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Is Buck Island worth it?


dvan68
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How is the snorkeling at the 'park'? Is it an underwater path similar to Trunk Bay? How is the visibility? Is there a lot of sea life - how is the coral?

 

Any other snorkeling sites or excursions that you would recommend? We will be on the Summit.

 

Thank you!

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  • 2 weeks later...
How is the snorkeling at the 'park'? Is it an underwater path similar to Trunk Bay? How is the visibility? Is there a lot of sea life - how is the coral?

 

Any other snorkeling sites or excursions that you would recommend? We will be on the Summit.

 

Thank you!

 

Wondering the same thing. :)

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Wondering the same thing. :)

 

No one we know who has done a January trip to Buck Island has enjoyed it. The north swell affects the ride over (think seasick), and affects the swimming and snorkeling conditions. If we end up taking a trip down there some other time of year we'll try going over there, but not on a January trip.

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No one we know who has done a January trip to Buck Island has enjoyed it. The north swell affects the ride over (think seasick), and affects the swimming and snorkeling conditions. If we end up taking a trip down there some other time of year we'll try going over there, but not on a January trip.

 

I'm going there in January. Looks like I'll be trying it. Thanks.

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My husband and I did a snorkeling trip to Buck Island in January a few years ago. I can't say that it was the greatest snorkeling we've done, but we enjoyed it. It's a long ride out there from St Croix and it was a bit rough. I would also advise taking your own equipment as I was not impressed with what was provided. When you are on a cruise, you are at the mercy of the weather and the currents, so you sometimes have to go with the flow. You will see more than Trunk Bay, but you'll work harder!

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My husband and I did a snorkeling trip to Buck Island in January a few years ago. I can't say that it was the greatest snorkeling we've done, but we enjoyed it. It's a long ride out there from St Croix and it was a bit rough. I would also advise taking your own equipment as I was not impressed with what was provided. When you are on a cruise, you are at the mercy of the weather and the currents, so you sometimes have to go with the flow. You will see more than Trunk Bay, but you'll work harder!

 

The snorkeling at Buck Island is supposed to be wonderful, and we've been wanting to go there. You're the first people we've heard from, though who have had anywhere near a satisfactory experience in January. We do carry our own gear, so that's not an issue for us.

 

We're kayaking this coming January, and plan on doing some shore snorkeling afterwards.

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  • 1 year later...

We are going to St. Croix on the Celebrity Summit January 2014. I didn't realize the weather in January affected the snorkeling at Buck Island - sad! What kind of weather should we expect in January? What is it about January that affects the snorkeling? Just wondering so that I can know what else we might want to consider. Thanks in advance!!!

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  • 4 months later...
Hello, I see many are cruising in January, can you please tell me how St. Croix was and any suggestions, if any, to do for the day. Thanks so much!!

 

 

Pay It Forward. Be kind.

 

http://www.virginkayaktours.com

 

We did this tour 1/14/13, and had a great time. We spent almost 2 hours on the water with Bryan who made the time fly with his narrative. He's a very knowledgeable and interesting guide. The Kayaks are new and you have a choice of paddling or foot power. We saw the ship tour heading back in as we headed out, they were out for a 1/2 hour. Bryan made sure we were comfortable and would periodically ask if we were tired and wanted to go on or back. The only thing I regret was I forgot to bring water with me. Taxi cost to Cane Bay was $18 per person round trip. We got to Cane Bay around 9:45 and met Bryan at 10 and came back to Cane Bay around 1PM. We had time for lunch at the restaurant there called Eat, a bit pricey but good. We had the taxi come back for us at 2:30 and got back to the dock by 3.

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We've just returned from our cruise and full day excursion with Big Beard's Buck Island for snorkeling. This was definitely one of the top two excursions we did for the week, and I would highly recommend it.

 

Big Beard's boats are in very good shape and are somewhat easy to get on and off, in and out of the water. Don't let that concern you. The swells were pretty rough as it was very windy. But the crew did an excellent job navigating and managing the boat.

 

We went to one beach to practice snorkeling, and honestly, there's nothing to see there. I could've done without that stop. But, that's just me. Then on to Buck Island. It was a beautiful ride.

 

In Buck Island, the current was not bad, but the waves were pretty rough. For that reason, you can't get super close to the reef. The water is about 20 feet deep, and the reef is very much alive. There were tons of fish, lots of different varieties and colors. We were there snorkeling for a little over an hour.

 

I could've stayed longer and explored more, but for those who aren't very good swimmers, they were pretty worn out. I'd definitely go back to Buck Island in January, but would personally like to find a way to stay there longer. I wouldn't recommend it in January if you aren't a strong swimmer and in somewhat decent shape.

 

Our tour then went to another beach for a cookout, fun and delicious. We were all starving by then. Festive drinks and good food rounded out a fantastic day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We did the half day with Big Beard's to Buck Island on January 19. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The ride over was beautiful. There was not much to see on Turtle Beach, but it was beautiful and we practiced our snorkeling - I had a new dry snorkel that I wanted to try out. We saw some baby turtle tracks from a turtle that had hatched the previous night. We could have left sooner in my opinion, but we did have new snorkelers that needed the practice so I just enjoyed hanging out on the beautiful beach for a while.

 

We then went to the reef. Yes, some of the coral is dead, but we saw a great variety of fish including a nurse shark. The visibility was great. I didn't find the waves rough. There was a current but you just needed to stay aware of where you were in relation to the boat. I did have to swim to get back to the boat because of the current, but it was no big deal, and I wouldn't consider myself a strong swimmer although I'm in decent shape.

 

There is not a trail like at Trunk Bay. The coral just grows up near the surface in some places, so you have to be careful how you navigate through it. The guide led us through, pointed out things to us, then left us to do our own thing for a while. I could have spent a little more time there, it was so great. I was glad we did it.

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We did the half day with Big Beard's to Buck Island on January 19. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The ride over was beautiful. There was not much to see on Turtle Beach, but it was beautiful and we practiced our snorkeling - I had a new dry snorkel that I wanted to try out. We saw some baby turtle tracks from a turtle that had hatched the previous night. We could have left sooner in my opinion, but we did have new snorkelers that needed the practice so I just enjoyed hanging out on the beautiful beach for a while.

 

We then went to the reef. Yes, some of the coral is dead, but we saw a great variety of fish including a nurse shark. The visibility was great. I didn't find the waves rough. There was a current but you just needed to stay aware of where you were in relation to the boat. I did have to swim to get back to the boat because of the current, but it was no big deal, and I wouldn't consider myself a strong swimmer although I'm in decent shape.

 

There is not a trail like at Trunk Bay. The coral just grows up near the surface in some places, so you have to be careful how you navigate through it. The guide led us through, pointed out things to us, then left us to do our own thing for a while. I could have spent a little more time there, it was so great. I was glad we did it.

 

carolslc - I see you were in St. Croix on a Sunday - was your excursion a full day? If not- were shops, etc. open at the pier?

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We have been considering Big Beards half day sail. Will be on the Summit 11/14. Was it difficult to arrange your own transportation to and from Big Beards from the cruise ship port?

 

No, not at all. We didn't arrange anything ahead of time. Just walk to the end of the pier. They have taxi vans there. You tell the guy coordinating them that you're going to Big Beard's in Christiansted. They had all the people going to the same place stand together (there was a van full of us), then they told us which van to go to and we all went. The driver dropped us at Big Beard's, but told us where the taxi stand was to get a ride back - it was around the corner from Big Beard's. When we were done with the excursion, we walked over there and got in a van that went back to Fredericksted.

 

Just when the ship docks and you can leave at 8 am, go ahead and leave and walk to the end of the pier. You will pass all the Celebrity tour vans parked actually on the pier. I think we were out there by about 8:15. The taxi company knows they will have a bunch of people going to Big Beard's.

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carolslc - I see you were in St. Croix on a Sunday - was your excursion a full day? If not- were shops, etc. open at the pier?

 

We did the half day. We thought we would prefer to eat lunch and shop around in Christiansted rather than doing the beach BBQ. However, to be honest, there wasn't much interesting in Christiansted. There were a couple of restaurants open, and a few shops, but after looking around a bit, we just took the taxi back to the ship and ate there. DH went back out to Fredericksted after lunch and shopped around a bit but it was quiet there too.

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We just did Big Beard's tour this January. It was pretty easy as a DIY adventure- you buy your return ticket for the shared vans in the clearly marked area once you get off the pier, get in the van, and get dropped off about 25 minutes later at Big Beard's, where we paid at their store for our 1/2 day trip. The catamaran was docked about 1/2 block away. We had reserved spaces on the tour in advance, but you could also just walk in without a reservation.

 

We brought our own snorkels, and are not the type to get seasick and no one else did on the trip, but we were in the back of the cat and got some good splashes on the trip over.

 

First stop was at Turtle beach, on the calmer end of the island, for an optional snorkel lesson. The beach was pretty, but sandy so no coral and just a few fish. But the snorkel lesson was great for novices- since you could be in water where you can touch bottom and walk back to shore.

 

We did also see baby turtle tracks from eggs that had hatched the night before over at the end of the beach.

 

So- if you need snorkel practice or lessons, this is a good spot for that- even to just try off your gear if this is the first snorkel stop of your vacation. If not, it's a nice beach break. You weren't required to get off, have the snorkel lesson, or practice snorkeling.

 

Then we motored over to the other side of the island for the snorkeling. There was abundant coral, but the waves were rough- I've been in worse, but it was still noticeably rough, and they did explain the current. The coral was pretty bleached out, but again there was a lot of it. There was plenty to see. The most fish ever? No. Lots of varieties of fish? Yes.

 

I would say this is an excellent snorkel trip for intermediate snorkelers. Expert snorkelers would want to see more things, and novice snorkelers may have a tough time navigating around. I got out at least 10-15 minutes before our allotted time was up because I was done with being tossed around by the waves and as a solid intermediate snorkeler had no interest in going out one of the cuts to the outside of the reef. This was not a 'relaxing' snorkel. You had to work and pay attention. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Note- you are required to wear the little yellow vests, but you are not required to blow any air into them.

 

Big Beard's was a professional outfit.

 

They did not serve any rum punch or snacks, but did have water available.

 

We did this on our own instead of w/ a cruise ship and saved a little money, but we really wanted to have free time in Christiansted after the snorkel tour. We walked around and had lunch at one of the restaurants on the very nice boardwalk. Lunch was expensive. Fun, but expensive.

 

The shuttle vans on the way back were a little more annoying, the one we had on the return was more run down, and with an unfriendly driver, and they have a complicated scheme of which driver has a turn next, and wait until they fill the van. So if you are the first back and ready to go, you may be stuck waiting until the van fills. This could be 10 minutes. Or not.

 

Theoretically, you could take the full day or afternoon 1/2 day trip depending on when your ship was due to sail, but I wouldn't do it. Too many potentials for complications on the return. But as a morning 1/2 day trip this worked out perfectly. Other than getting up early, we were not rushed at any time, and we had a great time.

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We did the half day. We thought we would prefer to eat lunch and shop around in Christiansted rather than doing the beach BBQ. However, to be honest, there wasn't much interesting in Christiansted. There were a couple of restaurants open, and a few shops, but after looking around a bit, we just took the taxi back to the ship and ate there. DH went back out to Fredericksted after lunch and shopped around a bit but it was quiet there too.

 

Thank you. That will help us for our day in St. Croix. Maybe we will just go to a beach near the port.

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