Shore excursions in Martinique?

[LuvTheSea14]

Going on Legend on Saturday. We booked our shore excursions for ports except Martinique Any suggestions???

[hstrybuf]

I would suggest a beach or other excursion. Anything other than what was Carnival's mostly highly touted tour when we sailed on the Legend. We had four busloads of people on a Sunday tour to see the town that was destroyed by the volcano (a lot of rebuilding over the years but you can still see the effects); supposedly we were to see the volcano but cloudy conditions prevented that; then on to a winery. The ride was so long with so few stops that there were numerous complaints when we returned to port.

[Whimpy]

Sail the Legend March 1-9. We took a 2 hr. taxi tour of Martineque. The taxi driver's name was Romain Berte. He spoke French mainly, does speak fairly good english. At least enough to get by on. He charged $25.00 american per person. The tour was nice, took us up into the rain forrest and to a very pretty church. He explained alittle bit about the country. A very nice man. He stopped several times for us to take pictures. Just wished we had more time to enjoy a longer tour.

[JXR]

I was there 3 years ago and did the Jeep Tour through Carnival. It was really fun, since we were only 4 per Jeep. Well worth the money.

 

Joanne

[celticd1]

We did the St. Pierre Island Tour offered through Carnival. We do not normally book our excursions through the ship, but since we had read that most speak French on Martinique (and we don't) we decided to play it safe and book a ship's excursion. We enjoyed this tour very much. The scenery is fantastic, our tour guide was very knowledgable and our driver was great. The only complaint we had was that we could'nt stop along the roads for pictures, but the tour is on a strict timetable.

[OkieCruisers]

We just got back from our Princess cruise and had a wonderful time there, just not long enough. I am not sure if Carnival offers this tour but it was a nice rare experience. It is a snorkeling outting that includes a stop at a bat cave. It is amazing to jump out of the boat and just right around the corner hear all the strange noises. The number of bats will take your breath away. We had a short day in port so did this first thing in the morning then took the wet suites off and headed on in to town on foot, not far at all. What a charming place with lovely shops and eateries. We would love to go back there and spend more time.

[spocruiser]

OkieCruisers;

 

Could you please provide a little more detail as we are signed up for this excursion through Princess for December? How was the snorkeling (clarity of water, temperature, lots of fish to see, etc)? How long did you actually have to snorkel? I beleive the description indicates you snorkel at one site then go the bat cave. Do you actually snorkel in the bat cave as well?

 

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

As an aside, had a very fun weekend in Stillwater many years ago in college, road trip with several friends (one from Stillwater) from Dallas.

[spocruiser]

Sorry, but forgot to ask...How many people were on the excursion?

 

I typically try to stay away from ship sponsored snorkeling or water excursions so as to avoid the crowds, but we (wife and two sons, ages 11 and 13) are having a hard time planning our day in Martinique.

 

Again, thanks for any detail.

[gizmo]

OkieCruisers;

 

Could you please provide a little more detail as we are signed up for this excursion through Princess for December? How was the snorkeling (clarity of water, temperature, lots of fish to see, etc)? How long did you actually have to snorkel? I beleive the description indicates you snorkel at one site then go the bat cave. Do you actually snorkel in the bat cave as well?

 

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

I did a similiar tour a couple of years ago through Hal.

We were taken across the bay.

It was on a big catamaran.

Clarity of the water was good.

The water temperature was warm, it was in early Dec.

They took us to the bat cave in a zodiac type boat.

Snorkeling is not the best at Martinique. We did see a little coral and some fish, but not a lot.

Martinique is not on the top of my list for good snorkeling, but overall it was a nice excursion.

[spocruiser]

Thanks Gizmo

 

Anyone else snorkel at Martinique through an excursion like the one offered through Princess?

[Sheffie]

then took the wet suites off and headed on in to town on foot,

 

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[tequilasunrise]

OkieCruisers;

 

Could you please provide a little more detail as we are signed up for this excursion through Princess for December? How was the snorkeling (clarity of water, temperature, lots of fish to see, etc)? How long did you actually have to snorkel? I beleive the description indicates you snorkel at one site then go the bat cave. Do you actually snorkel in the bat cave as well?

 

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

As an aside, had a very fun weekend in Stillwater many years ago in college, road trip with several friends (one from Stillwater) from Dallas.

 

First for the poster below, it was a fairly full boat, guessing here but about 20-25 people. It was a little crowded but worth it for the bat cave, imo, which can only be reached by water. That was a very unique experience. It was not very crowded and in fact, if all of them had known how to swim, it wouldn't have been bad. The thrashing from those who obviously didn't was mildy annoying at first, but then at the second site several of them opted to sit on the boat and drink rum instead to everyone's satisfaction.

 

The water is crystal clear and the visibility is great, all that you need. The fish will obscure your view before sediment does. The water is warm, I get cold easy and had no problem. Slightly cooler than medium bath water, I'd guess high 70's.

 

These sights are very close together and not far from the ship, most of your time is snorkelling. I didn't time it, sorry, but I didn't feel cheated-it was great! We saw lots of fish at both sites, more at the second where I was often surrounded by them. The bat caves (two right next to each other) are shallow and almost more deep indentions than true caves. You do get to swim into them, and look straight up at hundreds of bats while you are in crystal clear water surrounded by schools of fish (yellow, red, silver colored fish). It is eerie to hear the echoing of their noises while you are in there, surrounded by fish. The way the light bounces off the rocks, and the crystal clear water, it's almost illuminated while you are in the shadows, I thought it was very unusual and exciting.

 

I did see a cage deep in the water at the second that the fish were abnormally interested in, so I'll bet they feed them to keep the area full of fish. (my guess). There was more variety at the second site, but I saw squid and my favorite, trumpetfish, at both.

 

The first site is at a beach, and they land the boat in one foot of water so you can put your gear on on the beach. It's a nice thing for beginners, to ease you into snorkelling. Actually, that's the main reason for this stop imo. It's in a nice protected lagoon and easy swimming. The second site is about 30 ft deep and you enter from the boat, but there's a ladder on the end of it. Make sure you can climb ladders, if you take this excursion, because that's how you get back on the boat.

 

If you drink, try the rum punch on the way back--it's really good. But be careful, they serve it in very small glasses for a reason! :p

 

Couple of things that might be negatives for you or might not: The boat is older and not in the best condition--not one of these pretty modern cats, just an old barnacle barge . But then, it gets you there so who cares! (if the answer is you do, consider another trip lol). The other is that there were jellyfish, which may not always be present. They were small, and not dangerous like the big Pacific box type can be. I got a small sting, which in no way kept me from having fun. I'd do it again.

 

Hope that helps!