Prickly Pear Island

Anyone done Prickly Pear? Thoughts.? Sounds like an interesting laid back day.

Thanks in advance.

We did Prickly Pear Island 2 years ago, and had a great time. One thing to note its that the island is very small.

How do you get to Prickly Pear island?

Seems as if the owners schedule transportation as well as some cruise excursions book the island.

We just returned from our cruise this weekend and did Miguel's Prickly Pear Island Holiday Adventure. I am SO GLAD I read reviews and knew what to expect on this before we went!

It was a beautiful day, and the island is gorgeous. PLEASE know that you are going to be picked up from behind an abandoned hotel! Don't freak out. The taxi drivers will know where to drop you. The hotel is abandoned, but there is a gate that they unlock with a path that takes you right to a gorgeous little cove / beach. You can see Prickly Pear Island from this cove. They'll bring over a boat to take you to the island about 10am.

On the island there is a finger of sand, and it is surrounded by some shallow reefs. There is a shaded area with picnic tables and a bar. There is a bathroom / changing room. The sand is nice and only has some rocks and shells. I didn't need water shoes, but had to watch where I was stepping. They have snorkeling equipment available and you can snorkel around the island. The current is pretty strong, and the water is not deep. In several places, it was really too shallow to snorkel. The drinks were fantastic (open bar), and the lunch was really really great.

We had a great time chatting with Miguel's family and relaxing on the island. We were taken back to the beach around 3pm and made it back to the ship by 4ish.

This is great for a relaxing beach day with good local food and drinks. If you are looking to snorkel, I might not choose this one first though. It was just too shallow with too much current. But, that might have just been due to weather and tides the day we were there.

We booked this excursion through Royal Caribbean for our day in Antigua last week and it was canceled due to a "tour operational issue". Not sure if this was cancelled due to low booking numbers or some other issue. I too had read the reviews and wondered if maybe it wasn't living up to RC tour standards. I personally was intrigued by the "rustic" surroundings and authentic island food but I can see where others may not find this appealing. Good to know that this is still available but I would suggest having a back up option for Antigua if you book this tour.

We have reservations to visit Prickly Pear but am concerned about increasing crowds esp. when ships are in port. Should I be concerned? Thoughts?

We just returned from our cruise this weekend and did Miguel's Prickly Pear Island Holiday Adventure. I am SO GLAD I read reviews and knew what to expect on this before we went!

 

It was a beautiful day, and the island is gorgeous. PLEASE know that you are going to be picked up from behind an abandoned hotel! Don't freak out. The taxi drivers will know where to drop you. The hotel is abandoned, but there is a gate that they unlock with a path that takes you right to a gorgeous little cove / beach. You can see Prickly Pear Island from this cove. They'll bring over a boat to take you to the island about 10am.

 

On the island there is a finger of sand, and it is surrounded by some shallow reefs. There is a shaded area with picnic tables and a bar. There is a bathroom / changing room. The sand is nice and only has some rocks and shells. I didn't need water shoes, but had to watch where I was stepping. They have snorkeling equipment available and you can snorkel around the island. The current is pretty strong, and the water is not deep. In several places, it was really too shallow to snorkel. The drinks were fantastic (open bar), and the lunch was really really great.

 

We had a great time chatting with Miguel's family and relaxing on the island. We were taken back to the beach around 3pm and made it back to the ship by 4ish.

 

This is great for a relaxing beach day with good local food and drinks. If you are looking to snorkel, I might not choose this one first though. It was just too shallow with too much current. But, that might have just been due to weather and tides the day we were there.

hi - not sure if you are still active on CC but if you are...some questions about Miquel's holiday pear island adventure, how did you reserve (directly or with ship) and what was the price?? Thanks for your time! Amy

Just saw your question. Had a great time on the Island. We deserved directly via email found on Trip Advisor. Heard you could do same thru but price of course was higher. If you have a choice of dates, you may want to ask his daughter (who makes p,Ana) how many others are planned for that day. We lucked out, there was only one other couple on the Island that day and felt like a personal tour. Island is very small, so the fewer people the better. Hope this note is in time for your trip!

Anyone done Prickly Pear? Thoughts.? Sounds like an interesting laid back day.

 

Thanks in advance.

Book direct.

The "ship" tour is a poor relation to what a direct booking will receive, with regard to drinks and food.

In addition, if the ship does not fill it's full quota (say a full total 40 pax) the trip is cancelled when you are on the ship, even if it is only two pax short. :eek:

Explanation will be "technical problems", so you will be left without a trip.

Please be cautious in booking Prickly Pear Island tours. We had a reservation in November, 2015, and when we arrived in port they were a no show to pick us up for transport to their island. We were advised by a local taxi operator that the island was closed due to damage from a hurricane and was undergoing repairs. When we returned home, I contacted Miguel's daughter about a refund of our deposit and expressed my displeasure about being left at the dock with no contact to cancel our excursion and a wasted port day. She apologized and advised their computer also crashed so they didn't have a list of all of their reservations. I can understand that things happen... but golly. Okay, she apologized and said she would refund our deposit. I have yet to receive the refund. I e-mailed twice, next I private messaged her through Prickly Pear's Facebook page and she apologized and said she would issue the refund but never did. I next sent an e-mail requesting money through PayPal, and again received no response. Needless to say, I'm frustrated. It isn't so much the deposit lost as the wasted port day in Antigua. So, other cruisers, please exercise caution when booking Prickly Pear, I don't want others to have the same disappointing experience we had. Good luck.

Please be cautious in booking Prickly Pear Island tours. We had a reservation in November, 2015, and when we arrived in port they were a no show to pick us up for transport to their island. We were advised by a local taxi operator that the island was closed due to damage from a hurricane and was undergoing repairs. When we returned home, I contacted Miguel's daughter about a refund of our deposit and expressed my displeasure about being left at the dock with no contact to cancel our excursion and a wasted port day. She apologized and advised their computer also crashed so they didn't have a list of all of their reservations. I can understand that things happen... but golly. Okay, she apologized and said she would refund our deposit. I have yet to receive the refund. I e-mailed twice, next I private messaged her through Prickly Pear's Facebook page and she apologized and said she would issue the refund but never did. I next sent an e-mail requesting money through PayPal, and again received no response. Needless to say, I'm frustrated. It isn't so much the deposit lost as the wasted port day in Antigua. So, other cruisers, please exercise caution when booking Prickly Pear, I don't want others to have the same disappointing experience we had. Good luck.

Did they take credit cards as a deposit? If so a simple dispute would work

My chase card said they will take a dispute up to a year later

My boa card said I'm such a good customer that they would refund my dispute without me even having to file anything...my word was good enough