Suggested activity for Freeport - Kayaking

Before our cruise, I scanned this board for good advice about excursions in Freeport, but got very little info. We had only until 2:30 in port so I was a little leary of making independent arrangements for fear of missing the ship (which 2 of our passengers did) so we went with the Kayaking & Lucayan Park excursion thru the ship. We had visited Gold Rock beach previously (which is in Lucayan Natl Park) & knew we'd like the beach. We were picked up at the pier by bus & driven to the kayak outfitters location - maybe 20 mins. We were then broken into groups of 8 & boarded a van with our guide, Cosmo. We then drove about half an hour to the launch point for the kayaking. The van was shuttled to our ending point so when we arrived, it was already there. The kayaking was about 60 - 90 mins of easy paddling thru mangrove swamp. It was often shaded & there was basically no current. After kayaking, we were offered lunch of ham & cheese or PJB sandwiches, fruit, cookies, tea or water. We then had about 90 mins at the beach which is lovely. We then had about a 30 - 40 min nature walk thru the 5 ecosystems of the Bahamas & visited 2 caves. We were delived by Cosmo directly back to the ship with about 15 mins before "all aboard". Since we were on a ship tour, I was not concerned about being left, but I would have liked a bit of time for shopping. Be advised there are very few shops at the pier, but I didn't have time to even browse them. We thought this was a reasonably priced excursion at $84 pp. Before we sailed, I could not find any info about rental cars at the pier. I did see a sign that said car rental at the pier, but I didn't have the chance to verify there was an actual location that was open there. Driving is on the left so it is probablly just as well someone else did that for us. Also, if you choose this tour, be aware that there are no bathroom facilities at the beach nor is there any type of commercialization. It is just sand and ocean with the tree line extending down to the shore so there is quite a bit of shade if needed. It is my favorite beach anywhere I have visited. So, this is my suggestion for anyone looking for something to do in Freeport. FYI - we were on RCCL Grandeur of the Seas.

Debbie

I also took this tour back in June and thoroughly enjoyed it. You are correct, the beach is gorgeous and very uncrowded. From talking to wife (who went with her mother and a couple of other of her relatives on a shopping/beach tour) I picked good.