Island tour-Antigua or St Lucia?

[IandY]

We are a group of 6 adults and two children aged 7 and 8 who will be cruising the Southern Caribbean next February. Given the varying interests and plans for our group over the duration of the cruise, it now appears that we will only be doing one "island tour" on this cruise, most likely either Antigua or St. Lucia.

We would be more interested in natural sights, not forts/distilleries/museums etc. and would also like to include some beach time. Lastly, we're trying to balance the fun factor for the kids as well as the adults who range in age from 30-50.

I've researched tours for both islands and there seems to be some excellent choices, we're just trying to figure out on which island would we get "more bang for our buck".

Thank you for any insight that can be offered.

I've also posted this on the "other Caribbean" board and the St Lucia board.

[blyle]

St Lucia offers a great variety of things to see, the Pitons, Volcano, Sulphur pools, waterfalls, hiking. We used SerenityTvl dot com and they serve both islands. If you use them ask John or Caroline to show you Barb and ED! We have 2 trees named after us! WE had a great time and could design our own tour. THey also have a toll free number.

[CBjack]

We just returned from a cruise on Carnival Victory that included both islands.

 

St. Lucia, hands down.

 

However, do be prepared for some VERY twisty/up-and-down roads. They were in great shape when we were there, but if there's 20 feet of straight road outside any of the towns, I'd be surprised. And constant up and down.

 

It's far and away the prettiest island, and has a great variety of things to see and do. We didn't do any beach time, but understand that they're outstanding too.

 

Our driver was Winson Edward (http://www.winsontaxiservice.com/) He was outstanding.

[Aplmac]

St.Lucia is your island tour day.

 

Antigua is your beach day.

.

[Antiguan]

St. Lucia is beautiful and more likely to rain with all those mountains so i do agree with the others. Drive in St. Lucia and go boating to the off shore islands or taxi to a beach in Antigua.

[YoPhilly]

I agree with the other posters....Antigua has better beaches than St. Lucia, and St. Lucia has more natural attractions. I recommend a beach day in Antigua and the tour of St. Lucia. Enjoy!!

[IandY]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Your help is much appreciated.

Scott

[cruisingforsix]

Hi, we will be in Antigua in jan. and were looking at eli's eco tour. it looks like it is an all day tour which is okay if we are not missing anything else. we like to snorkel so it looked like it was great for that . we were in Antigua in2003 and as i recall there is not alot of shopping and i believe the area around the ships shuts down and gets very quiet in the afternoon. i'm hoping someone can refresh my memory and also if you know anything about eli's tours or any other tour companies. we are planning to go to the pitons and soufriere(hope i spelled that correctly) , in st. lucia ,is that agood trip? Thanks

[Graylar]

Book Cosol tours and you won't be dissatisfied. He provided breakfast, lunch, drinks, all the beautiful sights, water taxi ride to Jalousie Resort and was loads of fun. Antigua a beautiful island but is also a good day at the beach.

[Ron98GT]

St Lucia with Cosol.

[HarperSays]

We just returned from Carnival Victory. We went on island tours in both St. Lucia and Antigua. I did not care for the Antigua tour - not much to see around the island. We went with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and it was one of our favorite tours ever. Spencer was awesome and fed us so much food we didn't want anything once we got back on the ship. He stopped at alot of different places to see a boa constrictor, views of the Pitons, drive in volcano, lunch and then he took us on a water taxi to beautiful Jalousie Beach. You won't be disappointed with Spencer or St. Lucia.

[SOPOME]

We just returned from Carnival Victory. We went on island tours in both St. Lucia and Antigua. I did not care for the Antigua tour - not much to see around the island.

 

K&MLUV2TRAVEL: I'm surprised you didn't care for the Antigua Tour. Who did you tour with and for how long?

[HarperSays]

K&MLUV2TRAVEL: I'm surprised you didn't care for the Antigua Tour. Who did you tour with and for how long?

 

We went with Lawrence of Antigua and we went to English Harbour, Shirley Heights and Nelsons Dockyard then to Turner's Beach. I really wanted to see Devils Bridge which I thought was on the tour, but wasn't. He ended up taking us there since that's all I wanted to see. After going with Spencer in St. Lucia and Levi in Dominica, this tour was a let down.

[Host Faith]

We are a group of 6 adults and two children aged 7 and 8 who will be cruising the Southern Caribbean next February. Given the varying interests and plans for our group over the duration of the cruise, it now appears that we will only be doing one "island tour" on this cruise, most likely either Antigua or St. Lucia.

We would be more interested in natural sights, not forts/distilleries/museums etc. and would also like to include some beach time. Lastly, we're trying to balance the fun factor for the kids as well as the adults who range in age from 30-50.

I've researched tours for both islands and there seems to be some excellent choices, we're just trying to figure out on which island would we get "more bang for our buck".

Thank you for any insight that can be offered.

I've also posted this on the "other Caribbean" board and the St Lucia board.

 

 

I agree with the previous posters- you want to take an island tour of St. Lucia, and enjoy the beach in Antigua.

 

I just returned from a S. Caribbean cruise that stopped at both islands, and I just had to recommend the tours we took on each island. I kept commenting to my husband that, should we return to either island for an extended family trip, I would book the tours for just our family.

 

St. Lucia- contact Spencer Ambrose. He is a retired policeman who worked on the island for years, so he is well known on the island and we felt very secure with him. He has a van that can hold about 10 people. He takes you on a tour of the island, and lunch and beverages are included. An incredible trip. You can take a look at the St. Lucia forum and find that he is highly regarded and highly recommended. If you contact him, tell him Chrystal Anderson said hello:D.

 

Antigua- (if your family loves to swim and likes smaller boats)- Creole Cruises. Picked up right from the cruise ship dock. It's a lobster lunch cruise, where they take you on a 30 minute ride to Bird Island, making a couple stops along the way to show you some important sites. You go snorkeling, have lunch and beach time on the deserted island (fresh grilled lobster right on the beach, with pasta, potato, and veggie salads), and get to hike to the top of the island (I did this in flip-flops- not recommended but doable:o). After lunch, you head to another snorkeling spot in a starfish garden. An incredible day that would be awesome to share with just your family. We saw another tour on Bird Island that was booked through the ship, and they were jealous because they just got sandwiches and soda (with less time to snorkle), and we got lobster, salads, coconut macaroons, and rum punch....for LESS than what they paid!! it's also a smaller tour. We were a group of 12.

 

You can't beat either tour. Let me know if you need more info. Enjoy!!!