Shore excursions on the 10 day eastern itinerary

[stuNYC]

Any experiences with shore excursions or best beaches at the following ports would be appreciated

 

Nassau

 

San Juan

 

St Thomas/St John

 

St Barts

 

St Martin

 

Tortola

 

Grand Turks

 

 

Sailing on January 8th

[new_cruiser]

For San Juan, it depends when you will be in port - walking in Old San Juan including visits to the forts is good. Some of the ships get in fairly late and the forts close at 5 PM I think. If you are there for the day, a visit to the rain forest is nice. We went with a private guide who took us on a nice hike.

 

For St. Thomas/St. John, we really enjoyed a day sail with Captain Kathleen:

http://pws.prserv.net/sailhighpockets/

If you want to snorkel, something like this is particularly nice as she can take the current conditions into account to take you where the snorkeling is good that day.

 

Another alternative for snorkeling and beach time is to go on your own to St. John with taxi/ferry. See the St. Thomas board for information on how to get there - the ferry will take you to Cruz Bay. If you want to snorkel, check with the Park Information center in Cruz Bay on where the conditions are good. Last time we were there, it was too rough at some beaches but the next beach over or the other side of the island can have a better exposure and be fine.

 

Saint Maarten - This was a really good place to rent a car. We did and went almost entirely around the island with a stop for coffee and pastry in Marigot, a visit to the fort, a stop to see Orient Beach and then some beach time at Dawn Beach. A lot of people go to Orient Beach which is definately the place if you want an active beach scene. We liked the quiter Dawn Beach. Some days there are a lot of ships in port, so if you do rent a car or take taxis, plan to return early to allow for traffic.

 

Saint Barts - The town is nice to wander through but the shops are really expensive. I went scuba diving here so I didn't spend much time on the island. Beaches near Gustavia are St Jean (which you need to take a taxi to get to) and Shell Beach which you can walk to. My friend went to Shell Beach and it had okay snorkeling. You can rent a car but it is pretty hilly so taxi might be a better idea. We did a taxi tour of the island (about 2 hours) which had great views. Be prepared for a pretty thick French accent - we enjoyed our tour but another group complained that they couldn't understand what their driver was saying.

[JanMD]

We just got off. Stay away from the Highlights of Tortola if you have to tender in! We were supposed to start at 1, and did not even start the tour until 3! Got to the beach as the sun was setting.

 

St. Barts- go to St. Jean beach. The second time we were there, we took a cab ride around the island and then they dropped us off at the beach and came back and picked us up. Don't forget to shop!

[stuNYC]

For the benefit of those who are yet to sail, can someone post a recent review of their cruise. Thanks for the tips JanMD and others