one.new.island.a.year

This is too late for the OP, but for anyone else, we took this tour in Jan 2023. We had about an hour at the botanical gardens and 30 minutes at the beach. The water was chilly and waves a bit rough, so 30 minutes was ok. If the weather was different, we would have wanted more beach time. We spent a LOT of time on the bus. The gardens were nice. We followed a one-way path and saw colorful birds and flamingos along the way. Many of the plans and trees were labeled (in French). There was also a waterfall and koi pond. They offered a small snack, but I’d recommend bringing water and a small snack or granola bar if you need it. Remember to bring Euros if you plan to make any purchases or tip. It was a nice way to see the island. There is not much to see in the port area. If you don’t book this tour, I’d recommend booking another ship tour for this port.

We had a different experience. We were supposed to go “beach hopping” to Sandy Spit and JVD (Sandy Dollar). They were supposed to return at 4pm, but our all-aboard time was 4:30, so we asked them to bring us back at 3:45 (15 mins early). When we got to the Soggy Dollar, the captain said we had until 2pm, which was a LOT of time. When we got back on the cat, he said there wasn’t enough time for a second stop. So we basically had a catamaran ferry to the Soggy Dollar. I was disappointed. The catamaran was nice, the crew was professional. They served drinks, water, and crackers. They brought out a light lunch/snacks when we were getting off the cat to swim ashore, but the crew finished all the food while we were ashore, so there were only crackers for a snack. Drinks included beer, truly, rum punch, water, soda. It was a nice day, so I hate being negative, but I would recommend confirming the itinerary and setting your expectations before you leave the dock. I expected a second beach stop.

We did a 2-week land vacation to Hawaii last summer (June ‘22) and loved it! We had many early morning & evening experiences that we would have missed if we were on a cruise. Enjoy!

Is there a charge to use the machines? Do I need to bring coins or can we use our medallion?

Thank you for this! Super helpful to know what to pack.