Scenic Barbados Tours

[cruisingforthe25th]

Considering using Scenic Barbados Tours. Wondering if anyone has used this tour group in the past. They advertise a 2 hour tour of the island, and 2 hour beach time for cruise ship passengers. Any comments would be appreciated. Or any suggestions for another tour company.

[sandbox]

I too will be interested in any replys.

I have searched high and low for a tour that goes to Accra aka Rockley beach and this seems to be the only one.:)

[cruisingforthe25th]

Sent e-mail to Scenic Barbados Tours. Here is the reply I received

At the moment I do not have any tours book for that date.

What I will do, is to see if any other persons want to share on that date and let you know, or I would have to wait on that day to get others to join you.

Not every one want a 1/2 day tour ( the price and time will determine where we will go )

 

Cameron Reid

[sandbox]

Thanks for the info.

Doe's not sound promising.

I found Glory tours are doing vertually the same tour so will enquire there.

[sandbox]

Thanks starboy for clearing that up.

Is is the cruise one with Scenic not cameron im after.

Will email them tomorrow and see what their responce is.:)

[cruisingforthe25th]

Curious to see what information you get. I sent the e-mail from the "contact" at scenicbarbados.net, and got the response from Cameron Reid. He also called me to tell me that he didn't have a tour scheduled that day, but I could check once the cruise ship got there. I'd rather have a reserved tour.

[sandbox]

Just got a reply...

The tour is on :)

 

Dear Mr. McMASTER,

Thanks for your email. Yes we have a tour on for Nov 5th 10..

It will be 2

hrs touring and 2 hrs at the beach (Rockley) or you can go to Coconut Court

beach ,where you get free chairs etc. Let me know ,and you can confirm with

me as soon as you can .

Website. http://www.scenicbarbadostours.net

[cruisingforthe25th]

I learned I got the two companies confused on my first try - Have now heard from both. Sorry for the confusion.

[kenrod]

We took Scenic Barbados Tours back in April. The owner of the the company as well as tour guide's name is Edwin Lovell. I actually made a detailed review of this company on another thread. Unfortunately I don't know how to "quote" a message from one thread to another. So I will just copy and paste.

 

May 4th, 2010, 02:54 PM

kenrod

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Dec 2008

Location: Brampton, Ontario

Posts: 363

 

 

I DO recommend Edwin Lovell (Scenic Barbados Tours)

We took Scenic Barbados Tours on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. There were some folks on our tour that we had met on our tour in Dominica, as well as some folks who we toured with in St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten afterwards.

 

We met Edwin outside of the port gates at 9:30 am. There were several tour operators vying for "walk-off" passenger tours, but they all seemed to know Edwin and pointed us in the direction where Edwin would be.

 

Edwin picked us up and we had a full van. He started off with the statisitcs of the islands such as population, area, local currency, history, etc. Edwin also told us that this day was "Heroes Day" a national holiday, so most residents had the day off and were at the parks and beaches playing cricket, having a barbecue, and doing family things as we would do at home.

 

We drove north along the west coast past all the rich houses, resorts and condos. Edwin pointed out the Sandy Lane Golf Course and Resort where Tiger Woods got married.

 

Next we went to Holetown, where Edwin told us that the river is where the British first landed, and that the river resembled a "hole" in the bay. Nearby we stopped at St. James Anglican church where he explained that the church was made of hand cut coral, and that it was the first church in Barbados. Inside, we were met by some custodians of the church who gave us brochures of the church, told us the history and answered any questions we might have had.

 

Following the church, we made our way up to the interior of the island. Edwin explained why the "Chattle" houses were built on cement blocks. The people owned the houses, but not the land. Chattle is a movable posession so the homeowners could move their houses if they chose to do so.

 

During our travels, Edwin also explained that every parish (or county) had a church. For example in St. James Parish, there is St. James Church, and in St. Andrew's Parish there is St. Andrew's church.

 

We drove by Freedom Village, which is the oldest town in Barbados, established in 1832. It is a former plantation owned by Samuel Rock. Rock owned a lot of slaves at that time. Rock pledged that when he died he would give the land to the slaves and that they would be freed. The slaves expedited Rock's demise by poisoning him then divided up the land. Such a pity because in 1834, slavery was abolished.

 

We drove by some sugar cane fields and a flower farm on our way to our next stop. A spectaular view of Mount Hillaby which is the highest point in Barbados at over 1,100 ft (343 metres). There we also had a view of the Atlantic coast of the island. There is a little gift shop and a refreshment stand, and there is also a monkey if you wanted to pay and take some pictures of it.

 

Next we drove down to the Atlantic side where we passed by the Chalky Mountains. Edwin explained that this mountain is where the materials for pottery come from.

 

The Atlantic side is too rough for swimming. There are signs posted all along the coast warning would be bathers not to swim there. Edwin explained that in January/February every year the Leatherback Turtles come to the Atlantic beaches to lay their eggs. Also at the same time the Loggerhead Turtles make their nests on the Caribbean side.

 

Along the Atlantic coast we arrived at the town of Bathsheba where the beaches had those mushroom shaped rocks that I have seen in pictures here on Cruise Critic. We stopped several times for photos then went up the hill for a panoramic shot of the town and beach.

 

Our next stop was St. Andrew's church where there was a breathtaking view of the Atlantic coast from on top of the hill. This is that church with the graveyard and the sundial that once again I have seen in pictures on Cruise Critic. I have to admit, the sundial was a little disappointing. The pictures I have seen of it made the sundial look bigger than it actually was. No biggie though, it is just an observation of mine.

 

On our way back to Bridgetown, Edwin explained that the biggest fast food chain in Barbados is "Chefette", with its 14 locations around the island. McDonalds tried to get a foot hold in Barbados, but that franchise didn't last. We passed by the former McDonalds in which the building still looks like a McDonalds, but it is now a real estate company or some sort of financial institution (I can't remember which). KFC is now making some headway for the fast food competition in Barbados. It seems that KFC is opening up locations next to Chefette, similar to what Starbucks has done to smaller coffee shops back at home.

 

We were given the choice of either going to Accra Beach or to the Coconut Court Hotel for the beach portion of our excursion. No one on our tour had a preference. Edwin made some phone calls to ask how rough the waters were as well as how crowded Accra Beach was, due to the national holiday. It was decided that we go to the Coconut Court Hotel and spend about 1-1/2 hours there. There, we could use all the hotel beach chairs and amenities, with the exception of the swimming pool. Since the beach was on hotel property, we were given a wrist band, and there were plenty of chairs to set up under any of the many palm trees.

 

After the beach portion of our tour was finished, Edwin took us downtown and explained a few of the sights there. Since it was a holiday, downtown Bridgetown was practically empty. We also had a request from one of the passengers to visit an old Holiday Inn from the 70s, which is now something else, but still as elegant as she remembered. Edwin was alway flexible in stopping for anything if it was requested.

 

Then we went to the port where we were dropped off inside the gates and right at the buildings where the Carnival Victory was docked at 3:00 pm. We paid Edwin in cash after the tour.

 

All in all, our tour took about 5-1/2 hours in total. It was supposed to be 2 hours of touring and 2 hours of beaching. In fact it was more like 4 hours of touring and 1-1/2 hours of beaching. Still, we had plenty of time to spend on the ship before we left port at 4:30.

 

Edwin Lovell is very knowledgable and thoughful guide. He is also a humble and polite man. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour that he gave us. His price of $30.00 per person ($15.00 for our 6 year old) was well worth it. I left Barbados with a greater understanding of the country, and I was able to see a lot of the sights that I have seen in pictures here on Cruise Critic.

 

In short, I highly recommend Scenic Barbados Tours as your excursion in Barbados. It is the personalized service, the knowledge of the sights/history/island facts, a combination of touring and beach time, and of course the price, all of which makes this tour a great value in my eyes.

[Aplmac]

Scenic Barbados tours &Cameron REID Scenic tours are two different companies.

Visit www.scenicbarbadostours .net and you will see the different tours.

 

Theyhaveatour for cruise passengers @$30.00 per person.

What currency are you quoting here?

 

Most people reading this will assume it's US$30

but it might also be Bds.$30.

 

You might want to clarify?

.

[alibaba1]

Thank you Kenrod for your wonderful sharing of Barbados. Reading it, you feel like you are almost there. We will be on the Dawn 10-22-10 and have just posted your "day in the life" on our thread for everyone to experience:).

 

Thank You

[McDebbie]

We went with Scenic Barbados tours last week and highly recomend it. Our tour was for two only and our driver/guide was Mason. Edwin Lowell had a van of people that day. Our tour was very similar to the one mentioned above except that it starting pouring rain before the beach portion and we decided not to try to wait out the rain. (good choice it turned out) So we had about 3 hours tour and came back early. Highly recommend the company and Mason, we enjoyed all the details about the island and want to go back some day. The price was $30 per person US dollars.

[smmountaingal]

We went with Scenic Barbados tours last week and highly recomend it. Our tour was for two only and our driver/guide was Mason. Edwin Lowell had a van of people that day. Our tour was very similar to the one mentioned above except that it starting pouring rain before the beach portion and we decided not to try to wait out the rain. (good choice it turned out) So we had about 3 hours tour and came back early. Highly recommend the company and Mason, we enjoyed all the details about the island and want to go back some day. The price was $30 per person US dollars.

 

McDebbie, did you request this tour for 2 people? I would love to schedule one for just me and my husband!

[McDebbie]

I did not specifically request for two but I am sure you can ask. I believe they had a group already for the van so we went in a private car with the driver. It was nice being able to stop when we wanted and stay how long we wanted.