Private Turtle Snorkel/Catamaran Question

[MDteachergirl]

On AOS 2 years ago we did the Tiami Sail/Snorkel with turtles. We liked it, but it WAS crowded in the water around the turtles. We are going back and would like to book a private catamaran such as Silver Moon or Calabaza, but are wondering if any of the private companies have pick up at the port?

 

Thank you in advance for any responses!

[SuiteTraveler]

I know this company does private charters to snorkel with the turtles, but remember, they cannot control if other tour groups are there when you are...

 

http://www.smallcatscruises.com/

[Cruisin KLS]

We are doing a tour with Calabaza on 02/08. We are on the AOS and they are meeting us at the pier.

 

-Kristi

[tjschwalm]

Mdteachergirl , I have seen in posts that all the private charters include transportation to and from the port area but always I would confirm this with the tour operators in advance , no matter what I've read . There are quite a few reliable operators in BB . We have only used Capt Ron . Have fun ! Ted

http://barbadosahoy.com/whynot.htm

[eclue]

We were in Barbados in November..did the Calabaza catamaran trip. It was simply wonderful. They picked us up very promptly at the pier...got us on the cat and we were off. Treated like royalty the entire time. Gina is a wonderful hostess as were her crew of two. The turtles were amazing . This trip was $100.pp and worth every penny. The banana bread and all the food which was plentiful was all homemade and excellent. Lots of drinks for the drinkers..other drinks also available. price inclusive of pick up, drop off and a great time. We will be back in Barbados next month and may jump on again.

 

eclue

Houston

[tiffstulips]

We are booked with captain Ron in March. Great communication so far. He even called my home phone to discuss details and secure our reservation. Heard nothing but good about his operation. :)

[tjschwalm]

Tiffany , Capt Ron is an amazing guy and been sailing in BB a very long time .

We have been with him twice and wouldn't even consider another operator , he

becomes your friend . Have a blast ! Ted

[MartinsCruise]

Tiffany , Capt Ron is an amazing guy and been sailing in BB a very long time .

We have been with him twice and wouldn't even consider another operator , he

becomes your friend . Have a blast ! Ted

Is the snorkeling good and do you usually get to see turtles?

[tjschwalm]

Martinscruise ,

We have found the snorkeling in Barbados to always be good . The shipwrecks are interesting but I imagine moreso for scuba . I love the reefs up north they are filled with many species of fish . You will always see some turtles but our experiance has usually been so so at all the usual spots . 6 turtles and 4 tours pulling up with 60 pax or more trying to get a view . When I talked to Ron about this he said that he can go up near the northern tip of the island , it's far but worth it , instead . He said instead a ton of people trying to

look at a few turtles he knew of a place were a few people swim with a ton of turtles . Boy did he deliver . We couldn't get away from all the turtles small to large It was magical . We did have 21 pax onboard from our roll call so he may need x amount of pax to make the trip worthwhile . I dunno but you could ask him . We then spent another hour or so snorkeling the best reef we had been to in BB so far in our three trips out snorkeling . Hope that helps ! Ted

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Tiffany , Capt Ron is an amazing guy and been sailing in BB a very long time .

We have been with him twice and wouldn't even consider another operator , he

becomes your friend . Have a blast ! Ted

 

Do you have contact info for him or his web address? thank you

[tjschwalm]

J&R , http://barbadosahoy.com/whynot.htm or just call 1-246-262-3792

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Thank you

[msluraz]

thanks for the contact information

 

we are also planning on booking this tour

[tiggerfan616]

If your looking for a great day try Calabaza, we just got back from Barbados and used them. All I can say is top notch!!!

My DS(9) really loved the turtles, Chad will get in the water with you and feed them so they get close enough to touch.

 

The lunch and cruise afterwards was just icing on the cake

[ExRockyMountainGal]

I'm another vote for Calabaza.

 

We sailed with them on January 18, 2011. Unfortunately, Gina wasn't feeling well, so we didn't get to meet her. Captain Danny did a wonderful job, as did Chad and Gregory. The only bad thing about the trip was the weather, but that clearly wasn't something that anyone had any control over. We still had a fantastic time.

 

The taxi was waiting for us when we got off the ship and took us straight to the boat. There were 10 of us in total, and we had plenty of room. We passed a couple of other catamarans, and they were all very crowded.

 

There was coffee and tea waiting for us as soon as we got on the boat. Once we started moving, we got homemade banana bread (still warm) and then fish hush puppies with a Bajan remoulade sauce. They were very tasty.

 

Our first snorkeling stop was over a sunken wreck/reef. There were tons of fish. Chad went snorkeling with us to make sure we saw everything there was to see. When we got out of the water, they had put out crackers and three types of Mediterranean dips. We also tried the rum punch, which is the best we had on all of our excursions. The fresh ground nutmeg really made the difference.

 

There was a short sail to the next stop, which is where we saw with the turtles. There were at least 6 of them, and they got close enough to touch them. Best of all, there were no other boats around us, so we had the turtles all to ourselves.

 

Lunch was amazing. There was tons of food, and it was all good. A picture is below:

 

 

There were plenty of beverages, but several of us had white wine -- served in real wine glasses. It was casually elegant.

 

After lunch, we had the option to swim to the beach, snorkel with turtles some more or just hang out on the catamaran.

 

On the way back, we had dessert: fresh coconut bread and and a warm brownie.

 

A cab was waiting for us when we arrived, and we had no problem getting back to the ship.

 

The very next day we got a thank you email from Gina with all of the recipes.

 

I would do this excursion again without hesitation. It was one of the highlights of our cruise, and I just don't have enough goood things to say about Gina and the Calabaza family.

[tjschwalm]

Rocky Mountain Girl ,

I too have only read positive reviews about Calabaza but everytime I thought to book with them I couldn't do it . It's the same way with beaches if you have a perfect day at one it's hard to risk trying another . Capt. Ron speaks very highly of Gina and I have a feelin' they all run in the same circles . Next time ask to go up north to the turtles , there are so many , it's insane you have to move out of the way and no one is feeding them , probably saw 30 or more , the babies were the best ! So glad you had a good day on our sad day Jan 18

we were driving home from our cruise . Enjoyed the review and you made me hungry! lol Thanx ! Ted