Basse Terre ~ Ships Excursion or On-our-own?

We will be in Basse Terre in two weeks for the day. I am not really overjoyed with the ship excursions offered on this sailing. However, I have read posts that discourage exploring on your own. Does anyone have recent experience with either option?

We were just in Guadeloupe after Christmas (on Norwegian Dawn). We had originally picked the mangrove tour with snorkeling, but it was cancelled due to high winds. So we picked another tour to the Cousteau Reserve instead. It included stop at a waterfall (crowded), glass bottom boat (nice), and snorkeling (weird). The whole tour was rushed -- not sure why they were racing to get it done. As with any tour booked through the cruise line, you're stuck with a big group. I had tried to find tours directly through Internet ahead of time -- but everything was either booked, or they didn't respond.

Guadeloupe is also expensive (Euro Zone).

Bottom Line: I wish I had more helpful advice. It was one of the weirder shore excursion days we've had. Did not try to explore outside the port at all.

Thank you. We are on a ship’s tour that just does the waterfalls and one stop. On our Seabourn cruise next week. We also explored on your own options with no success. We had already been to Guadeloupe and knew the port was not worth the stop. A sea day would be preferable.

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One challenge is that Guadaloupe is French and much of the research is in French. There are books about Caribbean ports. There is this blog article. Sure, she also recommends her ebook, which is at least in English. http://guadeloupeguide.com/cruise-ship-visitors-guide-one-day-in-guadeloupe/

Rental car to Basse Terre may suit you. As it is France, driving is like ours. More standards than automatics, however. Expectations vary, but there are accessible beaches or 'do the town' and museum.

We took Seabourn’s shore excursion to the waterfalls with a stop at a plantation rum factory. So glad we saw the beautiful countryside. Our guide had a slight French accent and was excellent. We are so glad we took the tour. I would not recommend driving yourself. The roads are excellent, but the driving could be confusing with the signs in French. The tourist board definitely is trying hard to make things more comfortable for tourists. I’m glad we visited Guadeloupe.

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We have decided to rent a car and head out on our own in two weeks. I don't speak French so it might be tricky but the rental car woman said she will have a map for us and worst case scenario, I can turn my phone on and use GPS. I also have downloaded Google Translate app which will translate offline in case we get into a pinch. We'll see how it goes but we want to see the Botanical Gardens, the Cousteau park and the rain forest. There's also a waterfall they say is great but that may be too much for one day to do all of that.