ST. Vincent Tours?????

[AliceS]

Please recommend a good tour in St. Vincent. Thank you.

[Host Joe]

We were just in St. Vincent on Sea Princess. We did a wonderful tour with Wayne, and I found him through many recommendations on these boards.

 

He has a very new boat that seats about 28 people that goes very fast, which was fun. He and his crew were very pleasant and accomadating. He picked us up right at the pier, then took us along the coastline for views that were fantastic! We went to a section of beach that was a lava flow years ago and we looked for "crystals". I found quite a few, and that was really fun. Then, we went to the set that was used in Pirates of the Caribbean for a fantastic lunch. After lunch, we went to a black sand beach for some of the best snorkeling that I have ever done! The tour last from 9am until about 4pm.

 

I hope that gives anyone that is looking for something to do in St. Vincent a good option!

[Host Joe]

I just found Wayne's email address, he does not answer emails but calls on the phone. So remember to include your phone number where you can be reached. All this email does is to pass along information for him but he will not usually respond to the emails.

 

prosec@caribsurf.com (be sure to put something in the email subject line that says it is to Wayne about the St. Vincent tours, it helps to contact him quicker.)

[Toto2Kansas]

Wayne's tour in St. Vincent is the best of the best. We have taken it three times, the last being in December 2006. One of the greatest private tours we have ever been on in the Caribbean.

 

Wayne and his crew are so knowledgeable and each time we go, I always learn something new as he narrates the entire day as you pass each different area. The water is fantastic in St. Vincent, the Pirates of the Caribbean set and lunch are always great, no matter how many times we visit. And the stop for swimming/snorkeling at the black sand beach is the greatest way to end the day.

Sometimes we have been very lucky, depending on the time of year, and even followed dolphins at a distance close enough to see them, but not too close to scare them away.

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to see the coastline of St. Vincent and historical sites along the water, whether they find swimming to their liking or not, either way, it is one of the best.

[Calif Cruisers]

We just got back from the Sea Princess and our tour with Wayne was probably the favorite excursion for all 25 PAX on our trip. It was a perfect day with perfect weather. Wayne told us about St Vincent and pointed out many areas of interest along one of the most beautiful coastlines we have seen. What was fun was that we saw the island by land and sea so we left feeling like we really got to experience St. Vincent.

 

Wayne was very friendly and everyone enjoyed the fresh fish of the day or the chicken for lunch. There was a place to buy Pirates of the Caribbean souvineers as well as local jewelry. Always nice to have time to shop!!

 

We liked everything about this tour: scouting for crystals, riding in a speed boat, snorkelling on a deserted black sand beach, lunch on the Pirates of Caribbean set plus the informative & entertaining narration and did I mention the RUM PUNCH? This delicious and potent drink was enjoyed by all!! The ginger drink was delicious too.

 

We would definitely do this tour again if we are lucky enough to have St. Vincent as a future port.

[AliceS]

Thank you everyone, sounds like a winner!

[curiousx]

another option is to go with Fantasea Tours that will take you on a fast boat to the nearby island of Bequia - lovely beaches, nice beachbars, good snorkelling, very laid back, http://www.fantaseatours.com/tour_14.html

[Toto2Kansas]

I just received a phone call from Wayne in St. Vincent. He wanted me to pass along a big thank you to all of those Princess passengers that have booked and taken his tour in the past. He realizes that Princess has very few stops in St. Vincent in the future, but just wanted me to pass along his thank you to all that have enjoyed the day with him.

 

Hopefully, Princess will again add this to their ports of call and we can again enjoy a delightful day with Wayne and his assistants.

[mamaofami]

Are there any good beaches you would suggest in St. Vincent?

[Toto2Kansas]

We have always taken Wayne's tour, which included a great Black Sand Beach. I think access to any beach would have to be by boat or catamaran. We have visited St. Vincent three times now and never have seen a decent beach accessible, except by boat.

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi - We have booked Wayne's Tour for our stop on the Legend of the Seas Transatlantic this December.

 

He just called my house and we had a nice chat. You are right, he prefers to call instead of answering e-mails. He seems very nice.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful recommendations on this board. It is such a great resource and it has helped us have some amazing adventures.

 

Sandra

[Toto2Kansas]

Sandra, I know you will love his tour, he is a great guide and knows all the right places. When he called here the other day, he told me to keep my fingers crossed as supposedly (notice that word supposedly) St. Vincent is planning to clean up the Falls of Balaine sometime soon. They are a great spot and when they are open, Wayne includes them on the tour. A short hike, but if they clean up the land slides, it should make it easier. Hopefully, what he heard was true and they will get busy clearing the way, they really are worth a visit.

Enjoy your cruise, and say hello to Wayne for all of us that can't seem to find a way to get back to St. Vincent, now that Princess seems to have cut it from most of the itinearys. :(

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi Toto

 

Thanks - yes, he did mention the waterfalls. I love swimming under a waterfall. It has to be one of the most romantic things around. My husband unfortunately likes to climb up behind them and jump in. I always hold my breath and close my eyes.

 

I will definitely say hello to him for you and I will tell him you are trying to find a way to visit St. Vincent again. Too bad about Sea Princess changing her itinerary. That will impact the ecomony there.

 

Take care.

[Host Karen]

I just found Wayne's email address, he does not answer emails but calls on the phone. So remember to include your phone number where you can be reached. All this email does is to pass along information for him but he will not usually respond to the emails.

 

prosec@caribsurf.com (be sure to put something in the email subject line that says it is to Wayne about the St. Vincent tours, it helps to contact him quicker.)

 

We just returned from a sailing on Azamara Quest and one of our port stops was St. Vincent. We put together 24 Cruise Critic folks and spent the day with Captain Wayne and Harvey. What a fabulous time! We cruised up the coast of the island as Wayne pointed out significant sights (including the volcano), stopped at a lava bed, had lunch at the "Pirates of the Caribbean" set, went searching for dolphins and whales (finally saw some on the way back to the ship) and went snorkeling. Unfortunately, the waves were a little high that day so the water wasn't its usual crystal clear blue, but we saw a lot of fish nevertheless.

 

I would highly recommend Captain Wayne. You can contact him through the e-mail address Host Joe listed above. Be certain to include a phone number so he can call you back.

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi - We just did Wayne's tour too - It was awesome.

[curiousx]

Are there any good beaches you would suggest in St. Vincent?

 

Brighton Beach and Salt Pond. Any taxidriver can take you there. pack a picnic and water - there are no facilities. It's usually pretty deserted. Make sure you arrange for your pick up in advance!

[123cwm]

It sounds from everything I've read that Waynes tour is the only way to see St. Vincent...but we have an almost 3 yr old with us. Would this tour be appropriate for him?? Does the Rum punch get out of hand or would it be a family friendly tour? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)

[Toto2Kansas]

It sounds from everything I've read that Waynes tour is the only way to see St. Vincent...but we have an almost 3 yr old with us. Would this tour be appropriate for him?? Does the Rum punch get out of hand or would it be a family friendly tour? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)

 

The rum punch all depends on the group. Out of all the times we have taken this tour, the last one in January has been the only one I would actually call 'family friendly' because of the alcohol involved, we had very few drinkers on this last tour, and we actually had two boats full of cruise critic members. ;)

 

Last time I talked with Wayne about smaller children on his tour (just a few months ago in fact), which we discussed at length, he told me he didn't feel his boat was 'small children friendly' enough for the little ones and would prefer children to be between 8-10 years plus for this tour. Remember, this is a speed boat and all but the restaurant stop is swim or float to shore also. There are times if the water is rough, it would be a bit much for the little ones. And again, there is all that rum punch flowing like a waterfall.

 

Personally, I agree with Wayne's feeling on this, and of coarse, he is the captain. Wayne's Tour is more of an adult and older children type of tour. Sorry, just wanted to be honest with you!

[Aplmac]

Last time I talked with Wayne about smaller children on his tour (just a few months ago in fact)

he told me he didn't feel his boat was 'small children friendly' enough for the little ones

and would prefer children to be between 8-10 years plus for this tour.

Remember, this is a speed boat and all but the restaurant stop is swim or float to shore also.

There are times if the water is rough, it would be a bit much for the little ones.

And again, there is all that rum punch flowing like a waterfall.

 

Personally, I agree with Wayne's feeling on this, and of coarse, he is the captain.

Wayne's Tour is more of an adult and older children type of tour.

Sorry, just wanted to be honest with you!

No need to be apologetic for giving 'Real' feedback and info.

 

Far from seeming negative, it's very helpful.

Much appreciated. Thank you.

[js1357]

Please recommend a good tour in St. Vincent. Thank you.

We were on the Grand Princess in February, 2009. We made arrangements ahead of time with sam-taxi-tours@caribsurf.com. We said we wanted to see the countryside and had a fantastic time. Our tour guide's name was Roger. They did not require payment until the tour was over.

[Jeepers385]

We recently used Wayne and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I definitely would not say his tour is kid friendly for young ones only because of the stops for swimming and snorkeling. The day we were their the tides were very strong and going ashore to the lava tube had a very strong undertow. He tries to get as close as he can to the shoreline but as strong as our current was he was still out a little ways.

Our first stop was the lava tube and some people requested the tubes and we found a lot of crystals and great coral pieces that washed up to the shore.

Our second stop for snorkeling was beautiful. Again we had strong currents and the tide was pushing us strong to the shoreline. A lot of people found sand dollars and a lot of fish and coral were to be seen.

Lunch was great but as with anything else the weather has started to deteriorate the set of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Wayne had a great idea of someone putting up the money and really turning that area into a tourist spot as it was when the movie was filming, not so much with hotels but just rebuilding the sets.

We met others from our ship where we had lunch, they took a private tour and said the roads were very windy but had a great time but they said we looked like we were having a better time, lol.

Enjoy.

[bigskygirl]

Debbie,

 

Since you have the most recent experience with Wayne's Tour, would you tell me how much the tour cost and how long was it?

 

Do you set up a meeting time when you talk to him on the phone? Do you give him credit card info to hold a reservation?

 

Thanks

[ocnlvr3]

Bigskygirl- We just returned from our Grand Princess cruise and did Waynes Tour. I was the one who contacted him for our CC group. The price was $75 per person. We all had a terrific time and I would definately recommend him to anyone looking for a great informative fun day!

 

 

Andrea

[Toto2Kansas]

Debbie,

 

Since you have the most recent experience with Wayne's Tour, would you tell me how much the tour cost and how long was it?

 

Do you set up a meeting time when you talk to him on the phone? Do you give him credit card info to hold a reservation?

 

Thanks

 

Not Debbie, but I can answer your question. ;)

 

Price is normally around $75 pp for the tour, but this can also depend on how large the tour group is, smaller group could mean a slight incease in price. Full boat, that is normally the charge. Wayne has a minimum number for the tour of 12, and maximum number for his boat 24. Although if you have a larger group, he can arrange for a second boat.

 

No money up front and you don't need a credit card to secure the booking. You can either call or email him to set up your tour date and number of passengers. He will then call and confirm the tour. Website is here: http://whalbich.googlepages.com/home Wayne also has another phone number where he can be reached in St. Vincent: 315-608-7118

 

One thing we have also found is that the larger the tour group, the more chances we have of a few dropping out at the last minute. But we have always been able to find others onboard the ship wanting to join, so we at times have a waitlist on the pier of extra passengers (just in case there is room because of no shows).

 

It's a great tour, and we have sailed with Captain Wayne 5 or 6 times now, and we always book his tour when we visit St. Vincent, as it is one of the best! Enjoy!

[Jeepers385]

Debbie,

 

Since you have the most recent experience with Wayne's Tour, would you tell me how much the tour cost and how long was it?

 

Do you set up a meeting time when you talk to him on the phone? Do you give him credit card info to hold a reservation?

 

Thanks

 

Bigskygirl, sorry haven't been able to access the boards the past couple of days but Andrea & Toto answered your questions.

We were charged $80 because we all wanted lunch, w/o lunch was $75 but for $5 the lunch was delicious and plentiful. Oh if you want something to drink you pay extra for that but it was only $3 for a soda and water.

He picked us up at the dock at 9:00 and we got back to the dock around 3:00ish. We had someone on our roll call that set up the tour with Wayne and we all signed on with him. We originally were to have 24 people but 2 backed out last minute and somehow 2 got lost from the cruise ship to the dock. How that happened I have no clue because you walk off the ship through a little store area and then his boat is on the left as you exit the stores. Couldn't miss him if you tried, lol.

At the end of the trip Wayne collected and only took cash.

If you go enjoy and you won't be disappointed.