NCL Salto El Limon Horseback Ride

[pghsteeler1]

NCL Salto El Limon Horseback Ride

 

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone has done this excursion yet? Thinking of doing this on my upcoming cruise in April. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[GunShy]

I also want info on this excursion. On tripadviser, a poster highly recommended going there, but she and her bf only paid around $25 to the parada for a horseback ride to the fall. It looks amazing!

 

I would like to do this without the ship if possible, b/c the ship's exc is $84. Anyone have any experience with this area? Safety, money-changing, reliable transportation, time, etc??

 

Thanks

[TTown Traveler]

We had pre-arranged for a driver to tour Samana. Spanish is the dominant local language, and we don’t speak Spanish. Our driver, Enrique, spoke very good English (as well as French and German!) and served as our translator. We would have had great difficulty communicating without him! If you can speak Spanish, you could probably manage to just have a taxi take you to the falls.

 

Salto del Limon was our first stop. There are several places (called Paradas) where you can hire horses & guides that take you most of the way to the falls. You can walk the trail if you want, but it is very rugged and often quite steep. We went to the falls the day after a heavy rainfall, and the trail to the falls was quite muddy and rather difficult for walking. (Our shoes would have been ruined if we had chosen to walk...) We were grateful for our horses! If you do have horses, you still have to walk the last bit ~ it is not passable for the horses.

 

We got our horses at the Parada La Manzana. The guides who walked beside the horses were very helpful, and stayed with us even after we left the horses to assist with some of the more difficult areas to the falls. There are concrete steps along much of the last of this part of the trail. I am rather on the short side (5’2”), and the step up from one stair to the next was often quite a stretch for me. (I definitely didn’t need to hit the gym back on the ship as I was giving my legs a good workout here!)

 

After our return from the falls, the owner of the Parada, Antonia, had a wonderful lunch waiting for us consisting of typical local fare ~ rice, beans, salad, chicken, beef, stewed carrots & potatoes, and an array of fresh local fruits.

[jollycruise]

NCL Salto El Limon Horseback Ride

 

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone has done this excursion yet? Thinking of doing this on my upcoming cruise in April. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

Do a search for "El Limon Horseback" and you will find some reviews of people that have done it already. Sounds like it is pretty darn crazy!:eek: Hope this helps.

[kf151]

I'm sailing on the Dawn in 2 weeks, can't find the Salto El Limon horseback tour on their list of excursions -- does anyone know if NCL discontinued that one? Or am I just missing it? Thanks in advance.

[jollycruise]

I'm sailing on the Dawn in 2 weeks, can't find the Salto El Limon horseback tour on their list of excursions -- does anyone know if NCL discontinued that one? Or am I just missing it? Thanks in advance.

 

Good Question! It's in our shore excursion book we just got from NCL, but it no longer appears on NCL.com. Hummm...

[kf151]

Good Question! It's in our shore excursion book we just got from NCL, but it no longer appears on NCL.com. Hummm...

 

 

I just downloaded the shore excursion form and it is listed as "not available" -- wonder if it was deemed too dangerous or maybe it takes too long? It's a shame, because it sounded like fun, but because we are tendering and not docking, I'm inclined to stick with one of NCL's excursions rather than set something up independently. It's also our first time cruising, so I don't want to leave too many variables open.

[chrisbd1]

I did this. It was a real trip, indeed. The waterfall was beautiful, getting to the waterfall was VERY HARD!!! I would only recommend it to someone who is very fit and when the trail is dirt dry. I have a post about it lower in this thread.

[kf151]

I did this. It was a real trip, indeed. The waterfall was beautiful, getting to the waterfall was VERY HARD!!! I would only recommend it to someone who is very fit and when the trail is dirt dry. I have a post about it lower in this thread.

 

 

Thanks so much for your info. It sounds great, but I think it's too much for our 6-year old. We're sticking with the caves & mangroves plus beach escape.

 

On another note, I see that you just came back from the very same cruise we're doing -- 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Dawn. How was it? Any tips? This will be our first cruise, and I'm still trying to sort out shore excursions for Tortola and St. Thomas. Thanks again!