Irie Tours

Have you gone on either of these tours? opinions please

Trying to decide which one!

All West Beach 8 hrs

or

Eastside Beach tour 3 hrs

We were on the 8 hour west side beach tour with Irie earlier this month and thought it was great. We had 10 people, enough to use one of their open-air school buses, and a driver / guide who was easy to understand & took us to a lot of different sites ... talked a lot about the island now and its history ... as well as taking us to beautiful beaches, all with chairs & facilities.

 

If you have the time, I'd do the 8 hour version. We definitely thought we received our money's worth & got an overall look at the island. (Also had a nice lunch at a plantation house with a lot of menu choices.)

I have done the 8 hour tour as well and can not say enough good things about the tour. From the stops we made to the amazing local lunch. Our guides were great! My son wanted to cliff jump and they took us to where you jump off a 40' cliff and my son, daughter and myself all jumped. It was quite the rush! Great snorkeling spots too!

 

 

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I've sent an email to Irie Tours to get information...can anyone comment on their communication? Its been a couple of days and I haven't received a response.

Three days ago, i sent a request for the 8 hour tour.

They still have not responded to my email.

I believe I had to send a couple.

 

 

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We did the East side tour in 2015 and really enjoyed it. Wish we would have had a just a bit more time at the beach, but that was a minor thing. (We had just at an hour - About two hours would have been nice). We did run long on the tour so it lasted just at 4 hours. The guide was especially friendly and answered all questions. The bus was clean and in good running order (i.e. - no warning lights on dashboard, no god awful sounds when driving or breaking, no black billowing smoke. We have been there done that on other tours.) I would recommend the tour to someone in port for the day. If we would have had a longer port call, I would of considered the 8 hour tour. But that would have left us little to no time to explore the shopping area on our own.

We did the East Side Tour last week. We were not impressed with the tour and The parts of Curaçao that we saw. However, once we started walking around the town by ourselves, it is a beautiful area. If I had to do it again, I would not choose this tour. Just my opinion.

We are thinking of doing the 3 hour tour when we arrive in Curaçao at the end of March. We don't arrive in port until 2 pm. Any thoughts on this?

 

 

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We were not impressed with the tour. Tour is on an old school bus which has little leg room. They took us around town, over the big bridge, to the Curaçao distillery ( which is free anyways and lasted 15 minutes) and to a housing development to show us the various types of homes. They spoke Spanish and English during the tour but mostly Spanish. We did not understand a lot of the tour. Served beer or soda during the trip. By the time we got to a beach, he asked everyone if we wanted to go back to the ship. Several people, including us, wanted to go back. He said no problem. After waiting in the bus for 20 minutes, he got a taxi and said she would take us (6 people) back at no charge. We enjoyed walking around the town more. We were not impressed with Curaçao after the tour. However, after we went downtown, it is a wonderful and beautiful place!

They don't offer the 8 hour tour anymore. It has been shortened to a 6 hour tour and no longer includes lunch either. We had booked the 8 hour tour for June and no one even contacted us to let us know that the tour had been changed. I saw the change on the website so I contacted them and they confirmed that the 8 hour tour is no longer an option.

We were not pleased with the tour and would not use them again. Just my opinion.

I will share my opinion and post it once, not 3 times and counting. We have been on the Irie Eastside tour twice and thought it was very good and definitely great value. We will be going to Curacao again very soon with 2 other first time couples and we're taking them on the Eastside tour. $25/pp includes admission to the Aquarium Beach and all the beer, soda and water that you want. Tour guides are always very nice.

They don't offer the 8 hour tour anymore. It has been shortened to a 6 hour tour and no longer includes lunch either. We had booked the 8 hour tour for June and no one even contacted us to let us know that the tour had been changed. I saw the change on the website so I contacted them and they confirmed that the 8 hour tour is no longer an option.

We have/had the 8 hour tour booked for July 22, 2017. I emailed them when I heard about the tour being shortened. I was told that our tour was still as planned since we had booked the tour many months ago. I will as always report back as to how it goes off-- the good or the bad.

I will share my opinion and post it once, not 3 times and counting. We have been on the Irie Eastside tour twice and thought it was very good and definitely great value. We will be going to Curacao again very soon with 2 other first time couples and we're taking them on the Eastside tour. $25/pp includes admission to the Aquarium Beach and all the beer, soda and water that you want. Tour guides are always very nice.

Thanks for the tactful way you got your point across. We have had great success booking private tours such as Mr.Gray's Island Tour on St.Kitts and Bernard's Tour on St.Maarten. We have found them to great values. Most of what we have read about Irie has been most positive. Hope your next tour with Irie is just like your previous. Safe travels.

Last August we visited Curacao for the second time. First time we did the dolphin thing, found a beachside restaurant to eat at, and we walked the city area. This time, we had the inlaws with us (limited mobility) and wanted to see a bit of the island on the cheap. My mother in law didn't want to do the longer tour, but I did. She won. LOL.

 

I'd rate the east side tour 3 stars out of 5. Yes, the bus is a bit beat up on the inside (torn seats and even a hole in the floor in the back of the bus). I liked the open air concept. The employees were fun and friendly. One crabby lady screamed at the driver 30 mins into the tour saying to shut the music off. She didn't want to be forced to listen to music she didn't like. Can we say awkward!? What I didn't like was that I felt parts of the tour were a little long and unnecessary and I didn't like the beach we stopped at. It was super crowded and the price of loungers/food was overpriced and just average in quality. It felt touristy and that's not my thing. We made the best of it, but I wouldn't do it again. We paid a lot of money for private tours on other islands so I did appreciate the cheap Irie fare. But obviously it came with a compromise.

Last August we visited Curacao for the second time. First time we did the dolphin thing, found a beachside restaurant to eat at, and we walked the city area. This time, we had the inlaws with us (limited mobility) and wanted to see a bit of the island on the cheap. My mother in law didn't want to do the longer tour, but I did. She won. LOL.

 

I'd rate the east side tour 3 stars out of 5. Yes, the bus is a bit beat up on the inside (torn seats and even a hole in the floor in the back of the bus). I liked the open air concept. The employees were fun and friendly. One crabby lady screamed at the driver 30 mins into the tour saying to shut the music off. She didn't want to be forced to listen to music she didn't like. Can we say awkward!? What I didn't like was that I felt parts of the tour were a little long and unnecessary and I didn't like the beach we stopped at. It was super crowded and the price of loungers/food was overpriced and just average in quality. It felt touristy and that's not my thing. We made the best of it, but I wouldn't do it again. We paid a lot of money for private tours on other islands so I did appreciate the cheap Irie fare. But obviously it came with a compromise.

Which beach did you stop at? They always stopped at the Aquarium Beach on out tour and it was a very nice beach. We don't typically eat at the beach at any port stop.

This will be our first time to Curacao. We will be docked from 8am until 8pm..

I want to see the colorful buildings always shown in pictures, but am also interested in the national park and some beach time.

My husband and I are pretty independent but thought a non ship tour would be an okay thing to do on this trip.

 

 

Should we do the "new around Curacao" trip or the "all west" tour?

Has anyone done the 6 hour West Side tour recently? We are signed up to do it in November. This will be our 3rd time to Curacao and thought we might try a tour this time.

Has anyone done the 6 hour West Side tour recently? We are signed up to do it in November. This will be our 3rd time to Curacao and thought we might try a tour this time.

We are doing the 8 hour tour next week. We booked it quite awhile ago. It is my understanding that the 6 hour tour is very similar but does not include lunch. We were told that since we booked the tour prior to their changing it, that we will be doing it with lunch. Received a confirmation of this late last week.

 

 

I will report back what we thought when we return. There will be 5 of us. Mom, Dad and 3 teenage boys 14, 17, 19.

We are doing the 8 hour tour next week. We booked it quite awhile ago. It is my understanding that the 6 hour tour is very similar but does not include lunch. We were told that since we booked the tour prior to their changing it, that we will be doing it with lunch. Received a confirmation of this late last week.

 

 

I will report back what we thought when we return. There will be 5 of us. Mom, Dad and 3 teenage boys 14, 17, 19.

We are on the 8 hour tour next week too!

We are on the 8 hour tour next week too!

How many are in your group? And just curious, did you fall into the same category as us....had booked it

and then they had "shortened and changed" the West Side tour to not include lunch?

Edited July 19, 2017 by baileybrad

How many are in your group? And just curious, did you fall into the same category as us....had booked it

and then they had "shortened and changed" the West Side tour to not include lunch?

4 of us, my son is almost 14, daughter 17. I wanted to book the 6 hour West side tour but was told the only West side tour they would offer that day was the 8 hour tour that someone had booked before they changed things to offering the 6 hour tour. Since my kids wanted to do the cliff jumping I told them I would do the 8 hour tour, but honestly wonder if it will be too long of a day?

4 of us, my son is almost 14, daughter 17. I wanted to book the 6 hour West side tour but was told the only West side tour they would offer that day was the 8 hour tour that someone had booked before they changed things to offering the 6 hour tour. Since my kids wanted to do the cliff jumping I told them I would do the 8 hour tour, but honestly wonder if it will be too long of a day?

I agree it will be a long day. Hoping for good weather. The drive up to the northern coast might take a good 45 minutes. If lunch is say, 1 1/2 hours, you back down to a tad less than 6 hours. There have been discussions around the jump from the wall at our house. Have safe travels. I guess we will see you when we see you. Last point, have you made your plans in St.Kitts. You may have done it in the past but we did Mr.Grey's tour a couple years ago and it was great.

Can we get some updates from you folks who went on the tours earlier this year? My husband and I are looking at the 6hr western tour for our cruise in November.