Levi Baron bumpiing tours reviews? Anyone?

[Nauga146]

I sent an email to them asking about tour items on Saturday. Haven't heard anything yet, but I think I'm just impatient since I'm so excited to go.

 

Betsy

[sandian]

I sent an email to them asking about tour items on Saturday. Haven't heard anything yet, but I think I'm just impatient since I'm so excited to go.

 

Betsy

Levi answered my E. Mail within 24 hours and was very helpful. Having said that I E.Mailed him this morning and am still waiting on a reply. Very impatient as I want to find out if we are booked or not.

 

The reviews are great and we cant wait to tour with him.

 

sandian

[Nauga146]

Actually, I used the "Contact us" webform on the website. I looked through the thread again and found the email address, so I'll try that. I think it's just a website glitch.

 

Betsy

[houlacruiser]

I sent an email to them asking about tour items on Saturday. Haven't heard anything yet, but I think I'm just impatient since I'm so excited to go.

 

Betsy

 

Levi answered my E. Mail within 24 hours and was very helpful. Having said that I E.Mailed him this morning and am still waiting on a reply. Very impatient as I want to find out if we are booked or not.

 

The reviews are great and we cant wait to tour with him.

 

sandian

I have a tour booked with Levi for 2/10. He is pretty quick on the emails, but I know he had a family issue which was causing email responses to be a little slower. He does answer though!

[Nauga146]

Got a reply and was glad to hear from him. I was concerned that there was something wrong. We're finalizing plans for a tour December 5th. I was just really excited to get everything set up. I hope all is well quickly for him and his family.

 

Betsy

[scapel]

Got a reply and was glad to hear from him. I was concerned that there was something wrong. We're finalizing plans for a tour December 5th. I was just really excited to get everything set up. I hope all is well quickly for him and his family.

 

Betsy

Betsy,

 

We toured with him in April and he had just recently lost his father.

[houlacruiser]

Got a reply and was glad to hear from him. I was concerned that there was something wrong. We're finalizing plans for a tour December 5th. I was just really excited to get everything set up. I hope all is well quickly for him and his family.

 

Betsy

 

Glad you heard back and everything worked out! Like scapel posted, he lost his father and has been spending time caring for his mother now that she is alone. :(

[Ruth]

We have booked with Levi for December. A group of 5 of us are going with him on the Titou Gorge, Traflager Falls and Champagne Reef. There is also two other couples from our ship on this tour.....His van must be BIG....

[scapel]

We have booked with Levi for December. A group of 5 of us are going with him on the Titou Gorge, Traflager Falls and Champagne Reef. There is also two other couples from our ship on this tour.....His van must be BIG....

One of the vans will hold 15, but a little trouble for those climbing in the back. We put the kids in the back. The kids enjoyed Levi's tour, but not so much on the other islands. They were not much interested in how the spices were made. :)

[drbillmc]

We had 10 in our tour with Gary. We had plenty of room in his air conditioned van. It was a great tour, including the very refreshing local beer that he provided. It was one of the highlights of our 10 day cruise on the Ruby Princess. The only problem that we had was the time to meet for the tour. We were told to meet at 7:45 and the other ten people from our ship were told to meet at 7:15. We felt bad that we held them up. Other than that, it was a great tour and Gary was a very personable and helpful guide. He looked after everyone, especially helping us climb the rocks to get in and out of the warm springs. Gary and Bumpiing Tours live up to their reviews on Cruise Critic. We prefer to book with local companies, like Bumpiing Tours. You get a more personal tour than the ship tours and the money goes to the local vendor rather than most of the money going to the ship.

Bill

[Northender]

I emailed Levi a couple of days ago re: a Whale Watch tour in early April.

Still no response. Should I try again or just give it another day or two?:)

[ellbon]

i would email again. i alway hear from him. due ot his dad dying i am sure he is still out of it. took over a year to think at all.

[WVUfans]

I requested information from the website last night and received a very detailed response within a few hours. The email was three pages long detailing three different tours. We are planning on booking with Levi, but just trying to figure out which tour to book.

 

I am glad to hear that everyone who has been on a tour with him has been pleased. We are also going to do the Cosol tour in St. Lucia, and read nothing but positive reviews about this tour as well.

[kitkat9438]

You will LOVE Cosol tours. He is a super nice guy and his rum punch was fantastic. He made St. Lucia and his tour the highlight of our cruise last year.

 

Levi has been fantastic to work with via email. We are booked with him in December and I will be posting a review when we return. His tours vary depending really on how much walking and hiking you want to do. One of the tours is really for hikers and there is a lot of that involved. The one we are going on not so much. This is the tour he recommended for us:

 

Roseau Valley Treasures (wet tour)

Morne Bruce: (an area where you can see the entire city of Roseau from the top of a hill) 7 minutes drive from the ship. (Great for taking photos)

Botanical Gardens: (There you will see different plants trees and flowers grown on the Island) 5 minutes from Morne Bruce. (drive through)

Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs: (small boiling pools) 2 minutes walk one way up a few steps.

*Trafalgar Falls: (two waterfalls in the same area) 10 minutes walk one way up a few steps. The walk is not too difficult but can be a bit challenging if one has any difficulty with their backs, legs, hips or if one is short in breath due to lungs or heart condition. After the ten minutes walk, you get to a platform where you and view the waterfalls and take photos. There is an extra two minutes walk to you the hot mineral water where you could take a soak. Trafalgar falls is the second most visited site on the Island.

Titou Gorge: One of the most unique areas on the Island and it's also a spot where part of Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 was filmed. One can get to bathe in warm and cold water at Titou Gorge. To enjoy the gorge you would have to take the short swim (about 2 minutes) up a cave like area (you do not swim under water). The swim is about 100 feet and the water is about 10 feet deep at it's deepest point, but it's only about waist high when you get to the middle of the cave-Like area. There is a small waterfall one can swim to, if the water is not flowing too heavy (must do). (there is an easy 5-7 minutes walk to Titou Gorge). Trail is Rocky. We provide swim belts to all our guests.

The estimated duration of the tour is about 3.5 to 4.5 hours and has about 1.5 to 2 hours driving and about 30 minutes walking, total. The tour cost $40.00us per person (4 to 14 people adults). Children under the 14 years but older than 5 years, pays $10.00us less ($30.00us). There's no charge for children 5 and under. You pay for the tour after it has been completed, with cash or travellers cheques.

Champagne reef (snorkeling) can also be added to this tour. Adding it would make this tour about 1.5 hours longer and $7.00us more per person.

*Champagne Reef: One of the most unique snorkeling areas in the eastern Caribbean. Take a short 5 minutes walk to the end of the stony beach, until you get to a cliff where you will gear up and begin a very different under water experience. You will be swimming in bubbles like you were in a giant aquarium. If you do not have snorkel gears, it can be rented at Champagne at $12.00us per set.

NB: Site passes will be provided ($5.00us per person, per site, included in cost), so you do not have to purchase site passes. There was an increase by Government in the site passes as of July 1st 2008, from $2.00us to $5.00us per person.

* Indicate the site where site passes are needed. Champagne passes are $2.00us per person.

There will be complementary local beers, soft-drinks and local bottled water on the tour.

Recommendations:

- Wear a good pair of waterproof strapped sandals. (eg. Keens)

- Swim suits and towels

- A light snack and or some fruits

- Waterproof camera would be great for this tour

[Northender]

I did hear back from Levi - he no longer does Whale Watch Tours.:(

 

Cosol is great - we had a ball with him a couple of years ago in St. Lucia.:D

[WVUfans]

Levi aslo suggested the Roseau Valley Treasures tour for us. It sounds very interesting, but I am just worried that I will not be able to stand the cold water. Everything I have read was that it is worth it though. We are still trying to choose between three tours.

 

Has anyone snorkeled at Champagne?

[MikeyB]

Hi

Let me add my thoughts on the Roseau Valley Treasures tour-

My wfe and I took this tour on 11/7 off the NCL Dawn. Dominica is an island in need of TARP funds. But it is an extremely pretty island. The Titou Gorge was a bust because of murky waters. And so, this part was cancelled. I wondered how many times this happens. The Trafalgar falls area was pretty but you had to be physically fit in order to get in the pool. It was worth it.

And this is where this tour crashed and burned- When part of the group stayed at the platform and the other half went to the falls, our guide stayed in between smoking the local weed.

If I had to do it over, I would skip this "tour" and make other arrangements to get to the falls.

[ashtyn]

I also just got off the NCL Dawn and had a totally differnt experience with Levi. We actually had Levi as our guide. He took us up to the gorge and even though it was cold and murky, we went in. It was extremely difficult to navigate up the stream to the fall but he went beyond what was expected and took those of us who really wanted to go up to the end. He did tell us that it was the roughest he has ever seen it. He stayed with us the whole time and even snorkeled with us at the Champagne reef.

 

He is the best!

 

I will send photos to those who want them, just drop me a line.

[litebender]

My family also took the Roseau Valley tour with Levi as our guide. Let me first say that he is the most HONEST guide I have ever known. Thinking that he overcharged us, he sent a partial refund via Western Union within 3 days (I had actually just given him a large tip).

Also, when he realized that he brought the wrong size flippers for me, he lent me his own personal pair.

 

Concerning the cool water at the gorge, my wife was very apprehensive and we almost didn't book the tour. Once we were in the water, she did great, adapting faster than me! It is cool but not icy; and you keep moving.

One caveat: when you jump into the stream at the beginning and again on the return trip, your head will probably go under water briefly. This wouldn't have bothered me except I forgot that I had my contact lenses in. Not a big deal, but contact lens wearers might want to wear a snorkel mask or keep their eyes closed.

 

The natural "hot tub" at the falls was fantastic!!

 

Finally, Champagne Reef was also very cool, with the bubbles rising up through the water. Levi joined us and pointed out interesting fish including a squid.

 

In summary, let me just say Go for it!!

[superdee]

Levi got back to me. It seems he couldn't get through on my e-mail because the security on my server blocks e-mails from the Caribbean because of scams and crooked deals that come from there. It is all straightened out and we are going on the Falls and more tour December 5th.

[baba2k]

I just did a tour with Levi last week and had an awesome time. He is very personnal, well knowledgable and would strongly recommend him to anyone visiting the island. You will not be disappointed and I will be calling him up when I revisit Dominica in the future. BTW, we did the hike to the largest waterfall on the island, went to another fall that was inside a cave (where a scene of the Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed) and visited the Hot springs. If you do choose this tour make sure you buy Keen sandals or another type with toe protections.

 

He normally will respond to your emails within 24-48 hrs.

 

Highly recommended!!!!!

[mobydog]

WVU Fan- just posted a reply to your other post. You live up north so the water won't be arctic for you. It is not warm but it is not that cold either- you will adjust within 5 minutes at Titou Gorge. Champagne Reef is worth the visit...black sand, bubbles and a great drop off you can swim too. Bring your own snorkel gear if you have it or you can rent it at the Reef.

 

For everyone else...Bumpiing Tours and Levi was the best tour we have done. We did the Rouseau Valley Tour and Champagne Reef. We loved Dominica thanks to Levi!

[fielddreamer]

If anyone is interested I have about 100 pics of his tour, so If you want to see the highlights let me know. It was worth every dollar ! It was the best tour Bob & Donna P.S. Nov 2008:)

[Biddygirl]

You have pics from Levi's tour? Can you give me your email address to request them? Thanks! Also, for those who did the Rousseau Valley tour and Champagne Reef how long were you gone from the ship? Thanks

[fielddreamer]

My e-mail is fielddreamer@cox.net I have at least 100 to show! Bob