Another Glory tour question--which guide??

[dottiedef]

Just got email from Sarah that she is NOT available to be our guide on the Best of Barbados tour we want to take in November. She has offered 4 different guides and I was hoping that someone would have firsthand knowledge of them and could make a recommendation. Their names are Quammie, Stephen, Vernon and Jamel.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

This is the only tour that wants all their money up front. Wondering what others thought of that too. A little skeptical after reading some of the problems others have had with the water portion of the tour. We do not own our own snorkling equipment and seems that that had been a problem for some.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Dottie:) :) :)

[stu & SAND]

Just got email from Sarah that she is NOT available to be our guide on the Best of Barbados tour we want to take in November. She has offered 4 different guides and I was hoping that someone would have firsthand knowledge of them and could make a recommendation. Their names are Quammie, Stephen, Vernon and Jamel.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

This is the only tour that wants all their money up front. Wondering what others thought of that too. A little skeptical after reading some of the problems others have had with the water portion of the tour. We do not own our own snorkling equipment and seems that that had been a problem for some.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Dottie:) :) :)

 

Dottie,

 

I posted this on my review, I was too lazy to reply so I just copy and pasted. I am not sure if this is the same tour but Steven or Stephen was excellent. I am glad that he opted for the local lunch place which wasn't exactly five star but I would rather have a "local" experience than a touristy one any day.

 

"The trip included a tour of the island, a local lunch, a glass bottom boat ride which included a ship wreck and turtle snorkeling adventure. Our tour guide, Steven, was excellent and I would highly recommend him. He was very informative and allowed us to take our time whenever he stopped. The only schedule we had to meet was the 2 o'clock boat ride. After a very long bus ride to the end of the pier, we met the van and started our journey. TIP: If one of your parties is wheelchair bound, the vans to the end of the pier are not handicap accessible and you will have a very long ride. This fact made for some very unhappy passengers (and rightfully so). We stopped at quite a few beaches along the way, mainly for a photo op and to get our feet wet. Steven gave us a brief history of the beaches and the thing that struck me the most was the fact that they were all empty (with the exception of one beach on the Atlantic side which was part of a hotel). They were all gorgeous, beautiful and very serene. We met another couple on this tour from England who were on a 3 week cruise and boy, were we jealous. Along the way we spotted a wild monkey crossing the road. Thankfully he (or she) stopped in a tree long enough for us to take a picture. We stopped around 11 for a bathroom break and bought a fresh coconut ($2). The coconut milk was not that tasty and even though we added a little bit of rum, it still did not taste that good. The coconut itself though was quite tasty. At the bathroom stop many of the locals were selling their goods, there was also a guy with a monkey who would allow you take a picture for a small tip ($3). We stopped at the Sand Dunes restaurant for lunch and our choices were chicken or fish. My dw and I chose the fish and the others chose the chicken. The fish was excellent; also on the menu was macaroni and cheese which was ok and cole slaw which my dw loved. She ordered a side of slaw to go and while she loved it the smell in the van was a little overwhelming. After lunch we made our way to the boat ride. This was the most "touristy" thing we did all week and we felt very much like cattle being driven on 100 mile an hour sprint. We had to hurry and get to the boat, rush into the water to see the shipwreck, rush out of the water, pick up more passenger, rush over to the turtles, hurry to feed them and then rush out. While I am certainly glad I experienced this, I would not do it over again. The snorkeling, however, was terrific. The shipwreck was awesome to see and the turtles were unbelievable. As the crew were feeding the turtles, a couple of 4 foot tarpon came darting past the swimmers. I'd have to say that I was not startled but just amazed at how quickly they came and went. By the way, the pictures I took with the underwater camera came out great, the turtles said "cheese" every time! Excursion rating 8.5 out of 10. TIP: We stopped at the Blue Monkey Bar and Restaurant to take the boat ride and the line to the ladies room was veryyyyy long. Wear your bathing suit under your clothes and you will save yourself about 10-15 minutes of time. "

 

stu

[RocCruisers]

We had Quammie this past week. Did a very good job of showing off the island. We did not do the boat ride, but did end up at Mount Gay as our last stop, which is the ONLY way to end the day in Barbados.

[HapiFeet]

Stu -

 

Thanks for the great information. I would like to know how easy it was to get in and out of the glass bottom boat when you were snorkeling. Do you happen to have any pictures of the boat or does anyone else?