Tabyana by taxi? Beach Party worth it?

[piediscalzo]

I am travelling next month with lots of family. We are on the NCL Dream. Most of our group will be doing the Tabyana Beach Party & Canopy tour. It's only sold together so we will be at the cruise ship's "beach party". My question is for the rest of our party... 2 year old triplets, my sister, my parents & my mother in law are only interested in the beach part of the trip and would prefer to do it at their own pace. The cost would be $315. That seems like a lot for a taxi ride and some mediocre barbeque. Does anyone know if we can meet up without them taking a tour? I have heard so many mixed ideas. Someone said Tabyana was owned by NCL. I am pretty sure that's not right but I did read in a travel book that there is an area that is private. Is this where NCL has their excursion? Can anyone convince me that this "beach party" would be worth the cost? I am open to any reviews!! Also can we meet up with the rest of our group after the canopy tour? Even if it means ditching the rest of the tour we would prefer to travel at our own pace. The Canopy tour confusion sounds like a nightmare so we will just do the excursion for that portion. Can anyone help us figure out if it is possible to have this go smoothly?

[bwellen]

We were on the Dream in the middle of January and we also did the Canopy tour.

 

I am also uncertain as to whether this location is owned by NCL or not. The sign at Tabyana says that they are "cruise ship specialists". I did notice that on the map of Roatan which NCL gives you, there is a notation next to Tabyana Beach which says that "access to Tabyana Beach is granted to customers of NCL excursions only". A also noticed that the frozen drinks at Tabyana were served in the exact same NCL souvenier glasses which were on the ship. Interesting....

 

For the record, I did think that the BBQ was better than mediocre and we were very satisfied with our time at the beach. Good music, lots of chairs, and a VERY nice beach with great sand for the kids to play in. We skipped snorkeling there, but we heard rave reviews of it on the way back to the ship.

 

I do know what you are saying though, $315 is alot of money and you could definitely save if the rest of the family could go by taxi.

 

One option I can think of is that there is another resort adjacent to Tabyana which also looked pretty nice. I would guess that from the edge of Tabyana to the other resort was only about 400 feet. It could be possible that the family could travel by cab to this other resort and then you could meet up there when you get back from the Canopy tour.

 

Hopefully someone else will come along with the name of the resort and what the possible admission cost would be for that area. Hope this helps!!!

[jep]

Tabyana Beach is near the very end of West Bay Beach, and there are plenty of bars, restaurants and small hotels along the beach. Your group can easily take a taxi to West Bay Beach (should be able to get it for $20 roundtrip or less, although the drivers at the cruiseship port will try to quote you much higher) and have it drop them off near Tabyana, and then they can meet up with the rest of the group on the beach and do their own thing. There is plenty of nice, public beach right next to Tabyana. It about a 15 or 20 minute drive from the cruise port to West Bay Beach. Unless you are really into the cruiseship passenger packed party scene, I don't see any reason to go to Tabyana instead of just taking a taxi to West Bay Beach.

[Fraydel]

It is my understanding that each cruise line bought the rights to designated areas on Tabayana Beach, hence, the 'privatization' of the area (fellow democrats, please don't flinch).

I am wondering if anyone is familiar with Paarrot Tree Beach as compared to Tabayana???Anyone???

[piediscalzo]

Thanks for the info, Jep when were you last there? It it possible that the cruise ships woll have blocked access to the other areas or is it like other areas where the beachfornt is public for the 15 feet or so nearest the water? We are so not into the cruise ship party beach scene and saving $200 or so would be really great. I just want to know that we can walk to wherever the rest of our group would be. It would also be easier for theme to get where they want to go at their leisure rather than rushing around with the excursion.

[piediscalzo]

Forgot to ask... Do you know which end of the beach it was? I read that one end was great for snorkeling. That's where I was thinking our group should meet up. Is it a huge, long beach?

[lilydale]

I just returned from a cruise (MSC Opera) that was in Roatan on Thursday of last week and went to West Bay without the cruiseship excursion. I did a tour with a local guide and at the end of the tour we were brought to West Bay beach. He might have had some arrangement with the hotel, but we parked at Mayan Princess Beach Resort which is about in the center of West Bay beach. This area was very crowded with newly built hotel clientele. We walked about five minutes to Tabyana which had passengers from the Wind Surf occupying the area that day. There was some guard was ready to chase off anyone who illegally tried to occupy a chair, but there was plenty of public beach on either side of this area where you could put down a towel.

 

The most amazing snorkeling I have ever seen was right off this area. Our guide told us this is where the reef ws closest. Our guide said that Tabyana is open to the public but that they'd charge $10 entrance if he were to bring us there. I'm not sure if this is available, however, if there is a ship reserving the area. Bottom line: we were on the same stretch of beach. We just couldn't sit in their chairs or use their facilities.

 

Also, if I could do it over again, I would skip the tour entirely and just take public transportation to the beach. Here's some good public transportation info for Roatan that I wish I had followed rather than wasting more money to ride in a van around the island for hours. http://roatanisland.net/tourist_tips.htm#Local%20Water%20Taxi%20Service

 

The taxi from the pier apparently should cost about a dollar a person to West End and then connect with a water taxi to West Bay beach from there for a little over a dollar more. I wish I had done this because you could really spend all day on this beach. Plus, West End looked like a really neat little town and I wish I had the opportunity to get out and look around a little. On the tour we just drove through.

 

BTW, I was on Norwegian Sun a few years ago and did the Tabyana Beach Party. It was an awful day of rain and wind and they cancelled all the other excursions but still ran this one (nonrefundable) regardless of the weather. The BBQ and music was good, but definitely not worth the money. I complained and got half my money back.