South Shore Zip n Dip

I was wondering if anyone who has done the South Shore zip n dip can answer a few questions for me. Do the lockers they have there have enough room for a snorkel gear set bag? There are 5 of us, will more then one snorkel set fit in or will we have to get 5 lockers?

What beach do they take you to after ziplining? I'm hoping a free one since with of us it is already almost $300.

Is it even worth it to bring the snorkel gear?

What do you do with your stuff when you go to the beach? will one of us have to stay with the chairs to watch it or get a locker again?

I'm kind of confused on this on all the ports. Do most people bring their passports off the boat each time? If so do you use a waterproof passport holder?

thanks to anyone who can answer any of these :o

Trish

Oh one other thing. I have seen a few people post about zipline guides being aggressive about getting tipped...was this on South Shore zipline?

I was planning $20-25 for all of us....

I was wondering if anyone who has done the South Shore zip n dip can answer a few questions for me. Do the lockers they have there have enough room for a snorkel gear set bag? There are 5 of us, will more then one snorkel set fit in or will we have to get 5 lockers?

What beach do they take you to after ziplining? I'm hoping a free one since with of us it is already almost $300.

Is it even worth it to bring the snorkel gear?

What do you do with your stuff when you go to the beach? will one of us have to stay with the chairs to watch it or get a locker again?

I'm kind of confused on this on all the ports. Do most people bring their passports off the boat each time? If so do you use a waterproof passport holder?

thanks to anyone who can answer any of these :o

Trish

The lockers were really quite large. I had a large bag full of snorkel stuff for 3, towels, etc and it fit. However, I do not know how big a snorkel gear set bag is. Not to worry though - lockers were plentiful and free so get 5! The beach they took us too was on the West End (Bay)? and our guide told us it was the same beach the cruise line uses for their beach break. We did NOT see lockers there but we also didn't look for them. Our guide stayed with us and I have a feeling he would lock the van if you wanted to keep anything in it.

We never took our passports. I always debate on this one though. If there is an accident requiring a hospital trip - what would we do? We just feel like the benefits of having our passports safely locked away in our room outweigh the slight chance we may need it.

You will love this! We did not snorkel at the beach so can't help you there. Looked like it would have been good though.

Oh one other thing. I have seen a few people post about zipline guides being aggressive about getting tipped...was this on South Shore zipline?

I was planning $20-25 for all of us....

I think the problem is that there are so many guides that zip with you so you normally would have tipped anyway but you start thinking that your tip will be split so many ways and think you may want to tip more. It was "suggested" to us, by the guide, that we tip $20 per person. We tipped $20 for our group of 4 - and I feel that was plenty.

The driver who meets you at the port and takes you to the beach and stays with you will also appreciate a tip. He did not ask nor hint for one - we gave him $10.

There are various others that help in some way - a little guy helped me with the locker (which I could easily have done without him) so I gave him a dollar.

I really don't think it is expected but you can't blame them for trying, right? It is appreciated!

"It was "suggested" to us, by the guide, that we tip $20 per person. We tipped $20 for our group of 4 - and I feel that was plenty."

UGHH! I hate when they try to tell you an amount to tip...makes me not want to tip them!

sounds like I better start adding more money to my budget...tips add up when you are tipping for 5!

So did you just give the $20 to one person and hope they split it up...or did you bring lots of small bills?

was the ziplining pretty scarey? my husband wasn't sure he wanted to do it but me and all 3 kids are so he is doing it reluctantly!

thanks for great info!

Trish

 

 

UGHH! I hate when they try to tell you an amount to tip...makes me not want to tip them!

sounds like I better start adding more money to my budget...tips add up when you are tipping for 5!

So did you just give the $20 to one person and hope they split it up...or did you bring lots of small bills?

was the ziplining pretty scarey? my husband wasn't sure he wanted to do it but me and all 3 kids are so he is doing it reluctantly!

 

Trish

They designated one guy for you to give the money to and said they would split it. We gave him one $20 bill.

I am not adventurous AT ALL and I was totally OK with the zip lining. It wasn't scary - actually kind of relaxing. I felt very safe. The others in my group started doing tricks (upside down, superman) on the third zip - I never got that brave.

Our favorite part of the trip was hanging out with the monkeys. I had read on the boards about taking Raisin Bran so I took a box at breakfast. That was such a good idea. There are two monkeys (Casper and Jasmine) that they bring out after you zip and you can get pictures,etc. They LOVED searching through the Raisin Bran to find the raisins! They were so cute. I will try to attach a pic.

Glorialagos, thanks for the reply. I think I will stick with my original plan for 20-25$ for tipping and like you did 10-15$ more for the driver. Was the West End beach they took you to free for chairs or pay per chair? just want to budget correctly :o)

How much time do you have once they take you to the beach if you do a mid-morning zipline?(10amish I was thinking...or when you book it do they assign you a time?) will they let you stay there until almost time to go back to the boat if you want to?

sorry for all the questions I love to know things ahead of time...little bit of a control freak ;o)

thanks

Trish

great pictures with the monkeys by the way!! thanks for the tip on Raisin Bran boxes will definitely grab a few of those...bet they go fast on Roatan morning!

Glorialagos, thanks for the reply. I think I will stick with my original plan for 20-25$ for tipping and like you did 10-15$ more for the driver. Was the West End beach they took you to free for chairs or pay per chair? just want to budget correctly :o)

How much time do you have once they take you to the beach if you do a mid-morning zipline?(10amish I was thinking...or when you book it do they assign you a time?) will they let you stay there until almost time to go back to the boat if you want to?

sorry for all the questions I love to know things ahead of time...little bit of a control freak ;o)

thanks

Trish

They will give you a time when you reserve online. You pay the entire amount via paypal. I am sure you could just walk off the ship and arrange it at the pier, maybe even hire a taxi to take you to the zipline place later and do it on your own without the guide, but it depends on if you want to take that chance. So, you are supposed to meet, I believe, at 8:30. There are kiosks set up for all the different tour agencies and it is very well run - just exit the ship, turn right on the first little "road/walkway" and the South Shore kiosk is on the left (I asked at the info booth right at the end of the pier and they told me the number of the kiosk but I don't remember). I told the lady our name, she had our reservation, crossed off our name, gave us our wristbands, and we had a short wait - maybe 5 minutes? before we got in the van and left. I am not sure how many vans they have. Ours was full.

As I said, we originally did not book the beach part. When we got to the zipline place, they sold us on that part which was an additional $10. They said it was the same beach the cruise line uses - Tabyana? We got a coupon for a free drink when we arrived. There was no charge for the chairs. There was a primitive bathroom there, no running water though on that day (maybe works sometimes?). The beach was really nice and there is a restaurant that you arrive at if you want to eat. The massage ladies are there too and do a great job and you can negotiate a price.

We stayed at the beach a couple hours. Seriously, I never even had a watch during our vacation and didn't really keep track of time. I knew others were doing that for me! We got back around 3:00 I am thinking (?) and I think we needed to board at 4:30. We shopped right at the pier for a while. Our friends tried going into town and gave up - they were tired of being "accosted" by aggressive salespeople trying to get them to come in their stores and the road is tiny and windy and scary to walk on. They gave up and went back to the ship.

You will love it. It is a beautiful country. And I don't think many on our ship read cruise critic - no one else had Raisin Bran! (so we were very popular with the monkeys - I did ask the workers before I got it out if they were allowed to have it and they said of course).

Gloria, thanks again for the reply and all the great info!

only 16 day till I'm cruising!! :o)

Trish

Gloria, thanks again for the reply and all the great info!

 

only 16 day till I'm cruising!! :o)

Trish

Lucky you! Hope it's wonderful.

If you see a sweet little girl selling jewelry, ask if her name is Cindy. We met Cindy and her brother and cousin Dennis. She was so sweet and so tiny. We really didn't want jewelry but bought some from her and then saw our guide give her some of his leftover food. She gobbled it and shared with her brother. So, we asked if she was hungry and she said yes. We ordered two meals and she and her cousins and brothers ate at our table (the restaurant owner did not seem too happy with us and told them to leave, we told them to stay). Although it worked out, I would not do it that way again. I see his point - he doesn't want children begging for food from the tourists. If I had to do it over again, I would throw a box of granola bars and/or fruit snacks, raisins, anything packaged and I would give those to the children to share instead. We asked when they went to school and they said "tomorrow". I wonder if tomorrow ever comes? Anyway, they were sweet children. They knew enough English to sell jewelry but most of our conversing was in Spanish. For example, when we asked how old she and her cousin were, she replied "this is the 8 and this is the 9". Cute.

Oh - and the tables are really cute - the chairs are swings!

So, were the monkeys right at the South Shore Canopy zipline location? And were they included as part of the zipline cost? If they weren't there, where did you see them? My older son has said for years that he wishes he could have a monkey for a pet, so I want to make sure we experience the monkeys while in Roatan.

I sent an inquiry to Island Marketing last week. They answered the part about the zipline tour, but didn't answer the question about whether monkeys were included so I'm looking for some help.

There were no monkeys there when we were there . They said they a wild monkeys and had escaped the week before.

that was in late August....maybe someone with more recent experience will chime in

Glorialagos...what great and informative answers! We're looking to book our group of 5 for the zip n dip through South shore directly. Our cruise is in January, and cannot wait! This stop has us especially excited! The massage ladies on the beach...what seemed a fair negotiated price?

I am looking for a zip n dip in Roatan for our December trip and South Shore looks great but I really don't like the 15% penalty for cancellations as stated on their website. Has anyone experienced this?

If the ship is sailing and stops at Roatan we'll be there, BUT if the ship (for some reason) doesn't stop or our tour is cancelled because of weather we lose 15%???

I'm interested in any other review of the zip n dip too. Which beach did you go to and what were the costs at the beach?

After taking a great while deciding to zipline in Roatan and now reading multiple threads - I am so confused about which tour to book. It looks like Bodden's, South Shore and Rony's Tours all do the same Zip and Dip tour. Does anybody have any advice about which to go with and can they be booked once we get to Roatan? I guess I should try to figure out how many ships in port that day. :confused:

I am looking for a zip n dip in Roatan for our December trip and South Shore looks great but I really don't like the 15% penalty for cancellations as stated on their website. Has anyone experienced this?

 

If the ship is sailing and stops at Roatan we'll be there, BUT if the ship (for some reason) doesn't stop or our tour is cancelled because of weather we lose 15%???

 

I'm interested in any other review of the zip n dip too. Which beach did you go to and what were the costs at the beach?

If the 15% concerns you a lot they will definitely still take you once you are there. They had a booth at the port and some people were booking it right then. Being pre-booked we got in a van right away and were up at the zipline before it got really crowded. Yes, how many ship in port that day will be important. If there are a lot I'd take my chances with the 15% fee. I found the website cruisetimetables . com to be the best place to look that up.

we did the zip and dip. I think the beach was called west end beach or something like that. It was the west end of the arc shaped beach where Tabayana is I think. I walked all along the beach and there are a ton of beach club kinda places all along. The place we went to had chairs that cost $5 each. We got 3 of them for 5 of us. The water in front of the beach was nice but there was no good snorkeling right there that I could find. they gave us a coupon for 1 drink each.

here is a link to my pictures from that trip. there are a few pics of the beach and more pics of the zipline.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150258706352854.310444.525707853&type=1&l=d649a1a8fb

Trish

After taking a great while deciding to zipline in Roatan and now reading multiple threads - I am so confused about which tour to book. It looks like Bodden's, South Shore and Rony's Tours all do the same Zip and Dip tour. Does anybody have any advice about which to go with and can they be booked once we get to Roatan? I guess I should try to figure out how many ships in port that day. :confused:

I can't speak about Bodden or Rony as I did not use them. With 5 people I figured booking directly with South shores would save me money. The other ones are tour operators so the cost for using them is on top of the cost of the zipline right? for $55 pre-booked each we got transportation to the zipline and to the beach and about 2+ hrs on the beach and then back to the ship.

and yes everything can be booked once you get to Roatan at the port. I'd be sure to know how many ships are in port that day in deciding to pre-book or wait.

I do not believe Bodden uses the South shore zipline as he has his own. I think from everything I read it is much smaller then SS.

If the 15% concerns you a lot they will definitely still take you once you are there. They had a booth at the port and some people were booking it right then. Being pre-booked we got in a van right away and were up at the zipline before it got really crowded. Yes, how many ship in port that day will be important. If there are a lot I'd take my chances with the 15% fee. I found the website cruisetimetables . com to be the best place to look that up.

 

we did the zip and dip. I think the beach was called west end beach or something like that. It was the west end of the arc shaped beach where Tabayana is I think. I walked all along the beach and there are a ton of beach club kinda places all along. The place we went to had chairs that cost $5 each. We got 3 of them for 5 of us. The water in front of the beach was nice but there was no good snorkeling right there that I could find. they gave us a coupon for 1 drink each.

here is a link to my pictures from that trip. there are a few pics of the beach and more pics of the zipline.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150258706352854.310444.525707853&type=1&l=d649a1a8fb

Trish

Thank you so much!! With the online discount we would saving way more than the 15%, since most other zip n dips are least $65 pp and South Shore does $55 per adult $50 per child if you book in advance. I'm glad you had a great trip and the beach looked nice in your photos.

I think I'll just wait until it gets closer to book. According to cruisetimetables were are the only ship in port that day. Yeah!:D So it shouldn't be too crowded.

An FYI - after sorting through sooooo many threads and reviews I have decided upon Victor Bodden even though the zip is lower and much more tame. As a non-adventurous first-time zipper, the combo of gentle lines (no hand braking,) monkeys and beach seems like our best bet. I also like not having to pay upfront in case of weather or change of plans. :D

udamom, thanks for sharing your pictures! I definitely want to zip with South Shore but was unsure about booking ahead of time. Were you able to request a time or did they give you a time? I noticed we couldn't pick a time when booking and I emailed them for an answer about that and didn't get a clear answer. I don't think they understood what I was asking. We're the only ship in port so I'm wanting to sleep in, get a nice breakfast and then walk off the ship when we're ready and find them at the port.

After taking a great while deciding to zipline in Roatan and now reading multiple threads - I am so confused about which tour to book. It looks like Bodden's, South Shore and Rony's Tours all do the same Zip and Dip tour. Does anybody have any advice about which to go with and can they be booked once we get to Roatan? I guess I should try to figure out how many ships in port that day. :confused:

Could not agree with you more! We have researched them all. We have never zipped and I am terrified but the rest of the family wants a better experience than the one Bodden offers. My daughter wants to see/hold the monkeys at Victors but not that zipline..Southshore sounds and looks great from what we have heard on the boards and the you-tube videos..but we want a zip-dip and monkey package...Any suggestions besides Victor's because his zip is much smaller in comparison to the others and I don't want my family to be disappointed......:confused:

Stop at Victors Monkey place in the way to the South Shore Zip which if memory serves is in the West Bay Road on the way to West Bay Beach

There are at least two companies doing Free style tours... toss them a mail see of they can sort out all the things you group wants to do.

Stop at Victors Monkey place in the way to the South Shore Zip which if memory serves is in the West Bay Road on the way to West Bay Beach

 

There are at least two companies doing Free style tours... toss them a mail see of they can sort out all the things you group wants to do.

Thank for the info...I did reach out for the 2 companies and they will take us to see the monkeys too..glad to know they are "on the way"....just wanted to make sure we can get it all in and not feel rushed and still have a bit of time for shopping after zip and dip and monkeys!

I wanted to share my experience with " Island Marketing South" in Roatan...I booked this excursion online and it was NOT associated with the cruise line...that being said we were apprehensive at best (scared to say the least) we had to walk away from port terminal area...the whole time my wife explaining to my child age 6 that daddy is walking us into a SCAM and thinking we were getting abducted...BOY WAS SHE WRONG!!!...sure we had to find an island native holding a sign (scary)...but then found Quincy who was in charge and directed us to our driver Orlando...Orlando was very friendly and took my family of 3 in his personal taxi away from port terminal to a zip line up in the hills...then our driver got to go on the zip line with us!!...very reassuring that we weren't being left...lockers for stuff there $2--safe no big deal---then our PERSONAL DRIVER (Orlando) takes us to the west side beach area where we meet Quincy's mom (Rosa or Rosita I think) running a little set of beach cabin rentals next to the beach and she explains to her employee there that he is taking us out on the boat (I speak Spanish and picked up on these things as they were happening) BUT WHAT A DEAL!! my family of 3 gets on a little boat all to ourselves and go out just far enough to snorkel around 30-45mins (6yr old freaked out stayed in boat--that was her not them) boat driver showed us around the reef and it was GREAT!! the 45 mins seemed like just enough time and we were tired of swimming and went back to the dock where our Driver ORLANDO was waiting for us (he was so kind) then we stopped by a local shop and were able to shop the "cheap stuff" not the prices next to the cruise terminal---found an awesome coffee shop had a dessert TRES LECHES--awesome!! Then all back to the port at Mahogany Bay by 1:30pm (sorry started at 8am) boat didn't leave until 5pm---of course zipline dudes and boat driver asked for tips along the way saying "you can tip us if you think we did a good job" and we DID feel like doing so because we got so much PERSONAL ATTENTION---all these people worked JUST FOR US that day---all of this personal driver ORLANDO (awesome) --the zipline---the personal boat for a family of 3...was just $88/adult and $80 for child...prices so much better than cruise line approved excursions that could leave you in a big group having to wait on others along the way---and we got to have ORLANDO do and go where ever we wanted even suggested options to extend our tour to other areas of the island that we didn't choose but am sure that ORLANDO would have taken good care of us in ROATAN---cant say enough just got back, feel like I went to hang with some friends on the island while others were funneled into buses and vans and put in groups of 20-30....if you are worried DONT BE...I took my wife and 6yr old little girl and we were taken good care of by QUINCY and his MOM and their driver ORLANDO with Island Marketing South on the Zip N Dip for $88/person:D:D:D:D:)...just pay like $25/person deposit online and pay the rest in cash when you get there....easy FUN!!...just follow the email instructions....btw I am a REAL dude that lives in Alabama and wrote this because I was so happy about what I got for the money---Hope you will be too!!