Sea Cow snorkeling?

[barbaraanne]

Anyone been on the Sea Cow for snorkeling? It’s through our ship. It’s a two stop snorkel. Can anyone compare it to Woodwind Snorkeling? This is our first time in Bonaire and my husband is pretty new to snorkeling and will need a guide. I just want to pick the best thing for him.

[canadianbear]

We did Seacow through our ship in December and they were the best crew we've ever had (we've done a lot of snorkelling). Very professional and extremely helpful for all levels.

 

Highly recommend them.

[eandj]

Sea Cow fills up with lots of people. We prefer a private snorkeling cat trip on the islands. Limited in group size and more fun. Check great reviews on trip advisor.

[canadianbear]

Sea Cow fills up with lots of people. We prefer a private snorkeling cat trip on the islands. Limited in group size and more fun. Check great reviews on trip advisor.

 

 

 

Seacow did NOT fill up with lots of people. It was a small group and very well done. Other snorkel excursions we took through the ship did overbook in my opinion but not Seacow.

[Bethany Beach]

Here is my experience with Sea Cow. I am an experienced snorkeler. Have gone with Woodwind 3 times. We had money toward shore excursions, so one time I decided to book through the ship and it happened to be on the Sea Cow. The trip was in the morning (only one time was available when I booked). The boat was packed with people (but really, so is Woodwind as far as people sitting pretty tightly together around the boat.) Luckily it takes very little time to get to the snorkel spot. When we returned to the dock (Sea Cow drops you right off at the ship and WoodWind requires a few block easy walk to get to their boat) I noticed a small group of people waiting to get on. I found out that the excursion was so popular that they decided to offer a second trip right after our trip. That trip only had about half the people on the boat.......so, it depends on the situation.....but I can assure you that they had the maximum people on our boat.

 

Secondly, the thing that stands out in my mind was at least on the trip that I took that day with Sea Cow it was definitely not a drift snorkel. Woodwind always does drift snorkels. I don't know if the current was particularly strong that day but the weather was beautiful, etc. We got in the water with the guide and had a great snorkel. The problem was getting back. I am a good swimmer and I was tired by the time I got back to the boat. I was so glad my husband didn't come along because he would have been exhausted. Perhaps Sea Cow sometimes does drift snorkels and or maybe they now only do drift snorkels, but that day stands out in my mind because of how difficult it was. I never felt unsafe, just tired.

 

They did have a photographer in the water who took great pictures by request as well and I forget what I paid, but it was very reasonable.

[canadianbear]

Sea Cow did drift snorkel when we were there in December. Both companies are very good. What impressed me the most with Sea Cow was how they explained things very thoroughly and made sure everyone was prepared before going in, also asking who was a first timer. They also checked everyone's masks etc individually just before you got in the water making sure no hair was interfering in the mask.

 

Can't go wrong with either company in my opinion-Sea Cow or Woodwind.

[eandj]

Seacow did NOT fill up with lots of people. It was a small group and very well done. Other snorkel excursions we took through the ship did overbook in my opinion but not Seacow.

 

 

Did you do an a.m. trip or was it the later trip?

As mentioned, they DO pack in LOTS of passengers, at least from what we saw. Just last week, dh and I watched the boats load while having our coffee on board the Eclipse. Couldn't miss the line of folks loading the "cow". There was not an empty spot on the bench seats. Little room for gearing up.

I can't comment on the guides. We have never come across any that don't go over procedures and equipment with newbies.

 

There are maximums for the boats and businesses want to make profit. Nothing "wrong" with that. But cruisers should know what conditions can be like on excursions.

[canadianbear]

Maybe we were lucky and boat not filled with HAL clientele. I think our excursion was around 10 but I honestly can't remember.

 

We did a lot of snorkel excursions on our 21 day cruise because we had so much OBC. A couple of them did not have the most helpful staff which was also a safety concern in our opinion and we let the HAL excursion desk know (as did others). I did find Sea Cow staff really good.

 

You're right, all excursions want to cram as many in as possible. On some we felt like "cattle".

[eandj]

Maybe we were lucky and boat not filled with HAL clientele. I think our excursion was around 10 but I honestly can't remember.

 

You're right, all excursions want to cram as many in as possible. On some we felt like "cattle".

 

 

With the older demographic on HAL cruises, we found on our one HAL cruise, that indeed the more active excursions weren't as popular. Instead the drive around bus tours were selling out.

If there are Royal Carib, Celebrity and Princess ships in port, the snorkeling excursions are filled to the brim. When needed, with cruisers off various ships.

[canadianbear]

Exactly what happened to us in Antigua-we were told by excursion staff it was 40 people from HAL (not told that there would be others) so we signed up. Got on the catamaran and lo and behold people from another ship came on-way too many people. It was chaotic when we arrived at the snorkel site. We had our own equipment so got in the water quickly.