spring for the slightly more expensive trip where you travel by boat, although we did enjoy driving through the island and seeing the sights, and given the opportunity we would LOVE to try their night time snorkelling adventure. When I get around to writing a review of our full trip I will include more details, but all in all: it was fantastic, I would absolutely recommend it, and we will definitely snorkel with them again if we revisit Saint Thomas!

Thanks so much for reporting back about the excursion! I'm glad you had a great time & I'm excited to spend the day with them in October!