So confused - St. Lucia tours

[Signal Mtn]

We too traveled the horrible roads with Spencer's brother a few weeks ago. If we had it to over again, we would have taken a boat to Jalousie Beach. No bumpy roads and the beach is beautiful. Between the twin pitons. Unfortunately, after the ride over and a few stops (and the "volcano" ..... P.S. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY), we only had an hour at the beach but would have preferred the whole day. The folks we talked to said you can make arrangements outside the port to travel by water.

[suchmeister]

My family of four (wife, 14 and 12 year old children) just returned from our cruise to the Southern Caribbean the week of 4/5/09, which included a stop at St. Lucia. I, like many others on this board, spend a lot of time in researching tour operators for this island. While I note many have discussed Cosol's, Serenity Tours, Herod's and Spencer Ambrose I wish to recommend the one that we used on this trip (recommended by an individual on Trip Advisor):

A-Touring Services with service provided by Andre Joseph...Andre is more known to those that are staying on the island as opposed to a one-day cruise shore excursion.

The website is http://www.ataxiservicestlucia.com/index.html or e-mail at: josephdre913@hotmail.com

After e-mailing Andre we opted for the Andre Special - tour to Soufriere. The tour started at 8:30 am and we were back at the ship at 3:30 pm. The total cost was $40.00 per person and included refreshments including a home made rum punch. The van is new and in very good condition. The tour was private for our family with no other passengers. One of the nicest aspects of Andre is his knowledge of the island and his desire to share it with you...listen carefully, as he provides a verbal test towards the end of the tour!

The tour started with a drive through Castries and then to a Castries overlook for pictures, the University of St. Lucia - a former fort of French and British (his brother designed the school's crest), Marigot Bay, Anse La Ray and Canaries (fishing villages), drive through the rainforest, Diamond Botanical gardens ($5.00 p/p entry fee), Sulfur Spring Park (drive in volcano w/$5.00 p/p entry fee) and as much beach time as desired at Anse Chastenet (which is a 10 minute drive over unpaved and very bumpy roads). In addition Andre pointed out other areas of interesand also stopped along the way to purchase some cassava bread to taste - very delicious.

Andre does offer a variety of other tours and will customize the tour to your taste.

I was extremely pleased with his services and he deserves to be listed with those tour operators more known for ship tours.

[jrcuel]

We did Cosol in 3/09. Not a herd mentality at all. We had Cosol but heard from others who were happy with their drivers. Some with us requested Cosol specifically. Had more then enoug time at the bach for us. The food was good. Will do Cosol again next time in St Lucia.

[dz63]

On July 9, 2009, our family went on the West Coast Island Delight Tour with Spencer Ambrose. In order to stay ahead of the large cruise ship crowds, we were instructed to get off the ship as soon as possible. Even though we left the ship shortly after 8:00 am, we had a late start because Spencer was waiting for another family to show up. After waiting around for 35 minutes, Spencer decided that we couldn’t wait any longer, as any more time wasted would defeat the purpose of missing the large crowds, plus cut into the time needed to complete everything on the tour. Spencer felt really bad about leaving the other family behind, but felt it wasn’t fair for those of us that arrived on time to have our time sacrificed. About 1/2 hour into the tour, Spencer received a call from the missing family. They were not pleased that Spencer left without them!

 

Altogether there were 11 people on this tour. Our family and another couple toured with Spencer while another family went with Spencer’s brother Small. I cannot say enough good things about Spencer and his services—he was an awesome tour guide and by far the best tour guide from all the islands we visited on our Carnival Victory cruise! He really knows how to take care and look after his guests. He had a cooler stocked with soft drinks, water, beer and home-made rum punch which we could help ourselves to at any time. Our boys loved the access to the free coke!

 

Spencer was very accommodating and flexible and was willing to cater the tour to our interests. We wanted to see everything that was advertised in his tour as we have never been to St. Lucia before—even if it would mean shorter stops at places.

 

 

Our first stop was at a banana plantation. Here Spencer gave us some fresh delicious bananas to sample and explained the harvesting procedure.

 

 

After that we continued on our way and stopped at a high overlook at Anse la Raye. Here we could take pictures looking down onto a Fishing Village.

 

 

From there we saw the “snake man” standing on the side of the road with a large Boa Constrictor. Spencer asked if we wanted to stop and we all agreed—like I said we wanted to do everything--even though I do not particularly like snakes. This Boa Constrictor was picked up on a beach just the day before. (I’m glad I wasn’t on that beach!) The snake man encouraged us to touch the snake--my youngest did. We took a picture of it, tipped the man and then continued on.

 

 

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[dz63]

We made another stop at an overlook where we could see our first glimpse of the Pitons and the town of Soufriere. Even though the Pitons look like they are at the same height, one of them is actually 600 ft higher! My DH thought it would be a real adventure to climb the Piton—Spencer says that he would have to be crazy to do that!

 

 

We continued down the winding hillside and arrived at the Toraille Waterfall and Botanical Gardens.

 

 

 

After a short dip in the cool falls fed by spring water, Spencer pointed out some of the Botanical plants in the garden.

 

 

 

At the exit to the Waterfall, a lady was selling love apples. Spencer bought some of these apples for us to eat. I thought it had a similar consistency to that of a pear.

 

 

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[dz63]

From the Torialle Waterfall, Spencer took us to a local restaurant in Soufriere called the “Big Yard” for lunch. Spencer had called ahead to order the meals. We arrived at a rustic, open-air restaurant that looked like it was situated in the ruins of some old building. The front of the restaurant was open to the street and we could see chicken frying on a large grill. We passed through an opening in a stone wall and continued to the back of the building where colorful picnic tables and bar were set up. The ceiling was naturally constructed from some kind of vine that cascaded across and over the restaurant with long, string-like roots dangling down. This all added to its rustic charm.

 

 

 

Spencer’s brother Small and his group met up with all of us at the restaurant. Both Spencer and his brother proceeded to serve us. They brought us our meals and drinks and did not eat lunch themselves, until we were at Jalouise Beach, as their priority was to make sure all our needs were met first! They served us some delicious local cuisine which included grilled chicken, rice, potato salad, a noodle dish, and a potato-fish salad. The food was very good and flavorful.

 

 

Once we were back in the van, Spencer served us dessert--fresh Coconut Cakes which he bought from a stand near the Toraille Waterfalls. We were all pretty full from lunch but we did sample them. They also were very tasty.

 

Our next stop was Sulphur Springs—the world’s only drive-in volcano. Since we lost time in the morning waiting for a family to show up, we had limited time here. Spencer arranged for us to get a shortened 15 minute tour of the Sulphur Springs rather than the full 1/2 hour tour. This worked fine for all of us.

 

Sulphur Springs—although we can see some activity, the volcano is dormant

 

Amazingly, the sulfur smell was not as strong as I thought it would be. Spencer said that some days it is so strong, it makes your eyes water. I guess we were lucky to be there on a day when the smell was less putrid. Nonetheless, the boys still thought it smelled bad. My 14 year old actually pulled his shirt over his nose to mask the offensive odor. They say the sulfur smell is stronger at night, which actually is a good thing, because if the smell goes away. . .RUN!

 

 

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[dz63]

Our last stop was Jalouise Beach—a beautiful, white-sand tropical beach, lined with palm trees and nestled between the mighty and majestic Pitons.

Again we had limited time here and were only able to enjoy 45 minutes of paradise.

 

 

The boys swam out to a dock in the water. They had lots of fun jumping into the calm waters of the emerald and teal colored ocean.

 

 

 

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship. Spencer is very conscious of the time and it is his goal to get everyone back to the ship one hour prior to sailing. He said that if he had too, he would roll up his pants and go into the water to pull you out in order to get you back on time!

 

The roads are pretty winding heading back and my younger two sons were feeling a touch of motion sickness—or maybe the 5 bottles of coke they drank had something to do with it?!

 

Spencer made another stop to pick up some delicious, fresh from the oven, hot Creole bread, served with either peanut butter or cheese. Spencer was willing to make another stop to pick up jerk pork for us to eat, but we were all too stuffed to eat anything more. There certainly was no shortage of food on Spencer’s tour!

 

We arrived back at the cruise ship pier at 3:30 pm.

 

We had a wonderful day with Spencer. He is an awesome guide who offered us the best tour and service ever! Not only will his stories entertain you, but by the end of the tour you feel like you have gained a new friend. No wonder Spencer is such a well respected and popular man—you wouldn’t believe how often his phone rang! Spencer pays for all the admission fees and food and doesn’t require payment until the end of the tour. Be prepared to have fun and enjoy your best excursion ever, touring the beautiful and lush island of St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose!

 

cz

[JMS920]

WOW, great review! Spencer sounds wonderful! I'm looking forward to our stop in St. Lucia, in Dec. Thanks for the great pictures.

 

JoAnn

[thatcounts]

We just got back from Aug 16th sailing of AOS and we went with Herod's tours. They were basically the same stops with a few differences

We ate at Herod's house, his mother cooked the food and we got to meet and talk to his father, mother and Sister in law.

Also at Jalousie Beach we rented snorkle equipment for $10 and had a great time snorkeling

The other main difference was the trip back to the ship was by boat. Herod takes you back by way of boat - He stops in Marigot Bay (Mick Jagger, Whitney Houston ad other celbs have houses there) and then continues around the coast and drops you off right at the ship - with time to shop.

Some advise - if you plan on going under the waterfall (highly recommend it) the ground is very rocky - best to wear water shoes. Also the road is very windy and hilly so if motion sickness is a problem be sure to let them know and they will stop and rest.

The only thing I would do different is to ask them stop for a few minutes in one of the towns we went through so people could have shopped.

[engel0804]

We booked a tour with Cosol during our day in St. Lucia. We had 22 people and split into two groups. We had Cosol's brother Yellowbird. He is an amazing driver, you have to be in St. Lucia! Of all the excursions we did on our Cruise, this was by far my favorite. The tour through the island was informative, the stops for pictures, sightseeing and shopping were wonderful. After you have a fresh banana from the plantation, bananas back home will be ruined for you. The lunch was out of this world. The bannana ketchup/hot sauce mix gets two thumbs up! The fresh bread and cheese stop was great too! The water taxi was a new experience,a great way to travel. The beach was nice, the snorkeling was GREAT! We saw so many fish, lobster, sea slugs, and squid to name a few. I cant say enough about the value for your money on this tour.

[ken_nyc]

We booked a tour with Cosol during our day in St. Lucia. We had 22 people and split into two groups. We had Cosol's brother Yellowbird. He is an amazing driver, you have to be in St. Lucia! Of all the excursions we did on our Cruise, this was by far my favorite. The tour through the island was informative, the stops for pictures, sightseeing and shopping were wonderful. After you have a fresh banana from the plantation, bananas back home will be ruined for you. The lunch was out of this world. The bannana ketchup/hot sauce mix gets two thumbs up! The fresh bread and cheese stop was great too! The water taxi was a new experience,a great way to travel. The beach was nice, the snorkeling was GREAT! We saw so many fish, lobster, sea slugs, and squid to name a few. I cant say enough about the value for your money on this tour.

I have to agree...we returned from our August 16 - 23 cruise; though Cosol was not our guide, he was there at almost every stop to make sure we all were having a great time.

 

Banana Plantation - Our tour guide Baptiste showing us the tiny bananas growing at a banana plantation

 

Bananas in blue bags to slow down the ripening

 

Cosol cut some coconuts for us to drink from

 

Anse La-Raye

The snake man

 

[ken_nyc]

Canaries

 

Baptiste was our guide and he was personable and great! He also personally bought us coconut candy to try out!

 

Breakfast: Nereus unwrapping coconut cakes

 

local fish cakes, johnny cakes, coconut cakes and fruit, etc.

 

Cosol's fairly new vans

 

The Pitons, Soufriere, St. Lucia

[ken_nyc]

La Soufriere Drive-In Volcano

 

Botanical Gardens – Flora

 

Toraille Waterfall

 

Going around the base of the Pitons going to Jalousie Beach

[ken_nyc]

Snorkel area at Jalousie Beach

 

Soufriere

 

We had a great time with Cosol...it was in the top two all time excursions!

[dznymom]

Another fan of Spencer Ambrose here. We had an absolutely wonderful day with him, and enjoyed all of his stories as well as the beautiful places we visited and the delicious foods were stuffed ourselves with! Lunch, countless snacks and unlimited beverages were provided. One warning - Spencer's rum punch is not for the faint of heart!!

 

We were very comfortable, we never felt rushed and Spencer is a very, very good driver! Unlike Dominica, I never worried about falling off the road to my doom! St. Lucia and Spencer both get top marks from me :)

 

[bobterisch]

I so agree with this poster. We also took the advise of other posters last year before our B to B cruise. Cosol tours is probably the best tour we have ever done. What a wonderful day and packed full of things to do and places to visit. Very professional but alot of fun to boot. The vans (approx.8-10 people) were quite new, clean, A/C worked well. Truly couldn't find any fault with the tour. You will love going to the Piton's. Poster above is right that even though "Cosol" may not be YOUR driver, he is right there at every stop taking care of everyone. Plus he LOVES apples as they are very expensive in St. Lucia. So if you could "sneak" some off the ship and give them to Cosol he would really appreciate it. Go on the tour and enjoy !! You won't be sorry....:)

 

hi. i am going on my 2nd cruise and saw all the postings for Cosol tours. it looks great for the money. Do you kow of anyone that did not get back to their ship ontime?