NCL Spirit - Virgin Baths & Snorkel - is it for kids

[Blossum]

Please help. I have a 10 yr old and a 6 yr old. The 6 yr old is on the swim team and swims 2 hours a night, however, my 6 yr old is an independent swimmer but just starting out.

 

I hear you swim in from a boat to get to the baths....is the swm far? I am assuming they give you preservers...is this true?

 

How does your camera stay dry?

 

any assistance would be appreciated!

[centrexgrl30]

Hello, my husband and I did this same exact excursion from the Spirit last December. When we arrived to the Baths the boat was a good football field away from the beach, it was quite wavy, and I was a little scared. (I am a good swimmer) There were no children on this excursion. The swim to shore was beautiful, I loved the excursion, but we could not bring our camera, (only a waterproof one). I wished we could have brought my digital because it was absolutely magnificant!!! Not sure if this will help you.

[Blossum]

thanks for the response. When you swam to shore, did you have a life vest? did they give an option of getting closer to shore by boat?

[akia29]

My husband and I are planning to do this excursion in October.

I'm not worried about the swim, but what do you do with your personal items? Ie. Shoes ,Towel, etc. Do they bring it to shore for you? Or do you just go with whatever you've got on you?

Thanks!

[Çay girl]

I have an 8 yr old too, I was thinking of going on this also. But our tour offered thru HAL said it will be a ferry ride followed by a bus ride then a climb thru the rocks to get to the beach. Must be different.

[jimswims]

Hi: (this is long but I thought I would describe our experience at the Baths!)

 

We just returned from the NCL Spirit 8/19-8/27 and did the Virgin Gorda Baths tour through NCL. It was beautiful and we loved it!

I was there with my wife, 11 yr old son, and 8 year old daughter. Both of my kids are on a swim team and I am a masters swimmer and swim coach. The swim looked pretty easy to us. My wife swims, not competitively, and she agrees that anyone who is comfortable in the water and can swim should be fine.

 

First, there are 2 tours that NCL has, the V.G. Baths and Snorkel and the V.G. Highlights and Baths. I will describe both:

 

On the Highlights, you take a big ferry from Tortola to V.G., board an open air bus for a nice drive to the Baths. You will be delivered to the top of the Baths where you must walk down a nice trail to a first beach. You can enjoy the beach here, it is beautiful, or go through the caves to a second beach. You really must wear good foot wear to go down the trail, sneakers, etc... Flip flops or sandals is not a good choice. The trail is dirt and rock. You also must get on your hands and knees in some places in the caves. They are really cool and some have knee deep water in them....a very worthwhile experience. If you have back, leg, foot, or joint problems, I do not recommend it. Barefoot is the best was to go through.

 

On the Swim and Snorkel tour. You take a boat from Tortola which arrives at the second beach described above. You swim off the boat to this beach and go through the caves to the first beach and back. There were people using vests and other floatation devices off the boats. There was no launch to bring people ashore. It is a pretty easy swim if you know how to swim.

 

The week we went, our trip, the swim and snorkel was cancelled and we were put on the highlights. We were dissappointed and almost cancelled because we wanted more time at the baths and the other provided this. We are really glad that we went. The walk down was OK and we have 2 hours at the Baths....it was beautiful and well worth it. The water is sooo blue and the snorkeling was excellent. The caves were neat...quite an experience. We really loved this tour.

 

I must caution you that the trip over to Virgin Gorda was rough....take your Bonine...but the way back was so smooth!

 

Have fun.

[mrszuhwiggins]

Just wanted to add my two cents. We were on the Dawn last year and took the Highlights tour. It was fantastic. I have two children, one was 7 and one was 8 at the time and although they are not on the swim team, we do have a pool and they are pretty good swimmers. I think part of the fun of this tour was climbing through the rocks and caves and also walking through the trail. Once at the beach, it is very secluded and we had about 2 hours to swim, sunbathe, etc. (There's really not much else to do) On this tour, you're not "submerged" in the water trying to get to the beach, so you can bring cameras etc. with you. The kids LOVED it. I don't know if you get to do the climbing on the other tour. My vote would definitely be the highlights tour.

[Blossum]

thanks for taking the time to respond. I am likely to do the highlights tour as I love pictures!

 

Did the highlights tour include any food, drinks or any snorkel equipment?

 

Did you think it is worth the $200 for a family of 4?

[mrszuhwiggins]

thanks for taking the time to respond. I am likely to do the highlights tour as I love pictures!

 

Did the highlights tour include any food, drinks or any snorkel equipment?

 

Did you think it is worth the $200 for a family of 4?

 

Our tour did include some sort of local drink either before or after the trek to the beach, but no food. We left pretty early in the morning, and we had just eaten breakfast, so we really weren't that hungry. I can't remember how much we paid, but probably close to that and I definitely thought it was worth it. One of the better stops on our trip last year.

[jimswims]

Our tour did include some sort of local drink either before or after the trek to the beach, but no food. We left pretty early in the morning, and we had just eaten breakfast, so we really weren't that hungry. I can't remember how much we paid, but probably close to that and I definitely thought it was worth it. One of the better stops on our trip last year.

 

We also got a punch for the kids and the adults could have a bit of rum in theirs. We got this just after we came back up the trail before we got back on the open air taxi's. We also thought that this was an excellent adventure and worth the price! Have fun.

[superbonnie]

We will have our GD with us in November and were wondering how difficult it will be to have her dad carry her down in a backpack carrier. He is a big strong guy. Also DH has had two knee replacements and one hip he gets around good but don't know how difficult the climb will be on him. What else is there to do in Tortola?

[jimswims]

We will have our GD with us in November and were wondering how difficult it will be to have her dad carry her down in a backpack carrier. He is a big strong guy. Also DH has had two knee replacements and one hip he gets around good but don't know how difficult the climb will be on him. What else is there to do in Tortola?

 

It is a clear trail and has been created for people to go down to the first beach. The trail is rocky and uneven. Sometimes you need to step on a rock and then down on to dirt. There are also tree limbs so a child in a back carrier may not be great. It may be just fine though.

 

There were plenty of passengers that stayed in Tortola and went to a beach or 2 there. We did not spend much time in Tortola so I cannot comment on what there is to do.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Leo Jay]

Did you think it is worth the $200 for a family of 4?

 

Yes. We paid $80pp for Carnival's excursion, and though we only got to spend maybe 2 hours on the beach, it was well worth it. Kids will love climbing through the caves.

 

As for keeping your camera dry, many camera manufacturers make underwater hard cases for various models, though they can be a bit pricey. I bought a DiCaPac underwater camera housing for my Nikon digital -- it was about $50 on eBay and worked very well. Many people recommend Aquapac cases as well. You can always buy disposable underwater cameras, as many do, but I don't like the idea of not knowing how well the pictures came out until I'm back home...