Turtle Cove Sailing & Snorkeling Excursion

[donlb]

Can anyone comment on the Turtle Cove Sailing & Snorkeling Excursion. The "Doubloon" and "Dancing Dolphin" are the two boats. Is it worth it? Was it fun?

The Kon-Tiki was our first choice, but it is not returning.

[skylar64]

I have also been trying to search out info about this excursion. Would love to hear any info about the "Pirate Cruise" on the Dubloon.

[chriscruise]

We did the excursion on the Doubloon. It was a great experience for our family. The crew was entertaining and attentive. The drinks flowed and the snorkeling was very good. We stayed with the guide and he'd go deep and bring up little creatures for us to see. We did the morning trip and some friends did the afternoon sail. The afternoon was much less crowded than ours. Maybe the word crowded sounds negative...we didn't feel crowded, the second sailing was just not as full and ours was.

 

We sailed to Turtle Cove and had soft drinks on the way. We snorkeled for a while and returned to the boat for some painkillers or whatever you wanted along with some little snacks. At that time the crew entertained us by putting pirate tattoos on everyone and generally kidding around. My son got to help steer the boat! You can check out their website http://www.doubloon.com for pictures they take while you're aboard. It was fun to check out our photos after we got home. If you have any other questions I'll check back and see if I can answer them.

[wolfganghowell]

We did this excursion and will be repeating it in April. It was not the best of circumstances which I will explain because the only negatives were the weather - NOT the operators.

 

We did the morning excursion which turned out to be fortunate since the weather caused the afternoon excursions to be cancelled. It was cloudy for the morning and the seas were fairly rough. I remembered from science, history whatever - that when on the open sea if you start to feel seasick stand up and keep your eyes on the horizon. I did and was fine. Many people onboard did not and became seasick. Several hurled over the side. The crew was very attentive to everyone who became seasick and tried to assist them - the "head" is not for hurling, it's into the water or into a bucket. The good thing is that many who got ill were fine relatively quickly - I saw many of them happily snorkeling a short time after arrival. There were many giant turtles and we enjoyed the location. The BOB excursion joined us about an hour later so there were plenty of people around but it was not terribly crowded. The trip back was uneventful, again the skies were gloomy and the rain was threatening. About an hour after we returned it was a torrential downpour - we were by that time up at the bar at Paradise Point and ducked for cover up there. It flooded quickly and was so heavy the view to the harbour was impossible for about an hour or so. We look forward to doing this again under optimal conditions. The price was fair (this was 2003) and the rum punch seemed pretty good (I didn't have more than a glass since I didn't want to complicate the rough seas situation.)

 

We have done the Kon Tiki and some others that are no longer offered. This group seemed to be well trained, friendly and very organized under some dicey conditions.

[SMILING IRISH EYES]

Would this excursion be good for a 10 yr old that has only snorkled once before (if you could call it that)? Average swimmer. How deep is the water? Thanks for any info.

[Sheffie]

We did the Turtle Cove excursion twice, but not on those boats. We really enjoyed it. You go to a cove over on Buck Island where you are in deep water where we saw lots of beautiful fish and one turtle. You do not go to a beach. I think that the average swimmer would thoroughly enjoy this excursion. They have life vests that you put on, so he shouldn't worry about the depth of the water.

 

Have a great cruise!

[caazcruzin]

Did you book doubloon through RCI or on your own? Their website mentions that they do excursions for the cruise lines. Looks great!

[HokieMom1]

We went on the Dancing Dolphin when we were on the MOS two years ago. We had a great time! The crew was wonderful. I believe they had snorkeling vests to use. They work great and you don't have to worry about being a great swimmer.

[J Star]

We did the excursion on the Doubloon. It was a great experience for our family. The crew was entertaining and attentive. The drinks flowed and the snorkeling was very good. We stayed with the guide and he'd go deep and bring up little creatures for us to see. We did the morning trip and some friends did the afternoon sail. The afternoon was much less crowded than ours. Maybe the word crowded sounds negative...we didn't feel crowded, the second sailing was just not as full and ours was.

 

We sailed to Turtle Cove and had soft drinks on the way. We snorkeled for a while and returned to the boat for some painkillers or whatever you wanted along with some little snacks. At that time the crew entertained us by putting pirate tattoos on everyone and generally kidding around. My son got to help steer the boat! You can check out their website www.doubloon.com for pictures they take while you're aboard. It was fun to check out our photos after we got home. If you have any other questions I'll check back and see if I can answer them.

 

Did you book this with the cruise line or is there a way you can book this excursion direct?

 

Thanks,

John

[picktowncruzr]

I booked direct. I emailed them from their website.

[J Star]

I booked direct. I emailed them from their website.

 

I looked at there web site and didn't see where you could book direct. Do you know where the area to book direct on there web site is? What web site did you go to?

 

Thanks,

JJ

[wolfganghowell]

We booked through the cruise line. The excursion says it is either Doubloon or Dancing Dolphin. I imagine it depends on how many or booked etc etc. We were on Doubloon which was not the greatest for seating but it was a cute boat and had the seas not been so rough there would be more room to move about. I think I would prefer a catamaran since you have a bit more room to spread out. There was no beach but you do have life preservers on and the crew was very attentive and would probably keep a good eye on your child. I would take a child on the morning excursion more than the afternoon one since I would guess that folks in the afternoon are going to be drinking more rum punch on the way back.

[picktowncruzr]

Go to www.doubloon.com. Click on the picture of 'Doubloon' (the picture on the left) then scroll to the bottom of your page there is a link to email them. It goes to Information@Doubloon.com. We emailed back and forth a couple times to get all the info and it's all set. They needed to know what ship we were on, whether the ship was on St. Thomas time or Miami time, what time we arrived and departed, how many in the party, etc. They gave me a rate of $50 for the adults, but only charged $30 for my 10 year old. He emailed me again today and said he'd also do some research on my ship times on his part. Hope this helps.