Falmouth with kids- we did it!

[MrsWhite831]

When our ship was re-routed I scrambled to find something to do with our kids (6,6, & 8). I just couldn't stomach the $600 for the all inclusive passes. There seems to be not a ton of info on the port anywhere online unless you want to do Dunn Falls or the Blue Hole- which we did last Jan. I apologize if this is long but I don't want families to feel like their options are a pricey tour or staying on the ship because they're nervous.

 

After TONS of research and ignoring some mixed reviews I decided we should try Burwood Beach. There is a taxi dispatch station in the port with lots of vans. The woman kept telling us "no, no... no Burwood, we take you to Blue Waters", they wanted $20pp and then $10 each to get into the beach- 4 adults, 3 kids= $210. We had our hearts set on Burwood so we decided to try a taxi outside of the gates. We walked out of the port and crossed the street into the town. No-one approached us, no-one bothered us. There was another taxi stand. The woman wouldn't give us a price and said it was up to us to negotiate. She had a clipboard and was assigning cab companies in order and checking their "papers". A friendly man in a new looking tour van offered us 4 adults and 3 kids to Burwood for $80, roundtrip, so we agreed. On the way he started telling me about Blue Waters and how he swears that Burwood isn't a safe family beach and there wasn't even bathrooms etc... now, we've been on enough cruises to realize that Blue Waters was clearly giving taxis some sort of kick back per person, we're not stupid... So he tells us, that for the same price he will take us to Blue Waters, we will get bands with his phone number/name so they can call us when we want to leave and that it was safe and clean. We agreed. I was 99.9% sure it was all about the commission but I kept thinking, what if we went to Burwood and something happened- I would feel like crap.

 

Blue Waters was $10 per adult, $5 per child. It included beach chairs for each of us and use of their wifi. So for our family of 7 (with transport), we ended up paying $135 for the whole day. When we got there around 10am, there was only about a dozen people there. The water was clear and warm with a sandy bottom. There were drinks and food available but we never got any. The jerk chicken was $9.99 and I think the burger with fries was like $11. As the day went on, I saw a lot of people with buckets of red stripe. There was a family friendly beach DJ, a lifeguard, beach massages, hair braiding and a little store. My sister said the bathrooms were very clean. A woman was selling bracelets but that was the only vendor. We stayed a few hours- swam, got some sun, walked the beach and when we asked to go back, they had our driver there within minutes. We showed our ship cards at the gates and he was able to drop us off right in port. We walked back to the ship, had lunch and then returned to the port for some shopping :)

[Keith1010]

Glad this all worked out for you.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Keith

[pokerpro5]

We just came back from Falmouth and went to both Konoko Falls and Green Grotto Caves.

 

I would recommend both, and neither are a full-day visit.

 

We took our 7-year-old, who loved both places.

[Arzeena]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

The ladies at the reception kiosk in the dock recommended Burwood to us when I asked abut a good public beach close to the port. Our tour guide (tour was a ship's excursion) also recommended Burwood if we wanted to go on our own.

 

I agree with you that the cabs must be getting some cut the way you described the pushing Blue Waters. I have read fantastic reviews about Blue Waters as well. We intend to try both on future visits.

[OCruisers]

MrsWhite (OP) .... Thanks so much for posting your experience. Feel sure it will be helpful to many, especially with those taking children. (y)

[mommamd]

Thank you!! Will be there next month and needed some advice!!

[screenname2004]

We just came back from Falmouth and went to both Konoko Falls and Green Grotto Caves.

 

I would recommend both, and neither are a full-day visit.

 

We took our 7-year-old, who loved both places.

Does Green Grotto Caves have a lot of steps to take? Did you sign up tour with your ship or took a taxi?

[pokerpro5]

Does Green Grotto Caves have a lot of steps to take? Did you sign up tour with your ship or took a taxi?

 

Read my review here, all questions will be answered: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2563964

[kahliasmom]

I am thinking of going to Burwood Beach. I've read nice reviews on TripAdvisor. Not that that necessarily means anything. But your review is the second one where the reviewer thinks that there's some Kickback involved and that the taxi drivers are pushing Blue Waters Beach. Burwood Beach sounds nicer than Blue Waters Beach from what I've read. I'm just a little nervous to go there with myself and my 16 year old daughter.