Is Cosol in St. Lucia as good as people say??

[texkan]

Thanks for the info, Texkan! I'll take your advice and wear my swimsuit under my clothes. I ususally hate wearing wet stuff under my cover-up, but I guess I'll suck it up for this one day. :)

 

Your suit will dry fast in the warm sunshine. Have fun.

[hjrell]

Snorkel equipment is sterilized (sort of). I bring my own. Cosol has advised that snorkel equipment is $10 per person.

 

Ok, that did not exactly make me feel better! :) Still debating what to do about that...do they sell mouth pieces seperately that we could purchase and bring along just that piece?

[texkan]

Ok, that did not exactly make me feel better! :) Still debating what to do about that...do they sell mouth pieces seperately that we could purchase and bring along just that piece?

 

I am sorry I did not make you feel good. I purchased my own mask and snorkel tube because of that fact and if you snorkel enough you (IMO) would save money owning your own.

 

I would suggest you go to your local dive shop to inquire about mouthpiece and tube or look at dive shops online.

 

I read that someone compared using snorkel mouth piece to using someone's tooth brush.

[eetonaee]

Thank you for posting this ... I will be taking this tour in a couple of weeks and can't wait. Did they have water as one of the beverages? Also, was the beach trip cut short due to the rain? Did you do something else or did you still snorkel in the rain?

Thanks

 

Here is a picture of us coming in to Jalousie Beach

 

 

 

 

 

This close up of one of the trees I was standing under for a while should show how hard the rain was falling

 

 

 

 

Those that were planning to snorkel still did. It was still warm. The rest of us couldn't do much except watch the rain. I don't think our stay was shortened very much. The beach stop was the only rain shower of the day as it didn't even rain on our way in or out on the small boats. Remember we were there in November which is still the rainy season.

 

I believe they had water available as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in bottles and cans.

[jigger]

After returning to the ship area from Cosol's tour, will we have time to brouse the shops ?

[Milwaukeeee]

We are scheduled for tour with Cosol in March.

What do we do with our "stuff" if we go snorkeling at the beach?

Can you keep "stuff" in the van while you take the boat to the

beach?

I guess we do wear our swimsuits under our clothes but what

about clothes and ids etc. while at the beach. Thanks.

[LHARTWICK]

It seems like we had a little time to browse the shops at the port once we returned. But not much. Maybe someone else can remember? I've slept since then. :)

 

You can leave items in the van. However, take any valuables with you. When you leave the van you'll board the water taxis over to the beach then the water taxi will bring you back later. Later on the tour you'll pass the road that leads to the beach where you were earlier. I guess the water taxi experience is added for the fun of it. You do get some great views of the pitons while on the water taxi that you wouldn't get if you just drove to the beach. We wore our swimsuits under our clothes, but there are changing rooms/ restrooms at the beach.

 

Hope this helps. You'll love this tour! If we ever return to St. Lucia, we'll definitely do this one again.

 

If you're prone to motion sickness, I highly recommend sitting in the front of the van. Lots of hairpin curves.

[cptbfcb]

Our driver was Cosol. He was a fabulous tour guide. He made so many photo stops and, when necessary, he took our cameras to take the picture. The food provided on our tour was delicious. For our breakfast stop we were given sampling of all kinds of local fruits, fish, breads, sauces. It was really good. For lunch Cosol stopped at a house and came out with fresh baked bread slit for us to put sticks of cheese. It was wonderful. The rum punch was too strong. We stuck with water and Coke after taking a sip of it. St. Lucia is very beautiful and Cosol makes sure you cover the ground. The roads are very windy and steep. I took non-drowsy Dramamine and had no problem with it. The only downside to the tour was the water taxi, snorkeling and the beach. I would prefer Cosol offer the tour without that part. It would shorten the tour by 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Problems with it were: difficulty getting in and out of the water taxi. There's no step. They even let the boat slide out from under me when I was trying to get on. When you get out at the beach area, the stones in the water hurt your feet. Water shoes would have remedied that bit of it. We did not snorkel for the same reason. The water was too shallow to just swim in and the stones hurt our feet so we couldn't walk out to where we could swim. There is a small beach area which has white sand, but it was not worth the taxi ride over there. We didn't even get the feeling we were swimming between the Pitons - not as impressive as we thought it would be. There were 2 people off our ship who went by car because they had to be back early. Most likely they had the full tour without the water taxi and beach. I'd ask for that if going again. Cosol knows he gets good reviews. He deserves it, but hopefully will take any adverse comments such as these into consideration to improve or expand on his offerings.

[skybosun]

I I guess the water taxi experience is added for the fun of it. You do get some great views of the pitons while on the water taxi that you wouldn't get if you just drove to the beach..

 

Have been twice with Cosol, once with himself and once with his brother Yellowbird. Enjoyed both times greatly. Didn't do the beach the first time. The second time we were told that there might be a problem with accessing the beach from the road as the owning hotel was limiting the number of vehicles using its access road. At first the guard wouldn't let us in but then Yellowbird sorted it out with the hotel staff and we were able drive straight there. Cosol and the water taxi arrived sometime later with another group. Consequently, we got longer on the beach. Situation may have changed by now of course. Thanks Yellowbird if you are reading this.

[Toddy709]

Ok, that did not exactly make me feel better! :) Still debating what to do about that...do they sell mouth pieces seperately that we could purchase and bring along just that piece?

 

I am sorry I did not make you feel good. I purchased my own mask and snorkel tube because of that fact and if you snorkel enough you (IMO) would save money owning your own.

 

I would suggest you go to your local dive shop to inquire about mouthpiece and tube or look at dive shops online.

 

I read that someone compared using snorkel mouth piece to using someone's tooth brush.

 

Before we purchased our own snorkel gear, I would bring along a handful of the individually packaged alcohol wipes and wipe down the snorkel mouthpiece really well! I like to think that helped! I have no faith in the snorkel "sanitation" methods I've seen used on various excursions!

[foser22]

We just returned from a tour with Cosol's brother, Yellow Bird and they really are as good as people say! We've done private tours all over the place and they are at the top of the list. One thing that makes them stand out is their genuine desire to show you a good time. They are personable and funny and willing to go the extra mile to be sure you see what you want and have a good time. We had plenty of photo stops and great explanations of the sights. They provided wonderful island food and drink. We loved the beach stop and water taxi. It really was the perfect day. St. Lucia is a beautiful island and the people are warm and friendly. It was one of our favorite stops!

[marylizcat]

Been back about a week. The tour was great. Our driver said they used to drive down the road to Jalousie beach but then the hotel owners stopped allowing them to do so. Therefore they started taking people in by boat.

 

This was actually my favourite part of the whole tour and I would not want them to leave it out! The boat trip was great and the beach was a real paradise beach! We wore flip-flops and this meant getting in and out of the boat was fine. Coming back they moored at a pier in Soufriere - we didn't have to wade ashore.

[texkan]

Been back about a week. The tour was great. Our driver said they used to drive down the road to Jalousie beach but then the hotel owners stopped allowing them to do so. Therefore they started taking people in by boat.

 

This was actually my favourite part of the whole tour and I would not want them to leave it out! The boat trip was great and the beach was a real paradise beach! We wore flip-flops and this meant getting in and out of the boat was fine. Coming back they moored at a pier in Soufriere - we didn't have to wade ashore.

 

Toured with Cosol in 2008 and we did arrive at beach by driving the road of the resort.

Touring with Cosol again soon and will find it interesting having to reach beach via small boat.

 

How many in the boat and how long was the trip? There are 22 of us in a group booked with Cosol.

[cptbfcb]

I don't think 22 would fit in one boat. They may hold 15-16.

[texkan]

I don't think 22 would fit in one boat. They may hold 15-16.

 

Guess they will have to take two trips. How long does it take to get to beach from bus.

[foser22]

We had 8 in each of two boats. It's about a 10 minute boat ride.

[applecore]

We just returned this week from a cruise on the Carnival Miracle. Took a Cosol tour in St Lucia. There was a group of 8 of us and we did a private tour. "Bumpy" was our driver and he did a wonderful job. Probably the best tour we have ever been on. I would highly recommend them. Enjoy!:D

[jrobe]

We took a Cosol tour this week and had Cosol as our driver. What an amazing day and what a beautiful island. We couldn't recomend this tour more highly.

 

Cosol is very friendly, very informative and extremely organized. He was frequently on his cell phone making sure they were ready for us at the next stop (the food people, boat drivers, tour guides, etc.). We felt like we got a real taste of the island which is very difficult in such a short visit. He must take care of the locals because as soon as they saw him coming, we got first preference for everything.

 

The best part of all is the price. Compared to most of the Princess excursions (usually only average and always overpriced), this was the bargain of the trip. Cosol waill also scold you if you don't eat and drink enough of the free food and drinks :). I gladly included a nice tip and it was still very cheap.

 

One last thing. BRING COSOL APPLES OFF THE SHIP. He loves them and they are very expensive on St Lucia. You will make an instant friend if you bring him a few off the ship.

[hjrell]

We were with 'Applecore' (above post) on our private tour with Cosol Tours - with Bumpy as our driver.

He did an amazing job of showing us the island and gave us a lot of information on their lives there. We got to taste many of the foods of the islands too.

St. Lucia is a beautiful place and I believe we got to see as much of it as possible in 1 day!

I would highly recommend them to anyone. They were very prompt in all email replies when booking the tour. They were right there at the pier with a sign to meet us when we got off the ship. I gave them our name and they had us in a van very quickly.

I don't think there was anything more we could have wanted/expected from a tour of this island.

Thanks Bumpy for a wonderful, memorable trip!

[irwintourist]

Consol tours in st. Lucia. We were on this tour on our miracle cruise on february 19th. Nice people, but we were taken only to very poor districts and to stops with friends selling "stuff". They did give you all the beer and drink you want, but 6 hours (except for 0ne hour on the beach) was a little much of the hard selling and stops of the poor.:(

[qtwoot]

I too questioned whether all the hype about Cosol was legit, let me tell you it is well worth the money you spend, we actually had Cosol himself as our guide. He is so well organized, completley professional, and so funny. Great all round guy, and not too hard on the eyes either. But not just us women think that, my husband thought he was alot of fun as well, and told me I did a bang up job researching and booking Cosol ( thanks Cruise Critic...lol) Would not for a second hesitate to recommend him to anyone visiting St Lucia. He's so passionate about where he's from and what he does and is so proud to show visitors. His mission for the day is to truely blow your mind and exceed your expectations. Was by far the highlight of our 7 day cruise!!

[zmitch0]

Just got back from AOS b2b Cosol Tour was the highlight of the whole cruise worth every penny dont miss it

[katie88f]

On his website it mentions that you view the falls, but as I was reading in December posts that the hurricane caused him to change this part of his tour. Has anyone been on Cosol tours recentley and did you go to the waterfalls or volcano?

Thank you

[marylizcat]

We did the Cosol tour a couple of weeks ago. Yes, we went to the drive-in volcano, but apparently the waterfall was destroyed in the hurricane, so we didn't go there.

 

Great tour. Thoroughly recommend. Don't know what Irwintourist means really. Of course, it is a fairly poor place. We weren't taken to stops with friends selling anything.

[cripitate]

Cosol will give to the time of your life. Make sure you get him as your driver.