Concerned about Cosol Tour

[Pastormike]

I have booked in Feb. with Cosol tours, having heard such great things. Today as I checked the website, on the front page, he still mentions Jalouise Beach (which I thought he was no longer doing, but going to another instead) but when I went to the "Tour" page he no longer lists a beach stop. Instead he talks about ending with a shopping trip.

 

I have emailed to see if this was a change. I have not heard from him. When I booked a few weeks ago, it still said beach trip. We want the tour, but also want to go to the beach.

 

Does anyone know if he has stopped that part of the trip?

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[RCrpntr]

I believe Mr. Cosol had a falling out with the new owners of Jalousie Plantation Resort. The beach is public but you have to cross their property to get there or go by boat. I was told his tours are not allowed access to Jalousie Beach.

 

We just got back in December. We had a private tour with Spencer Ambrose and I cannot recommend him highly enough. He got us onto the property with no problems and we took a shuttle bus down to the beach. It is beautiful and we would have hated to miss it.

 

His website is down at the moment but he has a temporary one.

 

http://www.splendidtours.sampa.com/splendid-tours/

[RCrpntr]

I noticed Mr. Cosol's homepage mentions the "Hilton Jalousie Beach."

 

Unless I am misinformed it is no longer a Hilton. (Jalousie Plantation Resort maybe?) I was told it was bought by a local group and for whatever reason they are denying Mr. Cosol access to their property.

 

You might still get taken to a beach but I'd bet money it won't be Jalousie Beach.

[Pomperaugrr]

No concerns. Cosol takes you to one beach, where you transfer onto a water taxi to go to Jalouise Beach. We just booked with Cosol for January 21st and he confirmed that. You do go to Jalouise Beach, but you just don''t drive down that long winding driveway to get there, you arrive by sea. We went with Cosol last January and are going again in just over a week. His tour is the best we've been on in the islands and is the first we have ever repeated. It is that good!

 

Eric

[John Bean]

My wife and I did the tour in November 2008, the first week he used the water taxies. You still go to the beach and can still snorkle in the great snorkling area. The negative is you have a little less time on the beach. The positive is you get a 15 minute boat ride each way while going around one of the Pitons.

[Bonbonn]

Hey Mike,

 

We just got back from our cruise and took the tour with Cosol on Jan 5th. He does have a beach stop, you take a water taxi, and go to a small beach between the Pitons to swim or snorkle. Please book with him as this tour was the highlight of our trip. Cosol is fun and entertaining, he feeds you and you get a real feel for this island. You go to many places that other tours would charge extra for. Also we took at taxi tour with Slyvestor in Barbados, and he was also very good ($25 pp) he will show you the nice part of the island, and you will go by beaches, and see celebrity homes. He also stops at a peak for photos ops and there is a place selling things, and they also have a monkey on display. It is his own taxi, so you can just ask for him at the taxi terminal.

 

Bonnie

[senseidai]

We got back from our cruise last night, and went on a Cosol Tour on Wednesday. We went to Jalousie Beach via water taxi, which was part of the fun :) The beach is beautiful, but part of a resort, so those of us on the tour stayed away from the paying guests so as not to infringe on them. The only negative about this beach is that we were only there for 1 hour!

 

A word of caution about the tour-the island of St Lucia is very mountainous, and the roads are EXTREMELY windy, so there is a possibility of motion sickness, especially coupled with the rum! My husband goes on Disney rides with no problems, but this tour made him nauseous to the point of having to lie down when we got back to the ship. Many, many hairpin turns.

 

That being said, you should enjoy the tour.

[Ocean State]

Hi, We also got back from our cruise last night, and went on a Cosol Tour on Wednesday. We went to Jalousie Beach but did not take the water taxi. Our driver (Bumpy was his name) drove us to the resort, and then the resort van took us down to the beach. Supposedly we were going to have to pay $20 for a chair, but we sat on 2 chairs for the 60 minute visit and no one charged us.

[mortypro]

we were in st lucia on wednesday and we did spencer ambrose tour

he was amazing!!! and less money

we stopped at the most interesting places everyone knew him !!

 

we did the beach no problem

we saw the cosol tour people there also but they did the beach by boat

either way it is a beach to see

[pbnjrockette]

We did the Cosol tour last week (Wed. Jan 7). While it was a GOOD tour (not GREAT), I was a little disappointed due to all the great reviews here at cruise critic. I think the driver can make or break a tour and perhaps ours was not the best. He did little to encourage interaction among our van of 10 and seemed to discourage questions.

 

St. Lucia is a beautiful island and the weather was perfect. We did not stop as much as some of the other vans (our driver "couldn't" find parking) so missed a few good pictures. The food stop was great! Make sure you sample everything! Especially the delicious island fruits (lunch is short, quick and somewhat strange so if you want to eat do it at the early stop). Beverages are plentiful and served often.

 

We went to Jalousie Beach by water taxi but there was not nearly enough time there to swim and snorkel and sun on the beach (only 50 minutes for our group). We had to sit on our towels or spend $20 for the beach chairs :mad:

 

As previously mentioned, the roads are very winding with sharp hairpin turns and if you are prone to motion sickness take a pill or sit next to a window!

 

I'm sure those who rode with Cosol himself had a different tour experience.

[bvwinbristol]

We booked a private tour with Cosol and were there 3 days ago, our driver Yellow Bird, Cosol's brother, took us to the resort and we used the resort van to take us down to the beach.

 

Had a great day out and loved every minute of the tour, have no concerns booking a Cosol tour...it really is service with a smile :)

[chewap]

We got back from our cruise last night, and went on a Cosol Tour on Wednesday. We went to Jalousie Beach via water taxi, which was part of the fun :) The beach is beautiful, but part of a resort, so those of us on the tour stayed away from the paying guests so as not to infringe on them. The only negative about this beach is that we were only there for 1 hour!

 

A word of caution about the tour-the island of St Lucia is very mountainous, and the roads are EXTREMELY windy, so there is a possibility of motion sickness, especially coupled with the rum! My husband goes on Disney rides with no problems, but this tour made him nauseous to the point of having to lie down when we got back to the ship. Many, many hairpin turns.

 

That being said, you should enjoy the tour.

 

Agree with the motion sickness, especially if you drink the rum. 1/2 of the people in the Van were sick.

[BBG]

I went on the tour with Cosol in December. I loved the water taxi ride to Jalouise beach-it was fun to zip along right next to the Pitons!

[Pepperwood]

We did the Cosol tour last week (Wed. Jan 7). While it was a GOOD tour (not GREAT), I was a little disappointed due to all the great reviews here at cruise critic. I think the driver can make or break a tour and perhaps ours was not the best. He did little to encourage interaction among our van of 10 and seemed to discourage questions.

 

St. Lucia is a beautiful island and the weather was perfect. We did not stop as much as some of the other vans (our driver "couldn't" find parking) so missed a few good pictures.

 

I'm sure those who rode with Cosol himself had a different tour experience.

 

If your driver wasn't as you good as you expected, you should contact Cosol and let him know. Cosol hires extra drivers on an as-needed basis, and always wants to know if you had a less-than-perfect experience. He knows his business relies on good reviews at CC, and reads these boards himself for comments. (Hi Cosol!):)

[MXGirl]

I agree with Pepperwood, email Cosol and let him know of your experience with your driver. Cosol is very dedicated to ensuring his guests have a remarkable time.

 

I also agree with going to the beach via water taxi does give you some amazing views of the Pitons. Plus our taxi ride back from the beach was a blast with Cosol onboard our taxi. He is hilarious once you get to speaking with him.

 

BTW-Hello Cosol-your friends from Texas!! It was great to meet you in December.

[Pepperwood]

Here are some views of the water taxi ride to the beach. In the first photo, the water taxi is heading towards the bay between Petit Piton (the shoulder of land on the left) and Gros Piton (the tall pointy thing).

When the boat rounds the point, you can make out the beach in the distance.

Before you know it, you are standing on the beach.

Paradise!

[gcam]

does the water taxi take you up to the beach or do you have to jump in water?

[Extraordinaire]

No concerns. Cosol takes you to one beach, where you transfer onto a water taxi to go to Jalouise Beach. We just booked with Cosol for January 21st and he confirmed that. You do go to Jalouise Beach, but you just don''t drive down that long winding driveway to get there, you arrive by sea. We went with Cosol last January and are going again in just over a week. His tour is the best we've been on in the islands and is the first we have ever repeated. It is that good!

 

Eric

 

We are trying to decide on a tour/tour guide in St. Lucia. It seems there is so much to do and see there. How was your experience with Cosol in January? Thanks for the info.:)

[Pomperaugrr]

We are trying to decide on a tour/tour guide in St. Lucia. It seems there is so much to do and see there. How was your experience with Cosol in January? Thanks for the info.:)

 

The tour was outstanding. We did the same tour in January 2008 as well, but enjoyed it so much we did it again this year. I can't say enough about how great his drivers are and how much you get to see and experience in a day. The vehicles are new, clean and well maintained. The food stop is amazing and the views throughout the island are breathtaking. I would love to spend hours at each ofthe stops, but that is impossible if you want to get to all of them. Cosol and his drivers are proud of their home and are happy to share that with passengers. Baptiste was our driver last year and this year we had Jean-Claude. Our running joke was that I was comparing them and that it was close as to which is the better driver and guide. I left letting them know it was a tie and that I would have to come back again for the tie breaker next year. Cosol does a good job of making sure each guest is having a good time and he is very attentive.

 

This is without a doubt the best general sight seeing tour in the caribbean, especially for the price. We drove to the beach last year, but took the water taxi this year. The boat goes right up onto the sand, so you just have to step out onto the beach. You probably will get your feet wet. Swimming between the Pitons is an experience you will not soon forget!

 

Eric

[Grits53]

Cosol's tour is great! We did it with our Miracle roll call group at the end of last October. We also went to Jalousie by boat, which was a lot of fun. We wished we had had more time to snorkel there, as there were some nice things to see. We got into and out of the boat from a pier, which was higher than the boat and created a pretty big step to make. But no one had a problem with it. Our group was fortunate enough to have Cosol as a driver, but the other group with us enjoyed their driver, too. The food is great, and that home made bread and cheese at the end is fabulous! I wish I had one of those right now! :o And those fresh bananas are amazingly sweet. Book Cosol's tour and go have some fun!

[Cruzan1214]

We are trying to decide on a tour/tour guide in St. Lucia. It seems there is so much to do and see there. How was your experience with Cosol in January? Thanks for the info.:)

 

We booked our tour with Spencer Ambrose the last week of January. This tour was the highlight of our trip. Spencer is amazing and seems to know everyone and everything about the island. With Spencer's tour we were able to be driven right down to the beach and spend over 2 hours there. We saw people arriving in boats and getting dropped off, however they were only able to stay for a short period of time.

[mishdoob]

we just got back from Feb. 11 tour with Cosol. we went to the beautiful beach at the base of the Pitons, by water taxi. It was wonderful, and Cosol was GREAT. highly recommend his tour!

[lba2006]

Just got back..we were on the Cosol Tour 2/11. He still goes to Jalouise beach. The snorkeling there is great. He gives you an hour on the beach. I disagree with the person who complained that it isn't enough time. The tour is at least 6 hours as it is...he gives you enough time at each spot so that you can experience it and move on to the next spot. 5-6 hrs just isn't a lot of time to fit everything in that St. Lucia has to offer but Cosol does a great job of fitting everything in. We had to take a water taxi to the beach b/c they are doing construction on the road. I do agree that a driver can add or detract from the tour; our driver, Samuel didn't have quite the energy that Cosol does;however, he was very informative and we still had a great time. If you have any problems during the tour just mention them to Cosol (he is there the whole time) and he will do anything in his power to correct it. He literally bends over backwards to make your experience a good one. My bro-in-law decided after being at Jalouise 40 min. that he wanted to snorkel...by the time he put on his mask and got in the water it was time to leave the beach. Clearly, it was his fault for waiting so long to rent the equipment since he knew how much time he had at the beach but wasn't paying attention. Anyway, he told Cosol what happened and Cosol got his money back for renting the snorkel equipment. Cosol didn't have to do that since it was my bro-in-laws own fault but Cosol wants to make sure everyone has a great time.

[holdon216]

I just read all the previous posts here. NOW i am even more worried about getting car sick. Many people are mentioning it happening even to those who dont get car sick.

Also everyone seems to think there is not enough time on Jalousie Beach. 50 - 60 minutes to swim is not much.

Is there any way to get to this beach on your own?? Without doing the whole 5-7 hour tour as i understand Cosols is.

Are there tours that do less that give you more time at Jalousie??

TY

[lba2006]

I just read all the previous posts here. NOW i am even more worried about getting car sick. Many people are mentioning it happening even to those who dont get car sick.

Also everyone seems to think there is not enough time on Jalousie Beach. 50 - 60 minutes to swim is not much.

Is there any way to get to this beach on your own?? Without doing the whole 5-7 hour tour as i understand Cosols is.

Are there tours that do less that give you more time at Jalousie??

TY

 

 

That's too bad that you are considering not going. It was the highlight of our whole cruise. There was one person in our group (out of 10) who started feeling a little queezy but they took some Dramamine and they were fine. Just take some before you go and you'll be fine. There are lots of stops. I thought an hour at the beach was plenty of time...after all it's a tour of St. Lucia...however, I'm positive if you email Cosol and asked him you could have more time then he would work something out with you to give you more time there. Although it would be a shame if you missed out on something else on the tour b/c you stayed longer there. Having done the whole tour..I wouldn't have wanted to stay there any longer and definitely wouldn't have wanted to miss anything in order to do so. I'm positive if you asked everyone who has gone...would they skip out on the tour just to do a day at Jalousie beach I'm sure most everyone would say no. It's a nice beach but not THAT great. The experience of the tour far at ways what "little" time you have at Jalousie.