Thenford Grey

Any recent experiences with this tour operator?

We recently toured with Thenford Grey (actually his brother drove our van).

I did a lot of research and felt satisfied with all his recommendations from different sites.

the tour was very good, with a couple of exceptions...the only beverage we received all day was a small bottle of water. (no food or lunch, which we knew was not included).

At the end of our tour, he told us we were going to South Frigate Bay beach (?). The other group of people on our tour said "no, we want to go to Cockleshell Beach". He explained it was farther away, but said we would take a vote - which we never did.

We were very very disappointed in Cockleshell beach - it was very crowded and the water did not look at all appealing. True to it's name, the beach sand was full of shells. We did not see any chairs available. After walking around a few minutes, we asked if he would take us back to the ship. He was very hesitant, but did. This beach was a farther distance from the ship.

We feel we lost out on part of our day in St. Kitts because we love to visit a beach on each island.

We recently toured with Thenford Grey (actually his brother drove our van).

I did a lot of research and felt satisfied with all his recommendations from different sites.

the tour was very good, with a couple of exceptions...the only beverage we received all day was a small bottle of water. (no food or lunch, which we knew was not included).

At the end of our tour, he told us we were going to South Frigate Bay beach (?). The other group of people on our tour said "no, we want to go to Cockleshell Beach". He explained it was farther away, but said we would take a vote - which we never did.

We were very very disappointed in Cockleshell beach - it was very crowded and the water did not look at all appealing. True to it's name, the beach sand was full of shells. We did not see any chairs available. After walking around a few minutes, we asked if he would take us back to the ship. He was very hesitant, but did. This beach was a farther distance from the ship.

We feel we lost out on part of our day in St. Kitts because we love to visit a beach on each island.

We toured with Thenford's brother too. We met Thenford at the pier, he escorted us to his brother's van. He was very very knowledgable. We also got a small bottle of water and ended up purchasing some chicken wrapped in foil off the barbecue (delicious) and additional drinks on our stop at the Fort as we were starting to get hungry. The tour started at about 9:30-10:00am, ended about 2pm and he dropped some of us off at South Frigate Beach and came back to pick us up about 4pm. It was a great day!

We toured last week with Thenford. He was fantastic. Very knowledgeable, accommodating and interesting. His was the best tour we've ever taken. We would take his tour again, and would highly recommend him to anyone stopping in St. Kitts.

We also had a great tour with Thenford. Very knowledgeable and articulate.

Plenty of oppurtunities to buy refreshments and food. We bought local beer and water @ every stop and ate and drank at the Shipwreck beach bar on South Friars Bay.

Thenford is a TripAdvisor favorite on St. Kitts and Nevis. For us, he really went above and beyond to ensure all of us were wowed by St. Kitts. He had two huge ice chests of refreshments (assorted types) and made sure we had all they wanted. When he took us to Brimstone Fortress, he left his van's engine running and the air-conditioning on (temps had reached well into the 80s outside), while his competitors shut off their engines and let temperatures inside their vans soar. He's a class act, is a sharp observer, and gives a five-star tour.

We toured with Thenford last week as well. It's a very laid back excursion compared to the St Lucia tour we did. He's a great guy. Highly recommended. Be prepared to climb some steps at the Fort.

Have Fun!

Any recent experiences with this tour operator?

Toured with Thenford several times including private tours. He is one of the best tour operators in the Caribbean. A fine gentleman and we highly recommend his organized tours or he can set up a private tour to fit your interests.

We've toured with him on both of our trips, and I recommend him.

Basse-Terre, St. Kitts

Trip #1: We hired Thenford Grey himself for this "Island Tour". The cost was $40 per person and ran from 8:00am until about 2:00 pm with beach time available at Cockleshell Beach at the end of the tour. Thenford first took us through the historic city of Basseterre which was founded in 1625 by French settlers. After the city highlights we stopped at the ruins of an old sugar cane processing factory and Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik which was once owned by Captain Samuel Jefferson, the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson. The Plantation House which sits amidst 25 acres of lush tropical gardens, is now a batik factory and store. The gardens feature a large collection of exotic plants, palms and trees from all over the world. We saw numerous green tailed monkeys in the short drive between the ruin and the Manor. We then spent an hour at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park which sets atop a volcanic cone that is 800 feet high and offers 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and neighboring islands. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a World Heritage Site. (The $8.00 entrance fee was included). The Fortress is indeed impressive. I could have easily spent 4 hours exploring this impressive site. A lot of monkeys make their home in the vegetation surrounding the fort. Thenford shared a lot of local history with us as we explored the island. We also saw a live cockfight (two roosters going at each other) in the middle of the street. Our last stop was Cockleshell Beach where we had an opportunity to swim, collect shells, and grab a beer. On the way, we saw wandering goats, cows, and more monkeys. Recommended!

Trip #2: On our second tip we wanted to spend a lot more time at the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park so we arranged with Thenford Grey to be dropped off early and then join his regular tour when they arrived at the fortress prior to continuing on to South Friar's Beach. We spent 3 hours exploring the fort and outlying structures. Hint: bring a flashlight to explore dark passages. Next to the fort is a tall grassy mound called Monkey Hill (aka Fort Charlotte). A worker had recently cut a 6-foot wide access path to the top of the hill which offers nice views. About 75% to the top is a side path that will take you to a recently rediscovered 15x20 foot (my estimate) stone out-building, with openings for 3 cannon, that was hidden under vegetation. It also offered views of the fort and the steep gorge behind it. After we left the fortress, we visited an overlook where you could see the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean on either side of a thin stretch of the island. The bodies of water could not have been separated by more than a quarter-mile. We the got dropped off at South Friar's Beach which offers an active bar and grill with lots of shade and picnic-style seating, restrooms, an outdoor shower, changing rooms, a nice beach with black and beige sands, a protected swim area and some snorkeling opportunities. We saw over a dozen different types of fish along the manmade reef and lots of sea urchins (some close to a foot in diameter).

More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

First-hand information on excursions we've taken in over 20 Caribbean ports. With photos!

We have been to St. Kits several times and have used Thenford Grey, we had great times with him and his brother Sackville. I highly recommend him, you will not be disappointed.

Toured with Thenford several times including private tours. He is one of the best tour operators in the Caribbean. A fine gentleman and we highly recommend his organized tours or he can set up a private tour to fit your interests.

TOTALLY agree! He is still our favorite tour operator of all time. You won't be disappointed in any of his tours. My favorite is "The Tour" which goes to Brimstone Fortress - next time I will spend the whole day there. So much to explore.

We took the "Tour" with Thenford Grey on our recent cruise to St Kitts and it was great! He is very knowledgeable about his island and gave great commentary along our route. He even quoted some poetry! We saw beautiful vistas at Brimstone Fortress and he later drove us to an overlook where we were able to see both the Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island. He offered us water along the way so we had no issues with that and were not expecting food as that is not part of the excursion. We had a wonderful day with Mr Grey and would definitely recommend him!

How long does it take to hear back from him after booking a tour? I booked on his website the other day & have not received any kind of a reply back...even checked my spam folder...nothing...I sent another email but this is making me a bit leary about booking with him...

How long does it take to hear back from him after booking a tour? I booked on his website the other day & have not received any kind of a reply back...even checked my spam folder...nothing...I sent another email but this is making me a bit leary about booking with him...

He usually gets right back to you - try emailing him direct. Don't be leary- he is our favorite tour operator of the entire Caribbean - a real gentleman -you will not be disappointed!

did you use his yahoo email? thenang06@yahoo.com

He usually gets right back to you - try emailing him direct. Don't be leary- he is our favorite tour operator of the entire Caribbean - a real gentleman -you will not be disappointed!

 

did you use his yahoo email? thenang06@yahoo.com

Yes, that is the email I used this morning when I emailed him for the 2nd time...first time was booking on his web site...

It did take him a couple of days to respond back to me.

We just used him last week, his brother was our tour guide on March 16 and we took the Capital and Beach Splash tour. Asked if he could take us to Carambola Beach instead of Cockleshell and he did. Only DH & I got off as the others wanted to go to Cockleshell Beach, we enjoyed the day.

I registered for the tour via the website as well and did not receive a response. After several days I emailed Thenford and received a reply within 5-6 hours. He reforwarded a reply from my original website enquiry but it never made it through to me. In end we are booked for march 2015. Best of luck.

We took "The Island Tour" with Thenford Grey a couple of months ago and truly enjoyed it. As others have noted, Thenford truly is a gentleman. He is very articulate, informative, and attentive to his guests. We felt that we not only saw the island but learned a great deal about the sites we saw. However, it may be important to consider that the tour is not a raucous or loud activity. Our traveling companions are a bit more adventurous than us and found the tour just a bit too "low key" for them. For example, they loved Sunny Liston's tour in St. Thomas (with all the loud music, singing, and breaking to the music) and Bernard's tour in St. Maarten (with the flowing rum punch). Thenford offers a more quiet and informative experience. We highly recommend him.

While it has been a couple of years for us, Thenford Grey remains as one of the finest tour guides we have enjoyed anywhere. You may book with him with confidence.

I never have heard back from Thenford...neither from his website or the email...not going to risk booking with someone who has not answered my emails...

Took "The Tour" last week with Thenford Gray. Awesome! Friendly, knowledgeable and flexible. It ended up being almost a 6 hour tour with a great beach stop at the end. Inexpensive as well. I highly recommend him!

Bobby D- how many people were on your tour? I'm debating btw Roosevelt and Thenford, it looks like Roosevelt only takes 10-11 people vs 20 with Thenford

Thanks!

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It did take him a couple of days to respond back to me.

 

We just used him last week, his brother was our tour guide on March 16 and we took the Capital and Beach Splash tour. Asked if he could take us to Carambola Beach instead of Cockleshell and he did. Only DH & I got off as the others wanted to go to Cockleshell Beach, we enjoyed the day.

How much beach time did you get at carambola? I'm thinking of booking this tour, but want to make sure I get enough beach time. Does this tour let you go to the forts or just do a drive by? Was the entire tour 4 hours, or did it go over ... But still at the $25 price?

Thanks so much!

We took "The Island Tour" with Thenford Grey a couple of months ago and truly enjoyed it. As others have noted, Thenford truly is a gentleman. He is very articulate, informative, and attentive to his guests. We felt that we not only saw the island but learned a great deal about the sites we saw. However, it may be important to consider that the tour is not a raucous or loud activity. Our traveling companions are a bit more adventurous than us and found the tour just a bit too "low key" for them. For example, they loved Sunny Liston's tour in St. Thomas (with all the loud music, singing, and breaking to the music) and Bernard's tour in St. Maarten (with the flowing rum punch). Thenford offers a more quiet and informative experience. We highly recommend him.

We took his tour last week and was surprised there were only 4 of us on the entire bus!

Your commentary above is spot-on and I couldn't have stated it better.

We took his tour last week and was surprised there were only 4 of us on the entire bus!

 

Your commentary above is spot-on and I couldn't have stated it better.

We also booked "The Tour" with Thenford on our March 23rd valor cruise. It was an awesome day. He is the nicest and most informative tour guide we have ever have. You cannot go wrong with him.