Antigua/St. Kitts help needed

[EeyoreRN]

We are doing a Southern Caribbean itinerary on Freedom out of San Juan in May and can't wait (St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados). Our party is myself (52), daughter (24) and son (22). We love adventures, the beach, the ocean, wild-life, etc.

 

We have decided on excursions in San Juan (Rainforest with Tours with Ellis and self-guided walking OSJ), St. Thomas (water ferry to Water Island beach day), St. Lucia (Joy's Adventure speedboat/bus to volcano, Pitons, snorkeling) and Barbados (catamaran with lunch and snorkeling). We made these choices based on reviews and advice from multiple sites including CC and others.

 

This leaves 2 islands, St. Kitts and Antigua, where we can't decide what to do. I am leaning toward doing some kind of island tour of St. Kitts, maybe Thenford Grey, because I heard the beaches there aren't so great, and maybe a simple beach day in Antigua, maybe take a bus to Darkwood/Valley Church. But it looks like there are sites on Antigua, like Nelson's Dockyard, that maybe can't be missed, so maybe we should do a simple island tour there with a beach stop at the end? I'm not sure we want to do island tours on both islands, if it would feel too repetitive or if it's worth seeing both islands this way. If you have been to both Antigua and St. Kitts, which has the better tour and which is the better beach day? Do we need tour both islands? Do I do a quick trip to the Dockyard and then the beach on Antigua?  What would you do?

 

Also, yes, I asked a similar question several months ago but I'm looking for new feedback, and I think my question this time is more narrow.

 

Thanks for reading my long-winded question! Looking forward to your feedback!

 

Eeyore

 

 

[MissMap]

I haven't been to Antigua, but I was in St Kitts last Wednesday .   I did the Grand Tour of St Kitts tour with Thenford Gray's Island Excursion .  It was excellent! 

Regarding the beaches in St Kitts,  South Friars beach at the Shipwreck bar was a very, very  narrow piece of beach with the beach chairs practically in the water.  It was not my idea of a good beach.  On the Atlantic side, close to Timothy Hill, the beaches were wider and flater.  But we were told the water is tougher and is prone to rip currents.  On our island tour I didn't see any other beach areas other than the two I mentioned.

 

hope this helps you some in your decisions.

 

[EeyoreRN]

1 minute ago, MissMap said:

I haven't been to Antigua, but I was in St Kitts last Wednesday .   I did the Grand Tour of St Kitts tour with Thenford Gray's Island Excursion .  It was excellent! 

Regarding the beaches in St Kitts,  South Friars beach at the Shipwreck bar was a very, very  narrow piece of beach with the beach chairs practically in the water.  It was not my idea of a good beach.  On the Atlantic side, close to Timothy Hill, the beaches were wider and flater.  But we were told the water is tougher and is prone to rip currents.  On our island tour I didn't see any other beach areas other than the two I mentioned.

 

hope this helps you some in your decisions.

 

Yes I have heard only great things about Thenford Gray so I am leaning toward this tour of St. Kitts. Thanks for your response!

[Sea Dog]

For St. Kitts I highly recommend Greg's Safari 4 x4 Rain Forrest with Beach Excursion. It was fantastic and Greg really knows his history of the island. He takes you through a rain forrest and then up a mountain to an old sugar plantation where you can taste some great rum. He then takes you to a beach where you can have a couple of hours of beach fun. This was fantastic. We booked it through RCI but you can book it on your own for cheaper.

https://www.gregsafaris.com/

Edited March 6, 2019 by Swank Pad G

[EeyoreRN]

21 minutes ago, Swank Pad G said:

For St. Kitts I highly recommend Greg's Safari 4 x4 Rain Forrest with Beach Excursion. It was fantastic and Greg really knows his history of the island. He takes you through a rain forrest and then up a mountain to an old sugar plantation where you can taste some great rum. He then takes you to a beach where you can have a couple of hours of beach fun. This was fantastic. We booked it through RCI but you can book it on your own for cheaper.

https://www.gregsafaris.com/

Thank you. Was this the "off the beaten path" tour?  Looks great! The website says a minimum of a party of 5, and we are only 3. Does the company put groups together, or would I need to find more people?

[Sea Dog]

1 minute ago, EeyoreRN said:

Thank you. Was this the "off the beaten path" tour?  Looks great! The website says a minimum of a party of 5, and we are only 3. Does the company put groups together, or would I need to find more people?

No I don't think that is the same excursion.  I think RCI called the excursion  4 x4 Rain forrest safari and beach escape. On Greg's Safari there were I believe 4 open air jeeps that could hold I believe 10 people. If you go make sure you get Greg as the driver. He was awesome and passionate about the island  and really knows his stuff on the history. I'll post some pics soon.

[cruisinfanatic]

51 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

We are doing a Southern Caribbean itinerary on Freedom out of San Juan in May and can't wait (St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados). Our party is myself (52), daughter (24) and son (22). We love adventures, the beach, the ocean, wild-life, etc.

 

We have decided on excursions in San Juan (Rainforest with Tours with Ellis and self-guided walking OSJ), St. Thomas (water ferry to Water Island beach day), St. Lucia (Joy's Adventure speedboat/bus to volcano, Pitons, snorkeling) and Barbados (catamaran with lunch and snorkeling). We made these choices based on reviews and advice from multiple sites including CC and others.

 

This leaves 2 islands, St. Kitts and Antigua, where we can't decide what to do. I am leaning toward doing some kind of island tour of St. Kitts, maybe Thenford Grey, because I heard the beaches there aren't so great, and maybe a simple beach day in Antigua, maybe take a bus to Darkwood/Valley Church. But it looks like there are sites on Antigua, like Nelson's Dockyard, that maybe can't be missed, so maybe we should do a simple island tour there with a beach stop at the end? I'm not sure we want to do island tours on both islands, if it would feel too repetitive or if it's worth seeing both islands this way. If you have been to both Antigua and St. Kitts, which has the better tour and which is the better beach day? Do we need tour both islands? Do I do a quick trip to the Dockyard and then the beach on Antigua?  What would you do?

 

Also, yes, I asked a similar question several months ago but I'm looking for new feedback, and I think my question this time is more narrow.

 

Thanks for reading my long-winded question! Looking forward to your feedback!

 

Eeyore

 

One of our favorite beach days is at Carambola. We go there every time we are in St Kitts

 

 

[Sea Dog]

Here are some pics with Greg's Safari. Also you you search his tour in the ports of call you will see lots of great reviews.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Swank Pad G
spelling

[CruisinCandy]

I think we are sailing on the same cruise as you.  

We have been to Antigua before and did Eli’s Eco Tour. It was fabulous!  We are doing it again on this cruise. The website is:

https://adventureantigua.com/the-eco-tour/

Hope this helps!

Candy

 

[SAHMof3]

Is Royston still doing personal tours in St Kitts? If so, hands down he is the absolute BEST! Small group. Just him and his cousin. He was born and raised there in St Kitts. He charges so little for sooooo much only because his heart is to show people his home island. Oh gosh I hope he’s still doing tours. He will become your forever friend. We still periodically email each other. We are both Christians and he was so good to me and my family. Our tour was only like $50 and it included entrances to two parks, snorkeling, lunch, and plenty of waters, soda and beer in his stocked cooler. Look him up! You won’t be sorry. And just for the record, St. Kitts has amazing off beach snorkeling! It’s my favorite port and I’ve been to almost all of them in the Caribbean.

[robtulipe]

We've actually have done land base vacations many times on Antigua and St.Kitts in addition to quite a few cruise stops on both.

IMO St. Kitts would be the better place to do an island tour as Brimstone Hill fortress is much better and more impressive place to see than Shirley Heights and Nelson's Dockyard/English Harbour on Antigua. That UNESCO World Heritage Site on St. Kitts has what I consider one of the very best view in the Caribbean of the surrounding islands and sea as shown in the shots below.. Also the nearby Caribella Batik/Romney Manor and Wingfield Plantation Rum distillery ruins are very interesting to see. Basseterre also has more to offer than St. John's on Antigua. On the latter I would do (and have done many times) a beach visit as it is easy to get to the West Bus station to catch a route taxi (private bus van for $3 per couple) to Darkwood Beach on Valley Church road. Simple walk straight inland two long block to Market St, turn right, go five blocks to the road fork and the bus station is nearby on the right fork (which is Valley Rd) just across from Public Market building on the land in the middle of the fork roads.

Also consider doing your tour with the Annie's Carribbean Tours. 

Annie and her husband Spoony each drive mini-vans and provide a very good tour.

Tell them Bob and Cheryl from Canada recommended using their service. Go to

 

https://anniescaribbeantours.com/

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by robtulipe

[zdad59]

We did this route a few years ago.    Did an island tour of both Antigua and St. Kitts.     I would HIGHLY recommend the Thenford Grey Grand Tour.    He was passionate about his island and took good care of us.    The tour of Antigua was nice but wasn't nearly as good as the St. Kitts tour.   We used Lawrence of Antigua for the tour there.   Nelson's Boatyard was nice as was the National Park with the overlook.

 

The overlook on Antigua with Nelson's Boatyard in the background.

 

Thenford Grey even decked out the back of his van as a surprise for us !

.

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by zdad59

[Hoopster95]

2 hours ago, EeyoreRN said:

We are doing a Southern Caribbean itinerary on Freedom out of San Juan in May and can't wait (St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados). Our party is myself (52), daughter (24) and son (22). We love adventures, the beach, the ocean, wild-life, etc.

 

 

24 & 22 yr olds?! Your kids will love you (and you will have a blast as well) if you choose the following:

(edit: Thenford Grey's bus tours I feel is not a good choice for a 22 and 24 years old... remember your audience of some of the replies you're getting here on this forum are personal experiences from mature cruisers, telling you what they like rather than experiences that may be better for what you asked for your 22 and 24 year old)

 

Antigua:

look up "Adventure Antigua", choose the "Xtreme Circumnavigation"... and buckle up! 

A super fast speed boat, 2 snorkel sites, Stingray City, beach buffet lunch, visit Naval Dockyard from the water... just great full day on the water

https://adventureantigua.com/

 

 

St Kitts:

Bluewater Safaris

Catamaran to Nevis

Snorkel to rusted abandoned ship, sail over to Nevis with lunch on the Catamaran, couple hours on the beach in Nevis

https://www.bluewatersafaris.com/

Edited March 6, 2019 by Hoopster95

[nasus2]

Just back from st kitts on celebrity cruise.  Absolutely heads up for Royston - he was amazing and only charges 45$ - talk about value. Lunch and entrance fee. Included. Our 6 hour tour was over 7 hours. 

[tinkr2]

So I somewhat agree with @Hoopster95  about the island tour with Thenford. We liked it but prefer more action, and are 55. So next time we used Thenford and did the volcano hike on St. Kitts, which was fantastic but hard. We also enjoyed the beach in St. Kitts, Carambola is great. Al the activities were done through Thenford and he will arrange any level of activity you like.   I like the rec of the 2 boat trips but that is what you are doing the other ports as we did on that same sailing.

We really liked Sandals in Antigua for a nice break from all that activity .

[EeyoreRN]

11 hours ago, cruisinfanatic said:

One of our favorite beach days is at Carambola. We go there every time we are in St Kitts

This beach was suggested to me by a coworker who has also been there many times. If we do a beach day in St. Kitts, it will be here, but I am leaning toward a tour for this island. Thanks for your input, I will be posting a report, so please stay tuned!

[EeyoreRN]

10 hours ago, CruisinCandy said:

I think we are sailing on the same cruise as you.  

We have been to Antigua before and did Eli’s Eco Tour. It was fabulous!  We are doing it again on this cruise. The website is:

https://adventureantigua.com/the-eco-tour/

Hope this helps!

Candy

 

Thanks for the link!  This looks amazing! Will present to the bosses.

 

May 26...are you on the roll call?

[EeyoreRN]

10 hours ago, SAHMof3 said:

Is Royston still doing personal tours in St Kitts? If so, hands down he is the absolute BEST! Small group. Just him and his cousin. He was born and raised there in St Kitts. He charges so little for sooooo much only because his heart is to show people his home island. Oh gosh I hope he’s still doing tours. He will become your forever friend. We still periodically email each other. We are both Christians and he was so good to me and my family. Our tour was only like $50 and it included entrances to two parks, snorkeling, lunch, and plenty of waters, soda and beer in his stocked cooler. Look him up! You won’t be sorry. And just for the record, St. Kitts has amazing off beach snorkeling! It’s my favorite port and I’ve been to almost all of them in the Caribbean.

 

7 hours ago, nasus2 said:

Just back from st kitts on celebrity cruise.  Absolutely heads up for Royston - he was amazing and only charges 45$ - talk about value. Lunch and entrance fee. Included. Our 6 hour tour was over 7 hours. 

 

Thanks for this suggestion! I actually had decided that Royston was my first choice. Great reviews and LOVE that price! I have contacted him a few times over the past several months and unfortunately, he says he is unsure if he will be in town at the time of our visit. He's leaning toward being unavailable. The only bad things I have read about Royston is that he can be non-committal and uncommunicative about it, so I need to assume he won't be around a pursue other options.

[EeyoreRN]

10 hours ago, robtulipe said:

We've actually have done land base vacations many times on Antigua and St.Kitts in addition to quite a few cruise stops on both.

IMO St. Kitts would be the better place to do an island tour as Brimstone Hill fortress is much better and more impressive place to see than Shirley Heights and Nelson's Dockyard/English Harbour on Antigua. That UNESCO World Heritage Site on St. Kitts has what I consider one of the very best view in the Caribbean of the surrounding islands and sea as shown in the shots below.. Also the nearby Caribella Batik/Romney Manor and Wingfield Plantation Rum distillery ruins are very interesting to see. Basseterre also has more to offer than St. John's on Antigua. On the latter I would do (and have done many times) a beach visit as it is easy to get to the West Bus station to catch a route taxi (private bus van for $3 per couple) to Darkwood Beach on Valley Church road. Simple walk straight inland two long block to Market St, turn right, go five blocks to the road fork and the bus station is nearby on the right fork (which is Valley Rd) just across from Public Market building on the land in the middle of the fork roads.

Also consider doing your tour with the Annie's Carribbean Tours. 

Annie and her husband Spoony each drive mini-vans and provide a very good tour.

Tell them Bob and Cheryl from Canada recommended using their service. Go to

 

https://anniescaribbeantours.com/

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, zdad59 said:

We did this route a few years ago.    Did an island tour of both Antigua and St. Kitts.     I would HIGHLY recommend the Thenford Grey Grand Tour.    He was passionate about his island and took good care of us.    The tour of Antigua was nice but wasn't nearly as good as the St. Kitts tour.   We used Lawrence of Antigua for the tour there.   Nelson's Boatyard was nice as was the National Park with the overlook.

 

Thenford Grey even decked out the back of his van as a surprise for us !

.

 

 

Like you both suggest, I was thinking that St. Kitts would be the better one to tour. I am in love with the writing on the van. So thoughtful! Also leaning toward the Darkwood beach via easy bus. Thanks for the tips about tour guides!  And please stay tuned for our full report to find out what we ultimately decide to do!

Edited March 6, 2019 by EeyoreRN

[EeyoreRN]

10 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

24 & 22 yr olds?! Your kids will love you (and you will have a blast as well) if you choose the following:

(edit: Thenford Grey's bus tours I feel is not a good choice for a 22 and 24 years old... remember your audience of some of the replies you're getting here on this forum are personal experiences from mature cruisers, telling you what they like rather than experiences that may be better for what you asked for your 22 and 24 year old)

 

Antigua:

look up "Adventure Antigua", choose the "Xtreme Circumnavigation"... and buckle up! 

A super fast speed boat, 2 snorkel sites, Stingray City, beach buffet lunch, visit Naval Dockyard from the water... just great full day on the water

https://adventureantigua.com/

 

St Kitts:

Bluewater Safaris

Catamaran to Nevis

Snorkel to rusted abandoned ship, sail over to Nevis with lunch on the Catamaran, couple hours on the beach in Nevis

https://www.bluewatersafaris.com/

 

 

Thank you so much for your attention to the constituents! The Xtreme Circumnavigation looks like exactly something we would all love...but we are doing almost this exact thing on St. Lucia. I want to keep that one because it has the Pitons and volcano and the mud baths which is something totally different we won't get anywhere else. And we're doing a catamaran in Barbados. All that said, there's no rule restricting activities! We can do more boats if we want to!! 

 

Looking into Bluewater Safaris right now. I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!!

 

[EeyoreRN]

7 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

So I somewhat agree with @Hoopster95  about the island tour with Thenford. We liked it but prefer more action, and are 55. So next time we used Thenford and did the volcano hike on St. Kitts, which was fantastic but hard. We also enjoyed the beach in St. Kitts, Carambola is great. Al the activities were done through Thenford and he will arrange any level of activity you like.   I like the rec of the 2 boat trips but that is what you are doing the other ports as we did on that same sailing.

We really liked Sandals in Antigua for a nice break from all that activity .

Yeah, that's the thing I'm concerned about with Thenford, the low activity level. That said, he does arrange a beach stop at the end, and this would be our only tour like it on the vacation, and it's only a few hours. It just sounds like the sites are worth seeing on this island. I read about the volcano hike and it sounded great but I'm worried I won't be able to do it. I suppose if I started training today...LOL. I agree 100% about the boat trips, that's why I was leaning against those, but there's no rule about doing similar activities on different islands!  Still a little confused!  Thanks for your input, I very much appreciate it.

[nhraformula00]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147243-d7168664-Reviews-Tropical_Adventures_Mystic_Catamaran-St_John_s_Saint_John_Parish_Antigua_Antigua_.html

This was by far the best tour we have taken on 20 cruises. Lobster and lunch cruise, 6 hours, 3 beaches, drinks, lobsters were huge!!!!!!!!!!!

[EeyoreRN]

4 minutes ago, nhraformula00 said:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147243-d7168664-Reviews-Tropical_Adventures_Mystic_Catamaran-St_John_s_Saint_John_Parish_Antigua_Antigua_.html

This was by far the best tour we have taken on 20 cruises. Lobster and lunch cruise, 6 hours, 3 beaches, drinks, lobsters were huge!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the link!  Looks amazing!

[dani negreanu]

11 hours ago, robtulipe said:

We've actually have done land base vacations many times on Antigua and St.Kitts in addition to quite a few cruise stops on both.

IMO St. Kitts would be the better place to do an island tour as Brimstone Hill fortress is much better and more impressive place to see than Shirley Heights and Nelson's Dockyard/English Harbour on Antigua. That UNESCO World Heritage Site on St. Kitts has what I consider one of the very best view in the Caribbean of the surrounding islands and sea as shown in the shots below.. Also the nearby Caribella Batik/Romney Manor and Wingfield Plantation Rum distillery ruins are very interesting to see. Basseterre also has more to offer than St. John's on Antigua.

 

 

I totally agree about Thenford Grey's tour. There was a beach option at the tour's end, but we opted to return to ship.

 

In Antigua we had a private tour with Elmo's Luxury Safari Antigua, went to Nelson Dockyard, Devil's Bridge, Shirley Heights, etc., but lately he didn't reply to friends who wanted to book him, so I'm afraid he's out of business. The tour with him was also amazing.

[cementhands]

12 hours ago, EeyoreRN said:

We are doing a Southern Caribbean itinerary on Freedom out of San Juan in May and can't wait (St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados). Our party is myself (52), daughter (24) and son (22). We love adventures, the beach, the ocean, wild-life, etc.

 

We have decided on excursions in San Juan (Rainforest with Tours with Ellis and self-guided walking OSJ), St. Thomas (water ferry to Water Island beach day), St. Lucia (Joy's Adventure speedboat/bus to volcano, Pitons, snorkeling) and Barbados (catamaran with lunch and snorkeling). We made these choices based on reviews and advice from multiple sites including CC and others.

 

This leaves 2 islands, St. Kitts and Antigua, where we can't decide what to do. I am leaning toward doing some kind of island tour of St. Kitts, maybe Thenford Grey, because I heard the beaches there aren't so great, and maybe a simple beach day in Antigua, maybe take a bus to Darkwood/Valley Church. But it looks like there are sites on Antigua, like Nelson's Dockyard, that maybe can't be missed, so maybe we should do a simple island tour there with a beach stop at the end? I'm not sure we want to do island tours on both islands, if it would feel too repetitive or if it's worth seeing both islands this way. If you have been to both Antigua and St. Kitts, which has the better tour and which is the better beach day? Do we need tour both islands? Do I do a quick trip to the Dockyard and then the beach on Antigua?  What would you do?

 

Also, yes, I asked a similar question several months ago but I'm looking for new feedback, and I think my question this time is more narrow.

 

Thanks for reading my long-winded question! Looking forward to your feedback!

 

Eeyore

 

 

St. Kitts cab ride to Carambola beach club. Excellent snorkeling reef right off shore. TripAdvisor for information. Just enjoyed February cruise stop. Clean bathrooms. Fairly new facility. Bottles of wine $10 with cooler bag. Buckets of beer. Restaurant. Long stretch of beach for walking.

Antigua cab to Sneaky Pete’s beach bar. Right next to Sandals resort. Excellent water. Gentle waves. 

Cruise port tt for info on how many ships are in port with you. We got off early and enjoyed the beach.