Cosol, Herod, Frank, Phillip, Fabian: Which?

Hi All: I have read and heard about all of these tours. Which is the best? Which should I stay away from? It is so confusing and it has been asked so many times and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. Can anyone that is really familiar with more than one of these tours compare or recommend. Thanks very much.......Les

Hi Les

Last summer, we took the tour with Herod, so I can only speak for his tour. It was 6 of us: 2 boys - 19 , 2 girls - 13, myself and wife. When the cruise ended, I asked all the kids what they really liked. All 4 of them said they absolutely loved the tour with Herod (and the teens are your typical teens), so it made me feel really good that I made a good choice (cause you never know how teens can be on a tour that is all day long).

Herod is an extremely nice guy, very informative, and i honestly think that is why the kids enjoyed the tour so much, it was Herod.

We stopped for bananas, home made bread, and we went snorkeling at an incredible place !!! (plus your other stops at the volcanoe, waterfall.....)

I hope this helps, and i highly recommend Herod

Thx don

I've seen good things on all of them, but our esperience was with Frank. His price was great for zipline/beach. He was willing to take just 4 four of us (actually 2 before some from the boards wanted to go along) when one of the others you mentioned refused less than 4. Frank is very interesting and intelligent...VERY well known by everyone we went by. If you write him, tell him Karen...he'll know, I was there in August and he just 'loved' me always reminding him of the date. ;)

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Unfortunately Frank is not available on the date we are coming in to St. Lucia. He offered to get us someone else to take us but I am thinking that if he can't do it I may look at the others for as you said they all have had good comments made about them. So far I have heard from Fabian and he is willing to take our party of four on a private tour and he will be our guide. This is sounding good so far. Keep the suggestions coming. They are all appreciated..... Les

Try "my guy", Spencer Ambrose. Ex Cop. Great guy! (If nothing else, get a price from him via email. He's new to this "tourism" game, and offers wonderful prices).

You can read about our great time on St. Lucia with him in the Amsterdam review located in my sig. :)

spencerambrose1990@hotmail.com

Hi All: I have read and heard about all of these tours. Which is the best? Which should I stay away from? It is so confusing and it has been asked so many times and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. Can anyone that is really familiar with more than one of these tours compare or recommend. Thanks very much.......Les

My wife and I just returned today from our cruise and did a Cosol tour in St. Lucia. I cannot begin to describe how good it was. The price is cheap for what you get. Our guide, "Bumpy", was a joy and obviously enjoyed showing people the island and everything he could during the time you are with them. Cosol was there at the start and at every stop. He made sure everyone was enjoying themselves and wants to make you feel welcome. We got to see and learn about too many things to list here. We met up with another group from a different tour who were very unhappy but they did not indicate who they were with. You get plenty to eat, plenty to drink and plenty to see. Everything you read about Cosol doesn't do this tour justice. If you book with him you won't be disappointed.

Shaun

My wife and I just returned today from our cruise and did a Cosol tour in St. Lucia. I cannot begin to describe how good it was. The price is cheap for what you get. Our guide, "Bumpy", was a joy and obviously enjoyed showing people the island and everything he could during the time you are with them. Cosol was there at the start and at every stop. He made sure everyone was enjoying themselves and wants to make you feel welcome. We got to see and learn about too many things to list here. We met up with another group from a different tour who were very unhappy but they did not indicate who they were with. You get plenty to eat, plenty to drink and plenty to see. Everything you read about Cosol doesn't do this tour justice. If you book with him you won't be disappointed.

 

Shaun

I agree completely!

You can't go wrong with Cosol's Tour.

Previously, I read good things about Hugo on this board. I am currently booked for a private tour with Hugo. Does anybody else have any information on Hugo? Good or Bad!

We just returned from St Lucia and we used Serenity Tours. We had Sherma as our Guide. We had 14 people. $ of them wound up having a van on their own. It was like a private tour. We did all the usual stops (bananas, bread. volcano, waterfalls.Morne Point View, and lunch at Ti Kaye Village). They picked us up as soon as we got off the ship and were back by 5:00. Sherma was so much fun and knowageable(SP?) about the island. The price was $45 ea. or 6 for the price of 5. Everybody loved the tour. It was the best of the entire cruise. If you call, ask for John and tell them Paul & MaryAnn said to call. You wont be sorry.

Wife & I just returned from the Serenade OTS this past weekend. Our Tour with Cosol was 100% perfect! I could go on and on and still not say enough about it.

We were going to go with Cosol's tour but changed to Herods for the reason that he kept us in a smaller group, we could pick what we wanted to do, he made suggestions to make it all work and it was the best tour we did on our cruise in St. Lucia. The van was new and very comfortable, Herod was very professional, very well kept and courteous, not to mention fix a flat tire in 5 minutes!!!

He takes a great interest in your emails, I asked if by chance he knew of any Jehovah's Witnesses in St. Lucia or a kingdom hall and he didn't but by the time we got there, he had found our brothers and sisters or I should say they found him, and pre arranged as a surprise for us to meet up with a group of them at their local Kingdom Hall. He really went out of his way.

Not only is he well educated but you can understand everything he says, some times we get tour guides that are so hard to understand.

I also have to mention his mom's rum punch that she prepares for his tours, WOW! it was great!! You don't need to worry about getting hungry along the way either, you get wonderful little snacks like fresh bread, tree ripened bananas etc. To top it all off, he took us snorkeling to the best snorkel site on the whole cruise. St Lucia was by far our best stop and the best value for our tour.

I also had very good time with Serenity..........loved the privacy and ambassador Service

My wife and I visited St. Lucia in Januray 2008. Fabian picked us up and dropped of back off at the airport and took us on a full one day tour of the island. Fabian was extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable about the island and its history, people and customs. We had a great time and will definitely use Fabian again next time we go to St. Lucia (which we definitely will!). David Miles and Noelle McHugh. Besthesda, MD USA

We had a private tour with Serenity on 14th Feb and they went out of there way to make valentines days special. We left early and so avoided the crowds and had most places to ourselves. Lunch was provided in a resturant over looking the Pitons and we returned to the ship via speed boat with a stop to go snorkelling.

It was the best tour we have ever done, Shema our guide was fun and has great knowledge of the island, John our driver was also great and we felt so at home and were treated like friends.

It a shame that we won't be going back to St Lucia in the near future as I know that without a second thought I woulkd book with Serenity again.

In fact i enjoyed it so much I am going to look for a cruise in 2010 that stops in St Lucia, just so I can meet with them again.

I am also trying to find a tour to suit us. We would like to see some of the island, but prefer to spend most of our time at Jalousie Beach snorkeling. We are in St. Lucia from about 9 am to 6 pm.

We just returned from our cruise and we booked with Frank. One of the reasons is that we wanted to zipline while there and only Frank was offering that. He said he is the only one that has permission to offer this. I am not sure, but couldn't find anyone else to take us there too.

The roads across the island are VERY windy and steep. Just something to keep in mind. This was the part we didn't care for. There are two roads that lead back to the pier and one was really full with traffic. Frank quickly rerouted us and got us to the ship at the time he promised. [others were in the traffic for 1/2hr and just made the ship.]

Saw lots of great scenery. Questions email me. Put something in the subject line about frank or cruise critic so I don't spam it.

Last year we went on Cosol's tour. It was the best and most informative tour I've been on especially for the price. We had a wonderful time and there were 8 of us and that is all everyone talked about all week. Lucky me I looked good cause I was the one who found him here on the CC!! We are heading next year to the other Southern that AOS takes. Aruba, Curacao, St Martin and St Thomas. Hopefully I'll get lucky again with a great idea I find on the CC!!:D

hi

don't know about the others, but i use bernard (island tours) for 2 reason, because i have read alot of good things about him and his tours are not full with alot of people therefore you get a more personal exprience. and friends of mine used one of the more popular ones mentioned and they said they felt like they were on a cattle call.he was very patient and knew alot about the history of the island, his bus was very clean and we very very comfortable all in all we have a wonderful time, he even contacted one of his friend in barbados for us for a tour.:cool: see him at www.stluciataximan.com and email stluciataximan@hotmail.com

We just got back from our cruise and participated in Cosol's tour while in St. Lucia. It is amazing. For the price, I don't know how he is able to provide everything that he does. He could charge much more for the tour, so I would take it while it is cheap! You see everything, you eat well, you get to swim at the most amazing beach...it was great.

Could you cruiser that are recommending tourguides please give websites with your recommendation?

Thanks!

My daughter and i just returned from 7 days on the Crown Princess for our birthdays! What a wonderful trip! The highlight of the entire trip was our day trip on St. Lucia with Cosol. ;) I can not say enough about what a delightful and fun time we had for the day. We were fortunate enough to have Cosol as our driver and his love for his native island and its people were humbling! (By the way this kind gentleman carries 14 young men and women to school each morning free of charge before meeting his tour groups, so that they can get an education!!) The day began with a fun reception at the cruise dock with Cosol and his other drivers--well organized and efficient! The tour included FANTASTIC food, drink, and great services by all his staff. From the stop at the banana plantation to try the sweetest bananas we've ever had,to the wonderful food prepared St. Lucia style, the rum punch and other drinks,a personal guide at the volcano and waterfalls and my personal favorite the snorkeling at the Jalouise Hilton, we could not have asked for a more PERFECT day!!! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who asks because of the variety of activities and Cosol's personal attention to all details and his love of his island! Enjoy and remember check out Cosol's website to book your day! :cool:

We stayed at Sandals Regency in February and the driver who drove us from the airport in his new van was a good guy. Jefferson Modeste knew a lot about the island and spoke perfect english.:D

He is trying to grow his business and I recommend him.

He can be reached at:

jmodeste884@hotmail.com

"The Best"... isn't that in the eye of the beholder...

So - Isn't it GREAT that St. Lucia has such a great group of knowledgable, friendly, and price competitive guides!

(The real problem some of the shrill denouncers of St. Lucia have lies in their mirror each morning rather than on this island! ;) )

I booked a large two vehicle group with Herod's "Land & Sea" excursion and we had a great day. A long day that the kids really enjoyed (and they tend to poop out with a lot of time in vehicles). Herod's a nice, low key guy that really knows how to 'guide' with insightful commentary on the villages traversed. The kids pet pythons at roadside handlers, ate bananas and cocoa beans (which are very weird in the rough and a topic of conversation to this day), water fall swims, snorkling at Jalousie/Anse des Pitons, a great meal in a restaurant to ourselves on the Soufriere beach facing the pitons...

St. Lucia has a turbulent, difficult history that better guides (like Herod) can explain compassionately without chest pounding. It has population, poverty issues (some crime - like where doesn't?) - and tricky roads. But it's a beautiful, fascinating, island that isn't easily navigated or seen well without a guide. It's a testament to the friendly enterprising nature of St. Lucians that the island offers such a great number of excellent guide services.

Hi woodofpine-

Thank you for the great post. :)

The shrill denouncers that you reference HAVE been a bit "much" lately.

There's a BIG DIFFERENCE in hiring a warm local individual and strolling around on your own. (Not that I haven't done so in other ports, but only after a bit of research.... I live in the New Orleans area, and wouldn't be caught in some neighborhoods in broad DAYLIGHT....nor would MANY other men and women who are locals) :eek:

I found the people of St. Lucia to be warm and caring. Although we had different tour guides (Spencer Ambrose for me!), it sounds as though we had the same SAFE and DELIGHTFUL experience on the beautiful island of St. Lucia.

(I'm heading back in December of this year, again!)

For all of you, go with Cosol Tours. He is a joyful person who is so informative and delightful. Your tour will consist of the lush, tropical island of St Lucia with island treats and drinks all day long. Coupled with a great sense of humor and knowledge of the little tidbits that make it even more interesting, Cosol has that extra magic...charisma! Ending a perfect day at a resort beach to snorkel and swim in the crystal clear Caribbean for an hour was just perfection. You get a lot for your money with Cosol and feel wonderful about spending it! Cosol, yes!

Bjrose:)