is water cold

[nursemo]

we are going on a disney magic 12/24/05 stopping at st thomas and st maarten and castaway cay and I don't want to go on water excursions if the water is freezing. I'm from New Orleans and even 70 is cold for us. I heard the weather is nice for shorts but the ocean is very cold. any help is appreciated. Any excursion advice too.me,husband 2 daughters going 6y/o and 14y/o:p

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Hi,

We will just miss you at the port. We will be getting off the Magic while you are waiting to get on. I will be the one with a quivering lower lip and big sad eyes because it is time to leave!!!

Well back to your question. For me the water was too cool this time of the year to swim, however there were hundreds who did swim when we were on the eastern a couple of years ago. Most said once you got use to it, it wasnt bad and that when you got out of the water the wind then made you feel cold. That may not help much but that is what they said.

Our daughter and her family did the snorkeling excursion at Pinel Island and loved it. They were beginners and they said they were given very good instructions and the man in charge was very good with the kids.

The other grandkids loved the butterfly farm on St. Maartin. They were grade school age. We did the eco hike on St. Johns island and loved it!!

It was a fairly easy hike, and 1/2 hour to swim at a private beach and then hiked a little farther to see an old sugar mill. Our guide was excellant.

The only draw back was there was NO bathrooms on the hike, only on the boat that brought you to St. Johns from St. Thomas.

Since you have kids I will warn you that the bathrooms are not readily available as in the U.S.. Most excursions have them, but sometimes it is one stall for everyone and there is no way you can get everyone through that in the few minutes they give you. There are a few public bathrooms, but they do charge you to use them unless they are in a casino, and to be polite, take your own toilet seat covers because I never found one that would meet the proper sanitation we are use to having here.

Now we just explore both places on our own, to shop. I know they do have nice beaches both places, but again the water may be too cool. It is something that you never know for sure until you get there.

Castaway Cay is the same way, sometimes it's warm enough to swim and sometimes it's not. But I am a coward for the cold. We have always seen some people swimming no matter when we go.

Have a magical cruise,

mom x4,grandma x4

[nursemo]

thank you for the info,have a great time. we can't wait.;)