Summit - which Southern Caribbean itinerary

[DDEMOM]

Which of the two Southern Caribbean itineraries do you prefer on the Summit? I have already been on the one which included St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, Barbarados and St. Lucia and loved it. I am not sure of how good the St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, St. Thas itinerary is as I have not been on it. My husband and I are interested in going to great beaches and snorkeling. Thanks in advance

[Decpl]

If you folks like beaches, St Thomas, St Martin, and St Lucia have great beaches. Antiqua also has some beautiful beaches. Our favorites are on St Martin and St Lucia. You can't go wrong on that cruise. :D

[TOM Cruzer]

Well, I love both itineraries. We are distance swimmers and so the Caribbean with the warm water and lovely fish is just too good to pass up.

 

Grenada is amazing to snorkel at, but it's more...low key, I guess is what I'm looking for. There's the Moliniere Sculpture Park that is pretty fun to go see (Google the picture of it). We use Native Spirit to take us out. They have dive boats and they know what they are doing. There's a spot that they take us that reminds me of swimming in a desert because of the plants below. I have never seen anything like this anywhere and always delight in snorkeling there.

 

Dominica is phenomenally beautiful. The water, the hiking, everything. Champagne reef is pretty fun with the bubbles. There's a lot to see there...but my favorite place to go is Scott's Head Beach (Google that and you'll see why). We will often just catch a cab and go there. The cabby will sit patiently and wait and the cost is very reasonable. If you're lucky, there's often someone with fresh coconuts that will lop the top off and you can drink the coconut milk.

 

St Kitts doesn't have as amazing snorkeling as other islands, but we always book Royston whenever we are there and he knows the island like the back of his hand. He'll take you hiking and snorkeling or site seeing - whatever you want. It's an interesting island to go see, it's a poor island, but very beautiful. There is a volcano you can hike up if you like hiking.

 

...and lastly and perhaps best, St Croix - Buck Island. Buck Island is typically listed in the top ten list of places to snorkel...for good reason. Storms and other disasters have killed off some coral over the recent years, but this is an incredibly beautiful place to go. We typically book Captain Carl because he knows the areas so well. He will drop us off at one point and pick us back up at another, letting us swim as much distance as we like.

 

So, in answer to your question, if you haven't been on this route and you like to snorkel then I would certainly consider it heavily. If you asked me which route I prefer? My answer would be - the one I didn't do last time.

 

Happy travels!

 

Carol

[guppy42]

Switch it up! Sounds beautiful;)

[CaribbeanBound]

We've done both, and they are both worthy.

 

Here's our review of the Summit: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/summit.html

 

And here's our review of the excursions we took in all of the ports you're considering: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

[davekathy]

Easy, do a B2B.

[carolslc]

We went on the St. Croix itinerary last month and loved it! Now I want to go back and do the other one. We love beaches and snorkeling too.

 

St. Croix - snorkeled Buck Island

St. Kitts - beach day - we did Cockleshell but S. Friar's is supposed to be great too

Dominica - snorkeled Champagne Reef (among other things)

Grenada - beach day at Grand Anse Beach

St. Thomas - ferry to St. John and snorkeled at Trunk Bay

 

Awesome trip!

[Want2Cruise 701]

We have done both. I did prefer Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten and St Thomas as a whole. So much we are doing it for our 3rd Summit cruise in April.

 

BUT, I would do the other itinerary since you haven't done it, and Dominica is absolutely Amazing. You'll also see new ports as we'll.

[riclop]

Both are great.

[shipfriend_max]

Hi,

 

last April (2013) we have done the cruise with St. Croix, St Kitts, etc... this year we will do the one with Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, etc... let's see which one is better! :)

 

Seems that for snorekelers the letter one is the greater itinerary!

[MaggieAtSea]

Have done both on the Summit… going back soon for our favorite of the two - Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, etc.

 

Reasons: St. Marteen and Maho Beach is such a great stop and St. Croix isn't an island we enjoy. Now I will say both Dominica and Grenada are relatively unspoiled and unusual stops, and what's not to love about St. Kitts?? But, for us, the beaches, the sights, and the safety of the Barbados itinerary - even though it is slight - inches it above the other in our minds.

 

With all of this said, I'm so glad we have had the opportunity to visit the islands on both itineraries and so, as you will hear and have heard from others, can you really go wrong??

 

We enjoy leaving out of San Juan as in spring we get splendid, warm weather right off the bat on day 1. We also adore the size of the Summit and its fine character. A great vessel.

 

Enjoy.

[susiej4]

We just did the St Lucia, etc. in February and are booked for the other in November. Loved the St. Lucia, etc and am hoping to enjoy the other as well. We are snorkelers and beach lovers. Excellent advice above and thank you for those tour operators. Haven't started planning yet but will save the info.

[carolslc]

We used Big Beard's in St. Croix for Buck Island, and Bumpiing Tours in Dominica (Roseau Valley Treasures tour). Highly recommend both.

[kkid]

I also recommend B2B. We did both together a couple years ago. It was great.

 

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