Nature Isle Explorers Tours

[Dave08]

We also toured with Nature Isle Explorers on our recent cruise. We did the Ti Tou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, and the Champagne Reef. We had a great experience and I would highly recommend Donaldson to anyone looking for a great excursion in Dominica.

 

He was very informative, friendly, and the safety of his guests was a top priority. The Ti Tou Gorge was amazing! The water was pretty chilly but it was totally worth it. Once you get in the water and start swimming through, you don't even think about it. Make sure that you jump off of the waterfall inside of the gorge if you get a chance.

 

The Trafalgar Falls were great too. Also here they have hot springs which were great after the cool water of the gorge. Donaldson also took myself and another guy in our group up to the base of the falls where we swam in the pool right under the falls. That too was an unbelievable experience.

 

Lastly, the bubbles that are expelled out from under the rocks at the Champagne Reef was a neat sight to see. We also saw numerous different types of fish and also a couple of iguanas on the walk down to the reef.

 

We had a great day with Donaldson and if I ever make it back to Dominica, I will be sure to book another excursion with him. :)

[auntdeb6]

Just a quick note, we were on the Caribbean Princess Apr 10 to 17 and booked Donaldson (Nature Isle Explorers Tours) for Apr 12. He and his crew are the best. I would recommend him to everyone.

[kimmernj]

We also toured with Nature Isle Explorers on our recent cruise. We did the Ti Tou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, and the Champagne Reef. We had a great experience and I would highly recommend Donaldson to anyone looking for a great excursion in Dominica.

 

He was very informative, friendly, and the safety of his guests was a top priority. The Ti Tou Gorge was amazing! The water was pretty chilly but it was totally worth it. Once you get in the water and start swimming through, you don't even think about it. Make sure that you jump off of the waterfall inside of the gorge if you get a chance.

 

The Trafalgar Falls were great too. Also here they have hot springs which were great after the cool water of the gorge. Donaldson also took myself and another guy in our group up to the base of the falls where we swam in the pool right under the falls. That too was an unbelievable experience.

 

Lastly, the bubbles that are expelled out from under the rocks at the Champagne Reef was a neat sight to see. We also saw numerous different types of fish and also a couple of iguanas on the walk down to the reef.

 

We had a great day with Donaldson and if I ever make it back to Dominica, I will be sure to book another excursion with him. :)

 

thanks for info,

this is one of our excursions we are looking forward to next month

[2Canucks]

Thanks for the great info. We have Donaldson booked for the Ti Tou Gorge & Screw Spa Tour for Feb/12...can't wait!!!

 

Pat :)

[PalmTreeLonger]

Hi - We just returned from a tour with Donaldson on November 8.It was a really fun time. We had a wide range of ages in our tour-from 7 to 70 years old-and all were able to participate in the "Dominica Jewel" tour. Donaldson made sure everyone was safe and having fun the entire time. He took some great pictures that day on his camera and emailed them to me when we got home. All in all, it was a great day, with fun sites to visit and a great tour guide!

[Ramblin Wreck Cruiser]

My husband and I, along with my sister and brother-in-law are sailing on the Serenade of the Seas February 11. We are booked with Donaldson on Wednesday, February 15 for the Dominica Jewel tour. We are so excited about it after hearing all of these great reviews. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[sunluvertoo]

My husband and I are booked with Donaldson for the Ti Tou Gorge, Screws Spa and Champagne snorkel on Jan 21, sounds like there is more room if anyone would like to join us. We are very excited to see this island with Donaldson after all the glowing reviews!

[luckygurl1227]

We are going to book through Donaldson too. I can't decide which tour though. But so far all the reviews I've read have all been very positive. Can't wait!

Edited January 9, 2012 by luckygurl1227
website

[calenita]

We just came back and did the tour with Donaldson. It was great. We did the Champagne Reef snorkeling - AMAZING - TiTou Gorge - AMAZING and Screw Spa - RELAXING. I would highly recommend Donaldson and Nature Isle. It was a wonderfull day. Donaldson had a cooler with drinks in it for throughout the day and it was great. I really recommend him.

[2Canucks]

We just came back and did the tour with Donaldson. It was great. We did the Champagne Reef snorkeling - AMAZING - TiTou Gorge - AMAZING and Screw Spa - RELAXING. I would highly recommend Donaldson and Nature Isle. It was a wonderfull day. Donaldson had a cooler with drinks in it for throughout the day and it was great. I really recommend him.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback on this tour!

 

How many were in your group?

 

Pat :)

[calenita]

There were nine of us total. Lots of room in the van.

[bromleytcc]

Be SURE you get Donaldson. His other guides are not trained or professional. We had Terry who got us lost in the rain forest at Middleham Falls. It took us 4 hours and we never DID get to the falls. It was exhausting and we were on a trail that was obviously not used often. Everyone fell at different times. So we missed the falls, but sure enough, we got to a fruit stand where Donaldson tells you to contribute $5 each. The folks in our packed van (15 of us) would not even get out. We got to Titou Gorge and Terry never helped us/told us about getting the life jackets on....at least Donaldson met up with us by then to take us into the gorge. We never got to Champagne Reef due to the 4 hour hike and most of us did not go into Trafalgar Falls due to exhaustion. It was the worst day. We had been to Dominica before and it is a GREAT place and full of beauty. We had a BLAST witih Bumpiing Tours and were so anxious to be back for a great day. So book with Donaldson...but no one else if you have to go with Nature Isles.

[Razorback mom go hogs go]

Alvin was our guide when we booked with Donaldson. He was great. He was so nice and concerned with our having a wonderful and safe trip.He was with us on every part of the trip to help and not just as an observer. Our only complaint of the day(not Alvin's fault) was that the rental facility at Champagne Reef ran out of Snorkel equipment.Alvin borrowed equipment from one of the guides so our daughter could snorkel. I hope that others looking for a memorable trip will remember for every negative experience there are lots of wonderful trips. Alvin was super!

[Karysa]

Be SURE you get Donaldson. His other guides are not trained or professional. We had Terry who got us lost in the rain forest at Middleham Falls. It took us 4 hours and we never DID get to the falls. It was exhausting and we were on a trail that was obviously not used often. Everyone fell at different times. So we missed the falls, but sure enough, we got to a fruit stand where Donaldson tells you to contribute $5 each. The folks in our packed van (15 of us) would not even get out. We got to Titou Gorge and Terry never helped us/told us about getting the life jackets on....at least Donaldson met up with us by then to take us into the gorge. We never got to Champagne Reef due to the 4 hour hike and most of us did not go into Trafalgar Falls due to exhaustion. It was the worst day. We had been to Dominica before and it is a GREAT place and full of beauty. We had a BLAST witih Bumpiing Tours and were so anxious to be back for a great day. So book with Donaldson...but no one else if you have to go with Nature Isles.

 

On another thread you posted that he had assured you that he fired the guide that you had. Seems like he took the situation seriously and took swift action. That is good to know. It is important to post negative experiences, sometimes it doesn't help you but it sure can help the next person. We chose them for our march stop. I'll post about our experience when we get back. Hopefully ours will read like the vast majority of reviews for Donaldson and Nature Isle and be full of praise.

[travman106]

On another thread you posted that he had assured you that he fired the guide that you had. Seems like he took the situation seriously and took swift action. That is good to know. It is important to post negative experiences, sometimes it doesn't help you but it sure can help the next person. We chose them for our march stop. I'll post about our experience when we get back. Hopefully ours will read like the vast majority of reviews for Donaldson and Nature Isle and be full of praise.

 

We used Nature Isle Explorers and I cant say enough about our guide Alvin,

He was very informative and attentive, he told us all about Dominica and also gave us some excellent photo ops. The Ti Tou Gorge swim was our favorite part.

There were 8 of us in our van as Alvin stated they like to keep their groups small.

 

Nature Isle Explorers and Alvin made Dominica the Highlights of our cruise

 

We highly recommend them

[LEtue]

I see a place on their website to enter a Cruise Critic Promo Code. Anyone know what it is?

[markwojo]

Thinking of booking...but always happy with a good deal. Hopefully that promo code is out there soon.

[hlhp3]

I have been corresponding with Donaldson and he told me that now you can go to Trafalgar Falls at noon - they've changed it.

[Ashby]

Just to say that we had a great trip in January. Only 6 of us in the van and Donaldson sat with us in the back so we could hear him and another chap drove. We went to Champagne reef (difficult to get into the water but then great views of bubbles and fish, then onto Titou Gorge (very dark but Donaldson was really helpful) and then onto the Screw Spa which was lovely and relaxing. The great thing about the trip was that we seem to arrive when it was quiet at each of the sites and got busy when we were leaving so great planning. When we returned to the ship we had the feeling that most people just walked into town and weren't very impressed so we were so pleased that we made the effort to get out and see this lovely island.

[lnrc]

Just got back from our tour with Donaldson and I so agree with the last poster.....Donaldson got us to each of the attractions when it wasn't crowded and as we were leaving more tour groups came in. We had 13 people on the tour and went to Champagne Beach to snorkel, then to the gorge, and finally to Screw's Spa. It was fantastic and Donaldson was so helpful. He went snorkeling with the group so no one felt nervous about going out too far and he showed them interesting things. He also made sure everyone was safe and helped whoever needed it to go thru the gorge. Then he relaxed in the Spa with us. We had a delightful day and it was our favorite excursion of the whole trip. Do not hesitate to book with him. PS...It started to rain when we were on Champagne beach and he even gave me an umbrella....can you top that??

[Lovetravel101]

DOMINICA MOST CAPTIVATING is the tour I am looking at. Their website recommends hiking boots...not practical to bring. Has anyone worn running shoes on the tour? were they sufficient?

[Snail_Pace]

DOMINICA MOST CAPTIVATING is the tour I am looking at. Their website recommends hiking boots...not practical to bring. Has anyone worn running shoes on the tour? were they sufficient?

 

Leave the hiking boots home. I hiked to the Boiling Lake and back in running shoes. They might get wet and dirty.

[teamfour]

We just toured with Nature Isles a few days ago. Marvin was our guide and Adie the driver. Both were fantastic guides and very attentive.

[hlhp3]

Dominica

Island tour Rating:

We booked the Nature Isle Explorers Dominica Jewel tour. There were about 20 people so they used two vans. Donaldson went with one van and we went with Big Mama as the driver and Marvin as our guide. They were great.

Our first stop was Champagne Reef. It was great. Entering the water is kinda difficult because the beach is very rocky - especially if you are not in great physical condition. They do have a rope/mat etc. that is helpful. We didn't need that though and just got in. The bubbling vents are amazing, and the snorkeling in general was pretty good there.

 

Our second stop was Ti Tou Gorge - awesome! I brought my own life jacket and used that (I always wear it snorkeling) but they provided little flotation belts for everyone. We went all the way to the back and then climbed up the little waterfall at the end. It is a pretty amazing experience. At the end, the guides had us jump back down the waterfall - I hurt my knee. I think someone could really get hurt doing that - be careful. After we had come out, the guides got people to jump from the ridge, down into the gorge. I thought this was insane - children were doing it. I think they are playing with fire - someone is going to get really hurt. It is about at 20 foot drop - one girl really hurt her arm (massive scrapes, bleeding, etc) on her way down. Lucky it was only her arm.

 

The third stop was Trafalgar Falls - HEAVEN! We went first to the falls viewing platform and then straight down to the hot pools. They were heavenly! There are about 3 pools, each can hold about 10 people max. It felt wonderful!

[jsf]

If this was last week 3/13 we were on the other van with Donalson and also went to Champange reef where the woman died from a heart attack, very sad. We also went to the Gorge but did not try swimming through the water looked very cold and the rocks very slippery. We then dropped off some people at the falls and we went to Screw Spa, you can swim in 5 different pools of different tempeture water, we all enjoyed the day with Donaldson and all the places he took us too.

J.