Caribbean shore excursions

[Captain Rob]

Hi seasoned cruisers

 

We are off on the Ventura at the end of Feb. We normally like to just wander off the boat and have a look around the local town and bars etc.. We will do organised shore excursions if it's not easy to walk off. From the following ports of call what are the easy walk off's and what are the ones you would recommend for a trip. We can then start trip planning

 

Barbados

Bonair

Aruba

Ocho Rios

Grand Turk

St Maarten

Antigua

Dominica

St Lucia

 

Robin & Elaine

[Essexlass2]

Hi seasoned cruisers

 

We are off on the Ventura at the end of Feb. We normally like to just wander off the boat and have a look around the local town and bars etc.. We will do organised shore excursions if it's not easy to walk off. From the following ports of call what are the easy walk off's and what are the ones you would recommend for a trip. We can then start trip planning

 

Barbados

Bonair

Aruba

Ocho Rios

Grand Turk

St Maarten

Antigua

Dominica

St Lucia

 

Robin & Elaine

 

Hi Robin and Elaine

These ports of call are all very easy to just walk off and do your own thing. We never book ship's excursions in the Caribbean, far too expensive and not good value for money.

 

Barbados is a lovely island and if you haven't been before I'd recommend walking out of the cruise terminal and joining one of the many tours that will be on offer just outside and over to the right-hand side where you will see lots of mini-vans (air-conditioned) and taxis. Alternatively its not far to walk into Bridgetown or even a little further to the lovely Carlisle Bay where you will find a great beach; The Boatyard is where the ship's crew spend their time in Barbados on this beach, plenty to see and do there.

 

We've never been to Bonaire so can't help you with that port of call but others will undoubtedly post with more information to help you.

 

Aruba is only a small island and not much to see. We walked off the ship and across the road to the bus terminal to get a bus along to either Eagle Beach (ask them to put you off at Amsterdam Manor Resort) for a quieter day or Palm Beach is a little further on and where all the high-rise hotels are to be found so much busier.

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica, is not so far from Dunns River Falls. We did a tour with Wentworth Pearson so I can highly recommend him to take you there or wherever you want to go.

 

Grand Turk is another very small island with nothing much to see (ships mainly dock here to refuel) so just walk off the pier and you will be in a lovely cruise terminal with swimming pools, restaurants, Margaritaville, free sunloungers, beautiful beach, you name it and its there. However, we walked along the beach past all that until we reached Jack's Shack for the most wonderful day - Jack and Janet run the bar there and if you google this bar you can print off vouchers for free rum tasters. Their dog Topher is so entertaining you wouldn't believe it, do go and see for yourself.

 

St Maarten - on our first visit we did an island tour so on our recent visit we took a taxi US$6pp each way to Cane Garden Bay, beautiful with lots of sunbeds and people to bring you drinks all day long if you wish.

 

Antigua - we did an island tour with Lawrence of Antigua, a really nice man who gave us a great day for a great price so we can recommend him.

 

Dominica - should have docked here but too much swell so never got to this island unfortunately but others will help you.

 

St. Lucia - on our first visit to this island we did a sea-based trip but on our recent visit we booked a tour with Cosul Tours and it was the absolute best tour we have ever done in the Caribbean, very highly recommended.

 

Without knowing your interests, its hard to recommend anything really so I've just tried to help generally, but others will post to help too. You should check out the ports and their individual forums on this website for heaps of information and help from other cruisers, but I hope my reply will help in some small way.

 

Enjoy your cruise - you will love it! :)

[Captain Rob]

Thanks Essexlass2

 

That's most encouraging. We are quite happy to just wander off the ship and see what's around. Taking in an excursion if it takes our fancy.

 

Robin & Elaine

[Cristaltips]

Hi Robin and Elaine

 

We've been to Bonaire twice and on both occasions have got a taxi to Eden beach. Not far and all the taxi drivers know where it is. It's wonderful to snorkel. There's a shelf off the beach and you just snorkel off that. Lots of fish to see. Theres also a bar and toilets and sunbeds to hire.

 

Ocho Rios, we really weren't impressed. Got a taxi to Dunns river falls but had to pay as if we were climbing the falls. No separate entry just to look. As I have a knee replacement, there was no way I was going to walk the falls!! Also, there was a lot of badgering to get you to buy things. Frankly, we didn't like Ocho Rios and if we went there again, would stay on board ship.

 

Aruba, the bus up to Eagle of Palm beach is easy and cheap.

 

Grand Turk, just walk off the ship and either sit on the beach or there are bars and a pool to visit. As well as the shops, of course.

 

We did a trip at Antigua. Think with P &O. English harbour and Shirley Heights well worth a look.

 

Whatever you do, you'll have a fabulous time and be waiting to book the next one!! Enjoy!!

[OldJerseycruiser]

Hi Robin and Elaine,

 

These are some of the private tours we recommend from our recent cruise on Azura.

 

St Maarten - Bernards Tours (40us$): Great tour which takes in, amongst other places, beach, Marigot and Maho beach where the planes fly in feet above the beachgoers (see Youtube).

 

Antigua - Antigua Adventures: they have an Ecotour and a tour on a power boat (We have been on both) They meet you right next to the ship and they are great days out with wonderful crew and fantastic lunches. - See their website for videos of the tours.

 

St Lucia - Cosul Tours - like Essexlass, we think it is a great tour with many surprises (and we have been there 3 times before)

 

Aruba - Trikes-Aruba - We hadn't been to Aruba before and didn't want to have a normal tour. Spotted this on Tripadvisor and had the most fantastic trip around the Island. Were met close to the terminal and my husband wanted to do it all over again!

 

Some of the other ports we got a taxi to a beach. Have a look at the Ports section to get ideas of which ones are recommended.

[ccrystal]

Hi Robin and Elaine :)

 

We've done a few similar cruises to the one you are booked on. I'm sure you will have a great time whatever you do and whatever you choose to do.

 

We've booked excursions direct with P&O, Shoretrips and local operators on the individual islands.

 

We found the prices P&O charge are comparable to other operators.

 

Here's a few ideas based on some of the trips we have done.

 

Barbados

 

You can take a steady walk into Bridgetown where there are an array a shops and jewellers You will walk past a craft village which is lovely to look around.

 

On one occasion we took a trip to the local rum distillery and did a little tasting.

 

We love going to gardens and did a trip to Cane Garden, it was like doing a treasure hunt and so enjoyable, we saw beautiful exotic flowers and plants.

 

There are a lot of beaches to choose from and your best bet for that is to walk through the cruise terminal and opt for one there.

 

We visited a traditional plantation house on one occasion and drove through the sugar cane field to get to it. I felt like I was going back in time. The house was wonderfully decorated and the owner told us humourous tales and served a delicious light lunch.

 

In the cruise terminal there is a florist, we ask her to do a display for our stateroom as soon as we arrive, and she will either do it there and then or if there is time before sailing ask you to come back later.

 

Bonaire

 

This is such a pretty small Dutch Island, we generally choose to stay close to the port and wander round the town. The ship is docked in the shallowest of waters, crystal clear. It is ideal for snorkelling.

 

One trip we did do a couple of years ago was to the Butterfly Farm, it was in its early days but still enjoyable.

 

Aruba

 

Aruba is one of my favourite places to visit and a good way to see the island is to do a helicopter ride. The heliport is a few minutes from the ship, we booked direct with ArubaHeli. We were the only two passengers and had an hours ride. The pilot let us have a look round the helicopter before take off, letting us take photos of us at the controls, it was brilliant. At the end of the trip we were given tee shirts too.

 

 

You can take a bus ride to Eagle Beach and from here you can go on boat trips or submarine trips. We did P&O sea and see on one trip which gave us a tour of the island and a then a trip on a semi submarine, allowing you to either stay on deck or go below and see all the wonderful colourful fish.

 

Close to where the ship docks you will find The Renaissance Hotel, you can get a day pass if you wish to spend the day relaxing by the pool and having use of the Hotel facilities. You will also find in the shopping mall shops like Louis Vuitton, Prada. Dolce and Gabana to name but a few!!!

 

Opposite to the mall there is an array of bars and restaurants and also a few more boutiques.

 

Ocho Rios

 

The ship docks close to the Dunns River Falls, this is where we spent a very hectic and fun day walking up the falls. There was a few of us and we never stopped laughing. You can get off half way but we managed to go the whole way

 

We visited the local markets, but I felt so intimidated. The stallholders come across rude (in my opinion) I wouldn't opt to do this again.

 

As I said earlier we love visiting gardens and again we did this after a short drive through the rainforest.

 

Grand Turk

 

We haven't done much here, just an island tour and a visit to a local beach. (We live in Spain much of the year so a visit to a beach is like a busman's holiday to us)

 

St Maarten/St Martin

 

This is my favourite island so far, there is always so much to see and do and I still have a list of what I will do on my next visit

 

 

The ship docks at Philipsburg (the Dutch side) and you can visit the French side of Marigot Bay. Here you will find forts to climb up to, sandy beaches and colourful market stalls. There is usually an Hawaain night on board so you can buy the most brightest shirt to wear (or chesseyist) :eek:

 

You can walk into town from the port, but an ideal way is to use the Watertaxi. You get a wristband and this enables you to have multiple trips if you wish. Once you get off, you will find quite a few beaches where drinks are served direct to you, then there are plenty of shops and you will find quite a lot of crew in the duty free shops.

 

Treat yourself to a few tasters of the local Guavaberry, there is an emporium there and you can get tasters through shots, smoothies or ice creams!!!.

 

At times you will find this port to be very busy as a few ships dock on the same day.

 

The port area is lovely and clean and if you don't want to go far there's plenty to see and do there. There is a delightful linen shop there and I've bought many a table cloth and shower curtain from there.

 

Antigua

 

A nice trip is to visit Nelson's Harbour and Shirley Heights. You will see some lovely yachts and once ther it is quite flat to walk around.

 

Antigua is well known for having a beach a day, so the choice is yours if you wish to have a sandy day.

 

We love taking helicopter rides, and from here we took the ride over the island of Montserrat and flew low over Plymouth which took the brunt of the volcana errupting a few years back. The smell of the sulphur is dire and the volcano is still very active. The pilots are so informative and give you so much info to take in.

 

Domenica

 

Each time we have docked here we have chosen to stay on board and not tendered to shore. We almost have the deck to ourselves :D

 

St Lucia

 

This is another of my favourite islands and we've visted Soufriere where you get to walk in an open volcano :eek: Unbelievably people live in this village!!

 

We visited a couple of gardens and I remember our guide talking about the cannonball plant saying they only lived for a day :eek: I picked one and it opened up :)

 

We sailed around Les Pitons and we have also taken a helicopter ride around the island and flew between Les Pitons too.

 

On another trip we zip lined through the rainforest. We booked this privately, our guide was waiting for us when we got off the ship and said he had 6 in his group. two people from another ship turned up 30 minutes (yes 30 minutes) late!!! The P&O organised trip left before us so were ahead of us in the forest. the price privately was no cheaper than the ship one and we were kept waiting!!!! I thought it may be better booking privately but in this case not!!!

 

I'm sure many more people will have their recommendations as well.

 

Have a lovely cruise and let us know how you get on xxxxxx

[msg_girl]

Just wanted to add a comment about St Lucia - I tried walking into town but the road is terrible - no pavement for quite a distance, lots of traffic and when we were there, muddy puddles with bugs! I would definetly advise a tour whether that be through the cruise line or independently.

 

Also Dominica isn't really a beach place - very mountainous with rain forests. We did a fantastic tour into the interior but I would admit that the roads were pretty frightening!

 

There is lots of good advice on the Ports of Call board but you need to know what you like!

 

In nearly all your other ports of call I've enjoyed exploring independently either with local taxis or on foot. G.

[luladoo]

I am always surprised by people who say they stay on board in Dominica. I would gladly take a land based holiday there. It is a beautiful island if you just know what to do and where to go. The people are so friendly and scenery is beautiful.

[bee-ess]

Here's my suggestions

 

Barbados - Hire a car for day and drive out to the East Coast - amazing scenery at Bathsheba and Bottom Bay is the prettiest beach on the Island. Stoutes car hire is right outside the ship,

 

Bonaire - anywhere where you can Snorkel

 

Aruba - went on a Jeep Safari thats was really good, whole island inc, Natural Pool - http://www.abc-aruba.com/jeep_safari.html

Ocho Rios - Dunns River Falls

 

Grand Turk - Beach and Margaritaville is just off the ship. Ship trip to see the stingrays is good.

 

St Maarten - You can just take the boat taxi to the beach in town.

 

Antigua - taxi to Dickensons Bay

 

Dominica - no beaches much but need a tour inland for scenery

 

St Lucia - Cosol, nothing else to say !!

[jeanlyon]

St Lucia - ~Cosol - the best!

[OldJerseycruiser]

I am always surprised by people who say they stay on board in Dominica. I would gladly take a land based holiday there. It is a beautiful island if you just know what to do and where to go. The people are so friendly and scenery is beautiful.

 

Maybe the people who stay on board have been several times before and seen/done everything they wanted to.

 

Many people on our recent cruise said the whale watching excursion was particularly good.

[ccrystal]

Maybe the people who stay on board have been several times before and seen/done everything they wanted to.

 

Many people on our recent cruise said the whale watching excursion was particularly good.

 

 

OldJerseycruiser

 

I agree :), we've been there and love the people, but now decide to spend time on deck and enjoy just relaxing.

 

I won't be able to do many activities on our next cruise due to having a recent spinal fusion, so am recuperating presently ;)

[mikejt26]

I agree with all the previous quotes

cosol is by far the best Caribbean tour.

 

Dominica : wee book levi barons bumping tours. the main benefit is you are getting to the tourist sites ( waterfalls and pools :D) before the main tourist buses arrive . plus you can dictate where you want to go e.g emerald pool and champagne reef which is normally on two different Itineraries.

 

Barbados : Silvermoon private cruises. 24 passengers on a Catamaran made for 60. the ships tours normally have the 60. lunch, turtle snorkling and if you want a drink it is all inclusive from the minute they leave doc wonderful day .Plus less expensive than the ships tour.

[Patsy Flower]

Hi,

 

Just back from the Caribbean and on this occasion visited St Lucia.

 

It has been said many times on here but we also did Cosol Tours and it is most definitely the one to go for if you want a fun packed value for money tour. Simply the best, better than all the rest!

 

We did a similar tour last year in Ochos Rios and the best tour here by far is with Phil Lafayette. The tour was brilliant and Phil is a real character.

 

If you book these two tours you will not be disappointed.

[Flocky]

Hi seasoned cruisers

 

We are off on the Ventura at the end of Feb. We normally like to just wander off the boat and have a look around the local town and bars etc.. We will do organised shore excursions if it's not easy to walk off. From the following ports of call what are the easy walk off's and what are the ones you would recommend for a trip. We can then start trip planning

 

Barbados

Bonair

ArubaU

Ocho Rios

Grand Turk

St Maarten

Antigua

Dominica

St Lucia

 

Robin & Elaine

 

So glad you posted this question Robin & Elaine - looks like we are going on the same cruise! (This is our first one) I'm really interested in the useful information and tips provided THANK YOU fellow cruisers. :D

[Essexlass2]

So glad you posted this question Robin & Elaine - looks like we are going on the same cruise! (This is our first one) I'm really interested in the useful information and tips provided THANK YOU fellow cruisers. :D

 

You're very welcome! Anything you want to know, just ask and we're all here to try and help you :)