lizroxy24

To answer the question above, Yes snorkeling takes about an hour, and the rest of the time you can hang out at the beach. We did the combo snorkeling, and heritage tour. We did snorkeling in the morning when we arrived, then beach time and lunch for about an hour, and then the tour of the banana hole, slave houses, and art overlook in the afternoon. I think the website starts a reservation for you if you put anything in the cart. I ended up with a duplicate reservation and then got an alert that it had been canceled which worried me initially. I was able to email and confirm that the tour wasn't actually canceled just the duplicate reservation. I also called to confirm pickup instructions and since they had my cell number they were able to call the morning of and let me know the driver's eta at the cruise port. The fountain where they do pick-up was very easy to find. We ended up getting back to the ship around 3.

maybe look into Nirvana/ Love beach or Jaws beach. You could take a taxi or Uber there and back. I did snorkeling at the Clifton Heritage National Park and it was fun to see the sculptures underwater. We did the full tour with them but other people staying on the island brought their own equipment and just did the snorkeling for a reasonable entrance fee.

Maybe look at the Clifton National Park tour. It is a little bit of a drive but they will pick you up in a small group and take you to a very uncrowded beautiful beach which for us was worth a bit of a drive.

On our recent Virgin Cruise (Jan 08) I heard that the swimming with pigs excursion was not enjoyed by the majority of the participants. The weather was overcast and somewhat windy so the pigs refused to get in the water. Most compared it to a very expensive petting zoo and found it underwhelming. Several people requested refunds as they didn't feel it fit the advertised description. This is second-hand info so feel free to take it with a grain of salt. We did a tour excursion to the Clifton Heritage National Park and ended up having a lovely experience which was very peaceful and uncrowded. That may be an alternative swimming activity if she is looking to avoid the crowds.

I just got back from a cruise that stopped in Nassau and used this forum to explore excursion options. We ended up going on an excursion that I don't hear reported on very often and I wanted to promote it as we had a great time. We did the combination snorkeling and heritage tour through the Clifton Heritage National Park. It was a wonderful experience. They book tours directly through their website: https://tourcliftonheritage.com/ The tour included personal pick-up/ drop-off directly at the port, snorkeling, beach time, lunch, and a tour of the historical and artistic parts of the park. We were the only ones signed up from our cruise and we basically had a personalized tour. There was no rushing or feeling that they were herding you like cattle, instead, the staff were excited to share information and to help people explore their national park. The snorkeling is off the shore and includes some amazing underwater statues. There is a snorkeling guide that goes out with you on a kayak and is available to assist if needed. One of the best parts of the experience is you feel you are contributing to local conservation and preservation efforts for a site that is valuable to the local population. There is just a lovely spirit to the place and the people working there. Travel from the port was about 30 mins each way but they were very conscious of cruise ship schedules and had good communication so we didn't feel like there were any concerns over getting back to the ship in time. Our driver provided information about the island and pointed out points of interest along the way so the drive was also very interesting. The beaches were beautiful, clean, and uncrowded. It would be a great option for groups with kids who are big enough to swim/snorkel. Lunch was basic (Chicken tenders, fries, and a bottle of water) but tasty and served right at the beach. I heard so many people who say they skip getting off the ship at Nassau or people who have had negative experiences with the over-commercialized ship-sponsored excursions. I just wanted to promote this alternative.

We took our three girls there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Feeding the birds was one of the highlights of our trip. It is quite small and not fancy but it was fun. It felt like you were supporting a local institution. There was a small school group there the same day and I like that they support local outreach and conservation. We took a taxi there and back and I don't remember it being very expensive.

When we stopped at Nassau with kids a couple of years ago we took a taxi to the Ardastra conservation gardens. It was a lot of fun. The kids got a kick out of feeding the birds and seeing the flamingos. It is not very big and definitely not fancy but it was nice to support a local organization. There was a school group there that day so you could see it was used by locals as well.