canadagal Posted November 21, 2006 #1 Share Posted November 21, 2006 From searching the net I am guessing that the Hal snorkel shore excursion to St. John is on the same boat that was previously named the Leylon Sneed, a 115 ft. replica of a Chesapeake Bay Oyster Boat. For those of you that have taken the Hal excursion or been on the Leylon Sneed to Trunk Bay how difficult was it to get off the boat once it was anchored offshore at the beach. I have read reports that you have 3 choices, jump off the back of the boat into the water, climb down a ladder into the water or they will take you in a dinghy to the beach if you do not care to get wet. My friend is not that agile and after looking at pictures of the boat it looks really high from the water line and the ladders look really steep. I wanted to know how one would get into the dinghy.......surely not by climbing down the same ladders. That would mean that really young kids and seniors might not get on shore or in the water. Any info on this shore excursion and boat would be really appreciated as no where does it mention how to get off of the boat once it is moored. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted November 21, 2006 Author #2 Share Posted November 21, 2006 This shore excursion above is also called the 5 Star St. John Snorkel & Beach Adventure on all of the different cruiselines excursion pages if that helps jog anyone's memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lka1012 Posted November 22, 2006 #3 Share Posted November 22, 2006 I will be on that tour on Dec 10. So if you do not get a reply before then (or if you are not on it before then) I will post and let you knowl Also, will try to post pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted November 23, 2006 Author #4 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Thanks kindly! That would be great as we are not going until end of January. Looking forward to your reply in December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted December 11, 2006 Author #5 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I guess you are still on your cruise but I'm hoping you were able to take this excursion and report back soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted December 26, 2006 Author #6 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Kathy you must be back by now. Probably busy with the holidays but I'd love to hear your impressions of the excursion...... Or anyone that has done this excursion, can you post please about the 5 Star St. John Snorkel and Beach Excursion. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montanagirljen Posted January 6, 2007 #7 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I went on this snorkel adventure over the Christmas holiday... It was fantastic! One of the highlights of the trip. The crew was great and the snorkeling was a lot of fun. I even saw a sea turtle. I would highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted January 8, 2007 Author #8 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I went on this snorkel adventure over the Christmas holiday... It was fantastic! One of the highlights of the trip. The crew was great and the snorkeling was a lot of fun. I even saw a sea turtle. I would highly recommend it. Hi, it sounds great but can you elaborate on how it was for getting off the boat when at St. John. Was there a platform you stepped on or was it stairs..and how steep......or was it like some of the reviews in the past where people just rolled off the back like Jacques Cousteau with his wet gear on. How hard was it for seniors or small children to climb into the dinghy that took them to the beach or get into the water to snorkel? Don't want to do this excursion if some have to be left behind due to the difficulty of getting into the water or the dinghy and the shore excursion explanation does not say much. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cprofits Posted February 17, 2007 #9 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I'm thinking of doing it with my young children. I thought it would be a good opportunity for DH to be able to snorkel while the kids and I hang out on the beach. I'd be interested in hearing about the beach they take you to and as the previous poster asked, about the dinghy they use to transport you to the beach. I'm traveling with two young children and if it is a considerable distance, we will not be able to swim with them to the beach. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted February 17, 2007 Author #10 Share Posted February 17, 2007 As the original poster I guess I'll end up anwering my own question as we did end up taking this excursion after all at the beginning of Feb. The boat is very large and there is lots of room to roam around on it and get out of the sun and into the shade and A/C if need be. They provide fresh water showers, a washroom and a little snack bar. Rum punch was served complementary after the snorkeling. It is a very smooth and quick way of getting over to Trunk Bay Beach and you don't feel like you were jam packed in with lots of people elbowing you........plenty of chairs and seats to be had. We ended up choosing this excursion as it is the first boat to arrive at Trunk Bay before the crowds hit. All the other excursions leave later in the day. The crew was very good and helpful especially when it came to getting down that ladder into the dinghy and beaching the dinghy at Trunk Bay. The majority of people opted to take the dinghy into the beach so there was a bit of a line up waiting to board the dinghy. Those that wanted to snorkel near the boat just jumped off of the back of the boat or there was another ladder to go down just for snorkelers. I estimate that it took at least a good half hour to get all of the people over to the beach if not longer. I am not good with heights and ladders but I did manage to get down the one they provide and into a rubber dinghy and over to the beach. This ladder was like a metal step ladder you would use at home but attached to the side of the boat. It was about 6 feet long and the wrungs were far enough apart and of the depth that you could actually get your feet on them......again it was just like a metal step ladder you would find in any Home Depot etc. There was a crew member at the top of the ladder to help you and also the dinghy captain at the bottom of the ladder to help you get into the boat and hold your beach bag, flippers etc. Once at the bottom of the ladder you have to step onto the side of the rubber dinghy and into the boat. If you are not too agile then some people did step onto the dinghy and literally bounced into the floor of the boat and of course got all wet and looked embarassed. The dinghy's held 4 pax and their beach bags etc. and the fellow driving the dinghy. Be advised that you should take nothing into the dinghy that you don't want to get wet as it will get wet. The floor of the dinghy had a couple of inches of water in it and after seeing how we beached at Trunk Bay and the waves hitting the boat I can understand why it had water in it. We were on one of the first boat loads dropped off at the beach so it was okay getting into the boat and out of it. However as time passed with each boat load the rollers started to come in and it got increasingly difficult for the pax to get out of the boat and onto the beach. The crew later said that if they had of known that it was so rough over at Trunk that they would have headed somewhere else to snorkel. The dinghy drops you at the far end of Trunk Bay......not near the end where the snorkel trail is. Because we only had an hour or so here depending on when the dinghy dropped you they advised us not to go snorkeling down at the trail as we would not have time. My husband of course went down anyhow and did manage to snorkel some of the trail but I stayed put on the beach. It was just too rough to snorkel for me let alone get in the water to swim. I've been to Trunk Bay about 5 times before and I have never seen it that rough before. I would say that the majority of pax never got in the water that went to the beach due to the waves breaking. However if you snorkeled right off of the boat then it was much calmer. As I sat on the beach watching the last boat load disembark from the dinghy it was quite apparent that the fellows were having a a hard time controlling the dinghy in the waves and that the last couple of boat loads of people literally fell out of the dinghy and onto the beach and into the water. Again, it's just luck of the draw I guess as when we landed it was calm and I was able to just step out onto the beach and none of our belongings got wet. However over that time period of about 40 minutes it was amazing to watch how the breakers started to come rolling in and that's when both my hubby and I decided that we better get back into the dinghy and back on the boat before it got too bad. Once we were back on board, hubby went and snorkeled off the boat which he said was much better and I headed for the rum punch. If it's calm out then this trip is accessible to the beach for almost anyone unless you have a mobility problem. I think the youngest person that climbed down that ladder looked about 7 and the oldest was in their late 70's. Again , it's all what you are comfortable with doing and how agile you are. I hesitated at first because of the height from the top of the boat where you get onto the ladder and from where you actually step into the dinghy...I don't like heights...but with the crews prompting......I made it just fine. Coming back up the ladder is easier then going down in my opinion. This was a great outing and even if I never left the boat it still would have been worth it just to anchor close to Trunk Bay and sunbathe on the deck and drink in all of that beautiful scenery. I would definately take this excursion again in the hopes that the water would be more calmer the next time. Hope this helps some of you. Just remembered, they had 2 dinghys to take you to shore. Any questions?.....just ask away. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cprofits Posted February 17, 2007 #11 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I'm trying to decide whether to do this excursion or the champagne catamaran to Trunk Bay excursion. We will be in St. Thomas with seven other ships. Accordingly, I feel it's important to book a ship's sponsored excursion because of the potential for extra heavy traffic and scarcity of taxis. This excursion would be about $100 cheaper than the catamaran, they both are departing roughly at the same time and both last 4 hours. I'm also not inclined to drink the cheap champagne they will provide and we really won't be drinking much of anything because of the kids. My children are 6 and 3 years old. I'm sure the 6 year old could traverse the ladder with one of us directly underneath her but I'm worried the 3 year old would need to be carried down the ladder. I guess the catamaran would sit much closer to the water. I've never been to Trunk Bay. Are there any facilities where they drop you off? chairs, umbrellas to rent, beverages to purchase? Thank you for your reply. Would you happen to have a picture of the boat? Do you remember roughly how long it took to sail to your anchoring spot? Just trying to get a general idea of how much beach time we will actually have. Especially since you stated the dinghy only held 4 people and it took a very long time getting everyone to the beach that wanted to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted February 18, 2007 Author #12 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I didn't take any photos but there is one I found on the net that shows the dinghys ( they are white) beside the boat. I'll post the link below. You need to scroll through their holiday pics until almost the end. They took 2 pics of the Leylon Sneed. One onboard looking out to sea and one from a distance where you can actually see the ladders. Be patient as it takes a while to load all of their pictures. The boat itself looks like an old scow and an old fishing boat but it really is fine and in good repair. It just is not romantic and photo genic like a catamaran is. Yes, there is a refreshment stand at Trunk Bay......they sell, sodas, french fries, etc. There is a locker rental and a changing area with showers too. You can rent snorkel equipement also. Umbrellas and chairs are not for rent because Trunk Bay is part of the national park system and they decided that having chairs and umbrellas dotting the beach would spoil the view.......I have to agree with them. That's one of the nice things about Trunk Bay it still looks pristine and not like Princess Cay or one of those other built up beaches. I don't know what cruiseline you are going on but we were on Hal and when the shore excursions were offered online for booking there were few to TrunkBay. However, once we were onboard the ship we saw another excursion offered through the shore excursion desk that would be better suited to young children and those that don't want to brave any ladders. It was on a private ferry (cruiseline pax only) taking you over to the island of St. John. Once there you board open air buses for a short ride to Trunk Bay where you can snorkel or just lay on the beach. This excursion left at 10:00 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. and would probably have been just arriving when we were pulling up anchor. I think most of the excursions allow between 1 and 1 1/2 hours time at Trunk Bay. It all depends on how long it takes to get there. It took us about 40 minutes on the Leylon Sneed. Link below: http://www.clubphoto.com/perl/app.pl/albums/large_image_view?id=709001&link_code=sa01_17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKB Posted February 19, 2007 #13 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Thinking about taking this excursion and have one question. Other snorkel excursions state the snorkel equipment is provided but this tour does not mention it. Does anyone know if the gear is provided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagal Posted February 19, 2007 Author #14 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Yes, the gear is provided as well as blow up life vests. We usually pack only our prescription masks and mouthpiece and use the excursion's flippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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