Snorkeling and swim with turtles

[billathome]

Jolly Pirates has a walk-up staircase, but I don't know if they run a boat in Barbados.

[Stevesan]

OK - I am one with issues getting in and out of the water. I do not want to be hauled out by the crew - did that once and it was embarrassing! So, I know that at least one company has a ladder that extends into the water, but now I can't find them. Can anyone help me?

 

Silver Moon.

http://silvermoonbarbados.com/

 

http://www.facebook.com/Silver.Moon.Barbados

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Jolly Pirates has a walk-up staircase, but I don't know if they run a boat in Barbados.

We did Jolly Pirates in Aruba and had a great time! I did not have any problems getting back into the boat at all.

 

Silver Moon.

http://silvermoonbarbados.com/

 

http://www.facebook.com/Silver.Moon.Barbados

Thank you. The picture showing the aluminum ladder really helps. The other ones I had seen only showed the white stairs that rest on top of the water and I could not imagine myself getting back on the boat with only those.:eek:

 

Silver Moon looks like it could work.

[severna]

I really value your comments. We are going to be in Barbados on January 7, and my DH and I are looking at the catamaran tours...which is the best...and for getting in and out of the boat...

 

One question, since we are new to snorkling...is the equipment sanitized...or do we need to bring our own. I don't know if this is an issue...are we being silly...or what?

[Lsimon]

I really value your comments. We are going to be in Barbados on January 7, and my DH and I are looking at the catamaran tours...which is the best...and for getting in and out of the boat...

 

One question, since we are new to snorkling...is the equipment sanitized...or do we need to bring our own. I don't know if this is an issue...are we being silly...or what?

 

As for your first question: You can read all the prior messages on this thread and there are several other threads on the Barbados forum discussing this including this one: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1457773

 

Second question: All the boats soak the equipment in some solution that seems to be something that should be, or is claimed to, sanitize them. I have no idea how effective this is. We've been on some excursions, but none of the ones in Barbados, which had snorkels with disposable mouthpieces and they gave everyone a new sealed mouthpiece. Personally we bring our own mask and snorkel so we know they fit properly, are of good quality, and haven't been on other peoples faces and in other's mouths.

We have fins too but usually just use those provided on the day sail tours so we don't have to lug ours around. However, I do have some neoprene fin socks (available from lots of different online dive/snorkel stores) which help a lot in getting the fins to fit nicely and avoid chaffing my feet.

[merinski]

I really value your comments. We are going to be in Barbados on January 7, and my DH and I are looking at the catamaran tours...which is the best...and for getting in and out of the boat...

 

One question, since we are new to snorkling...is the equipment sanitized...or do we need to bring our own. I don't know if this is an issue...are we being silly...or what?

 

We are trying to decide the same thing. We will be going just after you.

As far as snorkel Equipment , we take our own. We saw them on a tour in Jamaica in a bucket of water, didn't look to sanitizing.

We are thinking of one of the ship tours, Tiami or just the turtle one.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I really value your comments. We are going to be in Barbados on January 7, and my DH and I are looking at the catamaran tours...which is the best...and for getting in and out of the boat...

 

One question, since we are new to snorkling...is the equipment sanitized...or do we need to bring our own. I don't know if this is an issue...are we being silly...or what?

As far as access goes - gravity works well for me to get into the water, getting out can be a huge problem.:eek: A little further up this thread Lsimon posted a link to a picture of his friend sitting on the ladder steps to the Silver Moon. That was a huge help to me and also made me realize the Silver Moon would work for my needs, and I think I am the most ungraceful person in the world getting back into a snorkel boat. My weight, knees and hips don't help either.:rolleyes:

 

We bring our own snorkel equipment except for the fins. I will look for the neoprene socks. They sound like a good idea.

[severna]

I heard Tiami is good. I contacted them last night, but still haven't heard back. I have also contacted the other catamaran tours...and will make up our mind this week-end. And since reading through these postings, we are going to purchase our own mouthpiece for snorkling.

[Richjoxyz]

We took the bus to Paynes Beach for a dollar, grabbed beach loungers and umbrella for 15 dollars, waited for the tours to arrive. Each time we snorkeled out to the "turtle" area to swim with them. Swam out a couple times. The tours would come and go, and we would enjoy the turtles, then head back to the beach to chill. Finally took the bus back, for a dollar. Was a great day with no particular schedule.

 

Looked like the funnest ship was jolly roger pirate ship. They stayed longer, had good music, could walk the plank, had nice covered area to provide shade, looked the most comfortable.

[BabySis]

We LOVED both Silver Moon and Calabaza. Most recently went with Calabaza and swimming with the turtles was a piece of cake.... I'd rank them both as top excusrions

[Tralynn]

We LOVED both Silver Moon and Calabaza. Most recently went with Calabaza and swimming with the turtles was a piece of cake.... I'd rank them both as top excusrions

We've also used both of these tour companies and love them both.

 

In my opinion, Barbados has been the best island (so far) for swimming with the turtles. It is a fantastic experience.

[merinski]

We go in Jan. & have booked with Shasa Catameran. Anyone else used them? Can you tell us about it?:)

[gloreuscruising]

I really value your comments. We are going to be in Barbados on January 7, and my DH and I are looking at the catamaran tours...which is the best...and for getting in and out of the boat...

 

One question, since we are new to snorkling...is the equipment sanitized...or do we need to bring our own. I don't know if this is an issue...are we being silly...or what?

I don't snorkel, buy my husband and son do. They always bring their own snorkel and mask but use the fins from whatever company they do the excursion with. We are all a bit germaphobic.

We have just reserved our tour with SilverMoon and are really looking forward to the excursion on Dec. 31. I have been told there will only be 12 for this particular excursion. We are getting very excited.

I also want to thank everyone who contributed to this topic. Withough all the wonderful insights and suggestions we would not have this wonderful opportunity.

[merinski]

Merinski, you are in for SUCH a treat its not funny. We first recommended Shasa after a guest of ours couldn't get on Silver Moon and Calabaza and they came back giving it a five star rating grinning from ear to ear. We cant stop recommending it enough because everyone says the same thing!

 

Jason runs the boar and his wife Tessa does most of the office stuff and brings a piping hot freshly cooked bajan lunch down to the boat for after your swim with the turles; and yep, she does all the cooking herself too!! This husband-wife team is simply brilliant and they are going to be the next feature post over at the official barbados blog too. No doubt you will loveeeeee them :o

\

Thank you,

I'm sure it will be good. I just haven't heard from too many people, but the ones I have read have been good!

Looking so forward to Barbados

:)

[Miss Fig]

The turtles don't like you and are not attracted to you. Don't get me wrong, they don't dislike you either and don't really mind you being around to swim with them and watch them. But they don't come up to see you because they are friendly or to see what you look like.

 

They come to get food. That's it, bottom line. So the way to see them is with an experienced guide which knows where to go and the proper food to feed them. The turtles know the guides and location so when they see the boat pull up and the guide get into the water with their pail of proper turtle dinner they come circle around him. That is your absolute best opportunity to see and swim with the turtles. Yes if you do it a different way you may see some turtles but I doubt you'll have a dozen or more swimming right around your area for a long time.

 

 

LOL. This is very true. They are coming for the food. One way to get around this inexpensively is to take a taxi to Paynes Beach and swim out from shore to the catamarans & view the turtles. That's what I did. I said hello to the guide, saw the turtles for a bit, said, thank you, and swam back. It's a 10 min easy swim, easily within view of the shore.

[eclipsethecat]

We really liked Shasa- I have copied our review here- the catamaran was not as easy to get in and out of- you had to climb stairs to get out of the water.

 

We booked Shasa Catamaran based on recommendations on trip advisor and cruise critic. We were very happy with the results. The communication was a little slow while we were booking, but the trip was well organized and fantastically put together. We were picked up at the cruise port and driven in a clean air conditioned van to the place where the catamaran was. There were approximately 12 people on the tour and it did not seem crowded. The first stop was the turtles and they made sure to get us there before the crowds. Once we got there Carlyle and John made sure everyone was comfortable before we got into the water. Carlyle stayed near us and made sure that even those who were not experienced with snorkeling felt at home. We brought our own snorkel gear but they also offered the option of using theirs if you needed to. Rum punch, beer, soda and water were available as soon as we stepped foot on the catamaran and were offered throughout the trip. After swimming with the turtles, which was super cool and an experience I will never forget, we continued on to the “ship wreck.” The ship wreck was not old but still had a lot of fish swimming around. The water was getting a bit rough but Carlyle stayed near us to make sure we were all safe and was helpful without being intrusive- if he thought you were struggling he would offer to help. We watched a group from the cruise ship come in and someone in their group almost drowned because they didn’t know how to swim and the guides were not helpful- Carlyle and John were yelling hints to help get the guy out of the water.

 

After the ship wreck we dropped the rest of the three hour group off and then there were only four of us. We had a wonderful lunch (very good food,) and rode the catamaran around (both sailing and motored,) it was a beautiful and very relaxing day. After that the catamaran took us back to the shore and a van picked us up and took us back to port.

 

 

Overall the day was magical and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

[cheeseheads1]

Question for you Eclipse the Cat..... No problem getting back to the ship on time? Also is there any souvenier shopping right at the port? No really a big shopper but just looking for small items. We are scheduled to do the same tour on Feb 15th. Thought it might be a nice way to do my hubby's birthday! Better than a booze cruise as far as I am concerned. :D

[eclipsethecat]

No we had no problems getting back in time to the port. I think we had two hours left? It was definitely way more than enough time- John kept assuring me that he would get us back in time and he did because I was worried about that.

 

We went shopping at the cruise port shops- they were very nice compared to some of the other cruise port shops- clean and had a lot of options. I got some nice items there.

[cheeseheads1]

Thanks. I just like to be prepared for what to expect..... I know its the journey but I have control issues!;)

[eclipsethecat]

Yup I completely understand! We made it back with plenty of time to spare!

[TrishnKevin]

Looking for a beach with vollleyball for the kids and snorkeling for the adults. Anyone know of such a paradise?

[Lsimon]

Looking for a beach with vollleyball for the kids and snorkeling for the adults. Anyone know of such a paradise?

 

You are likely to get better results if you post a new thread titled "Beach with Volleyball" rather than posting in a thread about Snorkeling/Swim with turtles.

[cvskult]

Do any of the tours to see the turtles go to Brandson's beach? This is one of my favorites and we don't really want to spend $100 to see some turtles but wouldn't mind being able to swim out to see them.

 

thanks in advance

[sr4mjc]

Booked through RCCL on the Serenade in Feb. What kind of boat do they go out on? I'm a bit worried about seasickness, but I'm dying to swim with the turtles!