Excursions on your own? Eastern Carribean

[pumpkin228]

So we're going on our honeymoon, Eastern Carribean on the Gem and we absolutely canNOT wait! We're the kind of couple that would prefer to go off on our own, we aren't much for schedules and must stay this long at this place blah blah blah. That being said, any suggestions for our ports of call?

San Juan

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

Tortola

 

I think we might suck it up for Tortola since we are there for such a short time and go on the excursion to the baths. We would love other things other places like hiking, kayaking, ziplining etc but not with a group, does this even exist?

 

TIA!

[Larielaren]

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

 

Highly recommend the following for St. Maarten -

http://www.randomwind.com

...and the following for Tortola (should the timing work out) -

http://kuralu.com

 

 

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[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

We have gone to the Eastern Caribbean several times and went on a land vacation in Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan, you can do a lot just riding the free trolley. I would definitely recommend going to El Morro. So interesting. We also have done a couple food/drink tours that were fun. Flavors of San Juan was extremely educational, and it was fun making mofongo at one of the stops. It was a walking tour which stopped a bunch of different places. We also did the drink tour with Spoon Food Tours which included Rum tasting. Not quite as educational but was fun!

http://www.sanjuanfoodtours.com/

https://www.spoonfoodtours.com/

 

Tortola:

We went on a Kuralu excursion this Jaunuary, which was suggested by a previous poster. It was a fun day, but it isn't in my top 5 catamaran excursions. The snorkeling wasn't that good, and the rum punch was gross. The food was good though. I wish we had gone to the baths or maybe that we had gone to Jost Van Dyke. I wanted to do the Jost Van Dyke excursion, but they talked me out of it because our port time was so short.

 

St Thomas:

Tree Limin' Extreme Zip Lining is fun. It is leisurely and not really that extreme, in my opinion. The ziplinging runs have awesome views, and was an overall fun time. The guides are funny and it is extremely safe. If you are comparing to a place like Toro Verde in Puerto Rico, it is extremely tame.

http://www.ziplinestthomas.com/

Last year we took a ferry to St John and went to Trunk Bay. It was absolutely gorgeous. We intended to do Snuba, but the snorkel trail was closed, so our Snuba excursion was cancelled. We just had a beach day. The prices add up by the time you taxi a couple times and take the ferry though.

 

St Maarten:

We loved St Maarten. We saw even more sea turtles (like 10 fold the amount of sea turtles than we saw in Barbados) We went with Captain Bob which is Soualiga Destinations. It is a speed boat tour. We were able to circle the entire island, watch jetliners land at Princess Julianna airport, have some beach time on the french side, go to Pinel island and made a snorkel stop. It is one of my most favorite excursions. It is rated #1 on Trip Advisor for a reason! http://www.soualigadestinations.com/soualiga_destinations/Welcome.html

Edited October 23, 2016 by Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE
Added Tortola

[dexddd]

Been to San Juan several times and going again in Dec. Walking around Old San Juan and the fort as mentioned is great. We've also done resort for a day at the Marriott. You could rent a car and drive around the island - the side opposite San Juan is pretty rural and has nice beaches and quiet restaurants. Had some of the biggest fried shrimp ever over there.

[ColeThornton]

Check out the Caribbean ports of call forum. You'll find tons of information about excursions on each island.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[Kate45]

Something to check first. How many other ships are in port with you. Makes a big difference on doing stuff on your own for availability. Know for a fact that The Baths is a nightmare if there are numerous ships in port ( remember to check both Tortola and Virgin Gorda). Good luck.

[volk904]

Been to all those places.

 

If you want to relax on the beach at St Martaan just catch a cab to Orient Beach. We like Kontiki but there is lots of places. Padded chairs on the beach with food and drink and a place to change. WAter is beautiful. About a 30 min cab ride.

 

On St Thomas we like to take take the ships self guided trip to StJohns. Really just a ride over and back from the ship. You can also take the Redhook ferry but it involves a 30 min cab ride and then a ferry. Either way Truck Bay is nice but I think I like Cinnamon Bay better.

 

In SAN Juan the Old fort is a great tour with slot of history.

 

 

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