Dark View Waterfalls St Vincent and Sea Princess Excursions

[jtsbusiness]

Has anybody been on this excursion with Sea Princess? Could you let me know whether you enjoyed it and felt it was worth the money.

 

Thought the Belenaise(?) Falls were the scene of the Pirates of Penzance, but they are suggesting you will see the film set at Wallilabau. Is this as good as through Wayn'es tours?:confused:

 

We are considering doing this trip, or whether it would be better to do a private trip.

 

Please can anybody help. :(

[peggy1]

I am also thinking about this tour and I haven't found any reviews as of yet. I am going to post it under the Princess web site and see if I can get any info. I know it is usually pretty windy in Jan./Feb. so I'm trying to see what other's have to say about this tour. Hopefully we can get some others to respond.

[jtsbusiness]

Have you had any luck? Still can't find any information!!

[Sea Wind]

Have you had any luck? Still can't find any information!!

 

Pirates of the Caribbean chose St. Vincent and the Grenadines to film as it has a 'land that time forgot' feel.

 

Most of the filming was done at Wallilabou, although places like Byahaut (only accessible by boat) were also used as locations.

 

Unfortunately Hurricane Omar took what was left of the docks that were built by the movie folks, however the owners of Wallilabou Anchorage have done their best to preserve the land based set, and they have created a little area with photos etc so that you can get a feel of what it was like whilst the movie was being filmed.

 

Dark View Falls are in land, and are not usually included on a boat excursion, however the cruise does offer a land / sea option where you spend half the day on a boat, and the other half visiting land sites, which will include Dark View Falls. http://picasaweb.google.com/SVGsites/DarkView#

 

The Falls of Belaine recently reopened, http://picasaweb.google.com/SVGsites/Belaine# You can only reach the Falls of Belaine by boat, and this tour is really only suitable for active individuals. I would not suggest this for folks who are not sprightly, or for parents with small children. You will get wet, and you will have to walk through water and over slippery river rocks to get to the falls, so pack water shoes for the 5 minute trek to the falls. The sea,especially during the winter months can be unpredictable with bigger swells in the north of the island, so if you are a nervous sailor check with the tour provider. It is worth it though!

 

If you want something really off the beaten track book a taxi trip to Owia Salt pond, http://picasaweb.google.com/SVGsites/OwiaSaltPond# on the way you can see Black Point beach and tunnel http://picasaweb.google.com/SVGsites/BlackPointTunnel# and take a dip at Rawracou, if you are feeling peckish ask your driver to stop at Golden Rock gas station, where you can try the best fried chicken on the island!

 

Also worth a visit is Montreal Gardens, and Belmont Lookout. Most of these sites have brand new facilities - bathrooms etc

 

What ever you choose to do I hope that you have a wonderful time. St. Vincent does not have all the trappings that some of it's richer neighbors may have, but the people are friendly, and you'll get a taste of the 'old' Caribbean.

 

The cruise ship offers lots of great tours to choose from, or if you are looking for other options the tourism board website http://www.discoversvg.com might give you some 'food for thought' with regards to other activities.

[peggy1]

We recently did the Dark Falls/Snorkeling trip while in St. Vincent's. We loved the first part, as we drove to the Falls we stopped off at the site of Pirates of the Carribean, which was interesting and very pretty. The ride which is about 2 hours or so was beautiful. They take you in a very nice van. We made sure to ask when we got onboard about whether we should take our own snorkeling equipment and were told "no" everything will be there for you. That has been our experience on all the other snorkeling excursions we've taken. When we arrived at the van, we also reconfirmed the equipment issue and were assured it was provided. NOT. We had lunch at a nice ocean front restaurant, buffet style with okay food. The falls were very pretty and we enjoyed them. We then were driven by van to the site to meet the catamaran. We sailed the beautiful coastline to our snorkeling site. We were told that the other boat forgot to give them the flippers! The cove was very nice, snorkeling good, but there was a current and without the flippers made it much more difficult. The people who didn't bring their stuff were not happy! The masks and snorkels provided were not in any sanitizing liquid, however when you are told to get in and use nature's fins, (your feet), people weren't amused. We still enjoyed this tour very much, but we felt that 1/3 of it was not as it was described.

We were most disappointed by the run around we got from the excursion desk. They stated that they had to get in touch with the tour provider, but perhaps it was because they didn't want people to go out too far and that is why they didn't give out the fins. Again, we were told on the catamaran that the "other boat forgot to give them the fins". Then the company line was that perhaps it was a safety concern??? Absolutely ludicrous as it is a safety issue not to give people fins as it makes it much harder and takes a longer time to return to the boat without fins.

After much back and forth we were finally heard by Customer Relations in Miami and were satisfied with the final result.

I would happily recommend this tour and especially recommend doing the land part first. We enjoyed the Dark Falls, however the bamboo "bridge" is shaky and can be scary. The water is cold and you will find holes and pits in walking into the falls. The guide was very helpful in making sure everyone makes it in and out safely.

[curiousx]

Just one comment about Rawacou...do NOT go swimming from the beach. There have been MANY drownings there because of the ferocious undertow. The government has, however, built a small lagoon and this is quite safe for swimming.

[two4cruising]

We did the Princess tour "Darvue Waterfall, Coastal Cruise & Snorkeling" in 2006.

Tour started with boarding a big catamaran boat. We sailed down St. Vincent’s gorgeous coast to the north, the guide pointed out the highligts, like the Fortress, villages and aeras (bays, caves) where the movie Pirates of the Caribbean were shot. Then we stopped at a secluded beach for swimming and snorkeling. Finally, we went to Walillabou Bay where the "Port Royal" film set of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie was built - dock and buildings are still there, then we passed the island’s Bat Cave. After this we went out to watch for whales or dolphins. The captain of the boat said, that he saw a whale, but we did not saw it. Then we left the catamaran and boarded an air-conditioned minibus, which took us to Darvue Falls (= dark view falls). To reach it we had to pass a rope bridge which was made out of bamboos. Darvue Falls features a 75-foot cascade that plunges down a sheer rock face into a small pool. The pool was not deep enough to swim but you got a really good freshwater shower and massage, when standing underneath it. After this we drove to a beachside restaurant where a lunch buffet was served. Then we drove 1,5 hours back to the SEA Princess. It was a very scenic drive and we passed small villages, our guide pointed us out the different trees and plant besides the street. St. Vincent is a real vision, wonderful nature, unspoiled and not much tourismus.