Boats at turtle swim??

Hi all,

We have narrowed down our turtle experience down to Calabaza or Cliff Sharker. Very different experiences, I understand that.

One thing I am very interested in is that Cliff Sharker promises to be the first boat out to the turtles, giving you a more personal, one on one experience.

For those of you that have done Calabaza...how many other boats/people did you share the turtle swim with?

Thanks for any information.

My husband and I did Calabaza in May and when we got to the turtles, there was one small (and I mean small like a fishing type boat) boat there when we arrived and they left. We had 4 or 5 turtles all to ourselves and there was no issue at all with crowding. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed with Calabaza and I do not make that recommendation lightly.

Small Disclaimer: You may want to see how many ships will be in port on the same day as your ship. We were the only ship in port and we had an absolutely amazing day.

We went with cliff Sharker. We were the first boat there and had 9 turtles to ourselves for almost an hour. http://www.cliffsharker.com/en/mobile

We were on Calabaza March 15, 2015 and we were the only boat around the turtles. There were three turtles and a huge Manta Ray when we were there.

We will be there next week. Can u get a boat at the pier or do need to reserve with someone?

I would reserve. I heard many people calling around at the last minute trying to find someone. Some postings pointed out that full operators would refer you to someone who was not. The pier I left from did not have a dedicated area where you could find a boat. We left from the Marina where the boat is slipped.

We went with cliff Sharker. We were the first boat there and had 9 turtles to ourselves for almost an hour. http://www.cliffsharker.com/en/mobile

hi, we are booked with cliffsharker in early june. we will be on liberty. how hard was it to get off the boat first and get a taxi to take you to where he is waiting? we are very excited for this tour.

thanks for your help.

We got in line to get off the ship about 45 minutes before they started letting people off. Charles will give you email addresses of others on the ship doing your tour. Then you will arrange to meet those people onboard before the tour day so you know who you are looking for. You will all get inline together to get off the ship and taxi over together. Charles will be in go go go mode but once you are in the water with the turtles he becomes a chill island guy. This will be the highlight of your trip. Have fun!

We got in line to get off the ship about 45 minutes before they started letting people off. Charles will give you email addresses of others on the ship doing your tour. Then you will arrange to meet those people onboard before the tour day so you know who you are looking for. You will all get inline together to get off the ship and taxi over together. Charles will be in go go go mode but once you are in the water with the turtles he becomes a chill island guy. This will be the highlight of your trip. Have fun!

Thanks for the info. we actually have a private tour, so it will just be the 5 of us. we are suppose to dock at 8, so 715 be in line, is island time ahead or behind ship time? how long did he keep you out with the turtles? all his reviews are awesome.

is there any certain taxi we should take, can you give us any pointers on this part.

thanks for all your help

Oh awesome that you have a private tour. When we went we had a group of 12. 4 were in my group. We dropped everyone off and then Charles offered to drop us off at a beach near the place he anchors his boat. He took us for a boat ride like none other. Our stomachs hurt from laughing. We had for a 1.5 hour tour and we spent 5 hours with him. He's so island cool. Get in line at 7 to get off. I think he tells you where to catch the taxi. We had about an hour with the turtles. Once the other tour boats started to show up then we left. He took us to see the race horses training in the ocean, on a little harbor tour and then we stopped to snorkel over some ship wrecks. He'll have rum punch, some amazing sweet bread and chips for you to snack on. He seems insane while hea trying to get you to the turtles but once your done with the turtles he goes on island time and is super chill

Here is Charles

Race horses training

Oh awesome that you have a private tour. When we went we had a group of 12. 4 were in my group. We dropped everyone off and then Charles offered to drop us off at a beach near the place he anchors his boat. He took us for a boat ride like none other. Our stomachs hurt from laughing. We had for a 1.5 hour tour and we spent 5 hours with him. He's so island cool. Get in line at 7 to get off. I think he tells you where to catch the taxi. We had about an hour with the turtles. Once the other tour boats started to show up then we left. He took us to see the race horses training in the ocean, on a little harbor tour and then we stopped to snorkel over some ship wrecks. He'll have rum punch, some amazing sweet bread and chips for you to snack on. He seems insane while hea trying to get you to the turtles but once your done with the turtles he goes on island time and is super chill

thank you for all this great info. we will plan to be down there by 7 to get off the boat. just need to figure out which side of the boat the will dock to

if you can offer any other advice i would appreciate it very much.

We just got back yesterday. Charles is AMAZING. Make sure to let him know the exact time your ship comes into port. Sometimes it's 7. Sometimes it's 8. I didn't communicate that, got to the boardwalk earlier than he expected and he freaked out because he is so particular on time. Lol It wasn't a big deal, even though he felt horrible... Just make sure you spell that out for him. We had 9 turtles to ourselves (2 person private tour) for over an hour. It was surreal. We didn't go to the racehorses, but after a very thrilling and fast speed boat ride (Charles said his boat is the same kind they use to run drugs from St Vincent to Barbados in the middle of the night. Haha) we stopped at a great surf spot were people were surfing. Turns out pro female surfer Chelsea Tauch was there and she put on a show! I'd never seen anyone surf so to sit there right next to them was cool. We went to the shipwrecks and had an amazing time there as well. We anchored twice, once near where Charles lives and keeps his boat and at the end of the tour on a secluded part of the beach where he brought the rum on shore with us and had a little private beach party. We started with Charles a little before 8am and it was after 2pm when we caught our cab back. It was by far the very best day of our cruise. I am already planning on a trip back within the next year. It really is just that good.

We were easily the first people off the ship at 7am. No one else was even trying to get off that early. We caught a cab and were at the boardwalk where he will pick you up by 7:20. He said that was highly unusual to get off and through that early but it was a piece of cake for us. If your in port time is 8am there may be a longer line to get off.

We were easily the first people off the ship at 7am. No one else was even trying to get off that early. We caught a cab and were at the boardwalk where he will pick you up by 7:20. He said that was highly unusual to get off and through that early but it was a piece of cake for us. If your in port time is 8am there may be a longer line to get off.

Thanks you so much for all this info! I am really excited about this excursion, all the pictures I have seen are just amazing. what day was you on his excursion? he has posted some on his facebook page, i might of looked at your pictures lol.

do all the ships dock at the same place, and did you have any problem getting a taxi to take you where you needed to be?

We were on the 14th, so he hasn't posted the pictures yet. I'm stalking him like a crazy person on facebook I'm so excited. HAHA We had no issues getting a taxi. Charles will tell you to go outside the main gate to an area where there is a tree in the middle of the road and catch a taxi there. He says that because sometimes, with lots of people leaving at the same time, you can get tied up at the main gate coming out in a taxi and that will delay you. We were so early getting off though that there was no one else around and it took seconds to get outside the main gate in the taxi. We were off the ship at 7:00 on the dot. We were at the boardwalk where he meets you at 7:20. It was very easy.

We were on the 14th, so he hasn't posted the pictures yet. I'm stalking him like a crazy person on facebook I'm so excited. HAHA We had no issues getting a taxi. Charles will tell you to go outside the main gate to an area where there is a tree in the middle of the road and catch a taxi there. He says that because sometimes, with lots of people leaving at the same time, you can get tied up at the main gate coming out in a taxi and that will delay you. We were so early getting off though that there was no one else around and it took seconds to get outside the main gate in the taxi. We were off the ship at 7:00 on the dot. We were at the boardwalk where he meets you at 7:20. It was very easy.

I will keep an eye for your pictures. The ones i have seen are so good. We are there June 10th. Very excited. We plan on being down to get off the boat early and hopefully have no problems. Thanks again for all this info! What other islands did you visit?

Thank you everyone for posting your experience with Cliff Sharker. I had discounted his because it wasn't a lunch cruise, but I'm thinking that the whole "lunch" portion is probably over-rated anyway. I'm there for the turtles after all. I can eat for free on the ship! Anyway, I've contacted Cliff to see if there's availability for the day we're in port!

Thank you everyone for posting your experience with Cliff Sharker. I had discounted his because it wasn't a lunch cruise, but I'm thinking that the whole "lunch" portion is probably over-rated anyway. I'm there for the turtles after all. I can eat for free on the ship! Anyway, I've contacted Cliff to see if there's availability for the day we're in port!

I posted some of the pictures from my trip on my review in case you'd like to see them. I hope you were able to book him!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2211606&goto=newpost

I posted some of the pictures from my trip on my review in case you'd like to see them. I hope you were able to book him!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2211606&goto=newpost

Those pictures are amazing! (And I got some good info from your review about some of the other ports that we're going to as well!) Unfortunately he never responded to my request for information.... :(

Those pictures are amazing! (And I got some good info from your review about some of the other ports that we're going to as well!) Unfortunately he never responded to my request for information.... :(

Oh good! Glad you got some things you could use!

That's very unusual for him to not respond. I communicated with him for a couple months and he was always prompt. Did you use cliffsharker@hotmail.com? If so I would just try again. Or call him at 315-636-4560. Hope you get in touch!

Oh good! Glad you got some things you could use!

 

That's very unusual for him to not respond. I communicated with him for a couple months and he was always prompt. Did you use cliffsharker@hotmail.com? If so I would just try again. Or call him at 315-636-4560. Hope you get in touch!

No! I filled out a form on his website! I will use that email address right now! Thank you so much for the information!

Charles was great. It was amazing swimming with the turtles. Well worth the money for the experience. He is also very kind, and personable. My daughter got a little motion sick and he worked with her to keep it under control. We had about 5 turtles and was there about an hour. He worked with my cousin also to get her in the water and she was able to snorkel also. Awesome guy, Awesome tour. We were with him from 830 to 1300. Very nice, memorable day.

I'm jealous! Unfortunately, despite my second, direct email, they still have not responded. Is the number that you gave considered a US number or is it international?