Champaign Reef - tour vs on own from shore

Cruise stop in Dominica and want to snorkel at Champaign Reef.

 

Is it a good experience to just snorkel from shore, or is a tour needed for best experience?

 

Cruise has a 3.5 hour tour to Champaigne Reef and L'Abym but it's $60/each and trying to determine if we gain anything by this tour vs snorkeling from shore....

We too are trying to find a snorkel excursion for Champaign Reef. It appears that most of the independent companies do not offer transportation from the pier to their starting point.

 

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Cruise stop in Dominica and want to snorkel at Champaign Reef.

 

Is it a good experience to just snorkel from shore, or is a tour needed for best experience?

 

Cruise has a 3.5 hour tour to Champaigne Reef and L'Abym but it's $60/each and trying to determine if we gain anything by this tour vs snorkeling from shore....

 

Try these guys

 

http://www.champagnereef.com/rates

 

Have pickups

Cruise stop in Dominica and want to snorkel at Champaign Reef.

 

Is it a good experience to just snorkel from shore, or is a tour needed for best experience?

 

Cruise has a 3.5 hour tour to Champaigne Reef and L'Abym but it's $60/each and trying to determine if we gain anything by this tour vs snorkeling from shore....

We usually do private tours but this is the one stop on our RC cruise in April that we're using the ship excursion. Sounds like yours, $60 for 3 1/2 hours. My understanding is the beach is pretty rocky and I know my wife would not like that...come to think of it, I'm not fond of rocky beaches. Anyway, I looked into a private tour and it was a little cheaper but it was only 1 site and only and hour and a half so going on the ship tour which is on a boat. Good luck!

I went on the ship organised excursion. One minute walk from the gangway of the cruise ship to the excursion boat. Nice trip out to Champagne Reef. The staff were very good at pointing out and naming the various fish. The beach looked rocky so we are glad we didn't suggest to our wives that they stay on the beach while we snorkeled.

We used Bumpiing Tours. I'd do it again for sure!!

Champagne Reef is right off shore once you get there. You don't need a guide to snorkel the reef. We did a day tour with Levi of Bumpiing tours and it included Champagne Reef as well as Titou Gorge and Trafalgar falls. A great way to see some highlights of the island. Levi is fantastic and it is evident he loves his island is running a successful business. The full day tour was cheaper than what you have indicated the cruise tour is for a half day,

We also did an island tour with Levi of Bumpiing Tours last week and had a great day.

Levi was great fun and had us all laughing before we even got in the van.

 

Normally, the tour includes snorkelling at Champagne Reef. However, the weather was too rough and would not have been safe to snorkel from the shore, which includes climbing over rocks to get into the water. With the sea very rough that day, we would have been battered against the rocks.

 

We did do the rest of the tour which included a short hike through the rainforest to Trafalgar Falls and swimming at Titou Gorge which was great fun and flowing deep and fast on that day.

 

We were on the Rouseau Valley Treasures Tour which was a wet tour. Very wet on the day we were there because we were soaked by the rain as well as the swimming! It was still a great tour and Levi took very good care of us all.

We did Champagne Reef with Levi last year and it was so rough that it has made it so I don't want to do it again this year at all (we have two stops to Dominica in November on different cruises). I would definitely try to do it from the boat. My Mom has a bad knee and I've had a lot of ankle surgeries and with the rough tide it kind of freaked me out. The snorkeling itself was great. But getting in and out was horrible. Definitely not for less able bodied people from shore.

We were just there this past week with Levi from Bumpiing Tours. It was an awesome tour and we fell in love with Dominica. As far as the beach, you can definitely take a taxi but wouldn't recommend Champaign Reef unless fairly able-bodied. The rocks cover the entire beach and they are not small pebbles, but good sized rocks. Walk down the path to the beach and then walk all the way across to the left where there is a thick piece of rubber that is used to get into the water easier. Then snorkel towards the left where you will find the bubbles and reef. It was a pretty nice reef for coral and average sized fish. If you go on your own, go first thing before large excursion groups show up because it takes awhile to get into the water. Our group with Levi only had 12 people, was $50 a person and lasted almost 6 hours. (does not include lunch) It is a wonderfully personal private excursion and I can't recommend Levi enough if you decide to go with a tour. He gave very specific instructions on where to meet up with him once we got off the ship. It was a very short walk and very easy. Enjoy Dominica!

Been there twice - definitely be very cautious if you want to snorkle from the beach - as stated above, it is very rocky and the water is usually very rough - tosses you all over the place..............take the snorkle trip; you will enjoy it much better and be safer.

eclue:cool:

We were told from fellow cruisers on a tour 4 years ago "if you ever make it to Dominica look up Levi" We did the Rouseau Valley Treasures Tour and our guide was Berky. Amazing tour! You won't be sorry.

Try these guys

 

http://www.champagnereef.com/rates

 

Have pickups

 

We just arrived back from Dominica and went through Champagne reef company above. It went very well. Can't say enough nice things about them. They sent a very good driver to meet us at the port. They also had a very nice facility to get gear/dressed and changed as well as a beach bar for post snorkel drinks. They also had provided us with 2 guides to navigate in and out of the reef.

We just arrived back from Dominica and went through Champagne reef company above. It went very well. Can't say enough nice things about them. They sent a very good driver to meet us at the port. They also had a very nice facility to get gear/dressed and changed as well as a beach bar for post snorkel drinks. They also had provided us with 2 guides to navigate in and out of the reef.

 

So pleased you had an enjoyable trip. Knew you would, as they are a great team and truly respect the needs of guests. Please let family and friends know where to go.

Like other posters here, this is the one port where we book a ship's tour (and looking forward to doing it again in November :D). Easy walk from pier to the tour boat that will take you to the reef site. The snorkeling itself was excellent and different from the usual Caribbean reef experience. The crew was in the water pointing out things of interest, and dove down to the tiny fissures on the reef to capture warm water bubbling up which they poured it in our hands. However you get there, you'll have many interesting things to see!