Excursion ideas / things to see for the Caribbean

[Presto2]

Hi,

 

We are going on our first Caribbean cruise on Britannia early next year. Can't wait!

 

These are the ports we are visiting. Though Mr Presto2 has been to Barbados many moons ago it is all very new to us so we are hoping that you can give us some tips / ideas re what to do or see on each island. Happy to pay for excursions and happy to just potter on your own. Many thanks everyone

 

Barbados Embark At Sea
Curacao Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
Bonaire Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
At Sea
St Vincent Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
St Lucia Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
Grenada Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
At Sea
St Kitts Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port

 Antigua Arrive Early Morning, Possible Tender, Depart Early Evening In Port : Have already booked a catamaran all day cruise / swim along the coast
St Maarten Arrive Early Morning, Depart Early Evening In Port
At Sea
Barbados Arrive Early Morning, Overnight In Port In Port : Thinking of doing a jeep safari in the morning followed by an afternoon at the beach
Barbados Disembark

[silkworms]

Have had excursions at all your ports and the two outstanding ones were

 

Bonaire, hired a golf buggy (with top cover) to drive wherever you want , the roads are

quiet and you can stop at your convenience, you will pass loads of beaches where you

can park up, swim,and get back in.  You are given a map, two alternatives, east or west.

plenty of time to do one of them.  We are looking forward to going again so we can do the

other direction. The place to hire the buggy is only a five minute walk from ship.
 

Not a lot to see at St Vincent but one of the neighbouring islands is Mustique! Fabulous.

We went on a catamaran (p and o excursion) took about one hour to get there, land near

Basil’s Bar, a favourite of Princess Margaret. Lunch was organised. Everything was top notch.

BUT you will need to book the excursion asap because there are only 25 visitors allowed on

the island daily.

Enjoy!

[kevcharben]

Mustique already sold out on this cruise.

I had a look to book it myself

[Presto2]

Thanks. Will have a look now.

 

Hubby asking which side of the road they drive on over there. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Presto2

[Presto2]

39 minutes ago, kevcharben said:

Mustique already sold out on this cruise.

I had a look to book it myself

Are you on the same cruise then 🙂 

Have heard the catamaran in Antigua is a good one too and that gets booked up quickly

[zap99]

56 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Thanks. Will have a look now.

 

Hubby asking which side of the road they drive on over there. 

Generally on the left, but not always. A bit like the pirate code..more like guidelines.🤣

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, silkworms said:

Have had excursions at all your ports and the two outstanding ones were

 

Bonaire, hired a golf buggy (with top cover) to drive wherever you want , the roads are

quiet and you can stop at your convenience, you will pass loads of beaches where you

can park up, swim,and get back in.  You are given a map, two alternatives, east or west.

plenty of time to do one of them.  We are looking forward to going again so we can do the

other direction. The place to hire the buggy is only a five minute walk from ship.
Enjoy!

Just been looking. Is there a donkey sanctuary. Am a mad donkey fan. Looks like this is part of the map people get given with the golf buggy? Can you give me some idea of the cost please. Many thanks

[silkworms]

Cannot remember price

Try bonairecruisers.com

[sandancer]

3 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Are you on the same cruise then 🙂 

Have heard the catamaran in Antigua is a good one too and that gets booked up quickly

It is. We really enjoyed it. 

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, zap99 said:

Generally on the left, but not always. A bit like the pirate code..more like guidelines.🤣

I would guess that the Dutch Antilles islands drive on the right, but although I have been to Aruba I cannot remember which side they drove on.

[zap99]

52 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I would guess that the Dutch Antilles islands drive on the right, but although I have been to Aruba I cannot remember which side they drove on.

Probably US virgin Islands as well. I asked the bus driver in Tortola why they drive on the left, but have left hand drive tour buses.  He explained about how they were cheaper to import from America.....but we don't always drive on the left..Mon.🤣

Edited July 1, 2023 by zap99

[Dobbers]

Barbados overnight at the end of the cruise is great for an evening in Oistins, fantastic atmosphere.

[Sussexboy]

Catamaran in Antigua, Tall Ship sailing in St. Maarten, private tour by Cosol in St. Lucia, catamaran and beach lobster bbq in Grenada, submarine trip in Barbados. These are all thing we did which I would do again.

[Neecy1]

8 hours ago, Dobbers said:

Barbados overnight at the end of the cruise is great for an evening in Oistins, fantastic atmosphere.

Sorry don't want to hijack this post. Do you just go here independently by taxi? 

[Dobbers]

4 minutes ago, Neecy1 said:

Sorry don't want to hijack this post. Do you just go here independently by taxi? 

You can do easily by taxi as there are plenty around. We have always booked the excursion as it was reasonably priced (pre covid)

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Sussexboy said:

Catamaran in Antigua, Tall Ship sailing in St. Maarten, private tour by Cosol in St. Lucia, catamaran and beach lobster bbq in Grenada, submarine trip in Barbados. These are all thing we did which I would do again.

We did a round Antigua on a power catamaran called Exelence, that was brilliant.  Never fancied the submarines,  especially not now. 30 years of scuba diving taught me to respect pressure.

[July morning]

We like the train excursion on St Kitts it's an old sugar  train goes round the island and there are singers who come on and entertain the train carriage and of course loved the cocktails that you get 😂 

[Sussexboy]

2 hours ago, July morning said:

We like the train excursion on St Kitts it's an old sugar  train goes round the island and there are singers who come on and entertain the train carriage and of course loved the cocktails that you get 😂 

We did some jewellery shopping in St Kitts as it was our silver wedding anniversary. I found Mrs SB a beautiful silver necklace covered in a very pale amethyst which she really liked. Once the deal was done the shop wanted to have a drink with us. Next thing we know we have two large cocktails called monkey punch. Mrs SB did not like it, so I drank hers and mine. We then left the shop. A couple of minutes later it became apparent that we had to return to the ship instanta whilst I could still feel my legs. We made it back and I was fine after some food. I would love to know what else apart from the obvious rum was in that!

[Cheshire Blue]

17 hours ago, Dobbers said:

Barbados overnight at the end of the cruise is great for an evening in Oistins, fantastic atmosphere.

Harbour NIghts club is good on Barbados as well.  Its not a "night club" - more an evening meal and then dancing (and lots of rum) - great times.   Oistins is great atmosphere too - can do that independently by taxi easily (might need to pre book the Harbour Lights club thing). 

 

Swimming with the Turtles was great on Barbados (West coast) but assume this can be done in other places in the WI as well   

[Presto2]

Thanks so much so far everyone. 

Are there any places where you can just take yourself to a beach without paying for an excursion? We like the excursions but they are only 4 hours and if I'm going to chill out on a beach I want more than a 4 hour excursion. Have done these before in Greece and regretted that it wasn't long enough. 

[Fionboard]

Most places you can get a taxi to the beach for the day, or share a mini bus with others. They will come back and pick you up at a pre arranged time. Can recommend Sneaky Pete's beach bar on Antigua. 

[Presto2]

52 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Most places you can get a taxi to the beach for the day, or share a mini bus with others. They will come back and pick you up at a pre arranged time. Can recommend Sneaky Pete's beach bar on Antigua. 

Any others that 'stick out'. Then again hubby has said the beaches there are amazing ........

Feel like a newbie with this cruise as have never been to this part of the world at all and have no idea what I am planning.

Suppose it means we have to go back if I make mistakes 😉

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

 

Suppose it means we have to go back if I make mistakes

That’s the way to do it. 

[Presto2]

3 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

That’s the way to do it. 

You've seen too much Punch and Judy ! Or just Caribbean punch 😉

[ann141]

In st Martaan you can walk to the local beach though a lot of people take a local boat across