chill636

I just got back and toured with Lawrence of Antigua or his partner Chris. They are absolutely amazing!!! I did not want to to a six hour tour either (my family trip included my 7 month old daughter and 2 year old niece). They were very flexible and even confirmed the trip with me even before I left.

We corresponded via email and I was able to create my own itinerary which included a beach and paid $25 pp (kids free) . He had a sign with my name on it so there was no confusion when we arrived.

we went to Devils Bridge (a must), drove through the rainforest, picked up some fresh pineapple and mango (delicious), drove to scenic points to take pictures and went to Valley Church. He waited for us and returned us back to the ship.

Great guys!!! Very flexible

Here is Chris' email: Chrisolejohn at live dot com

tell him Jenn from NYC sent you!!! :D

I just came back from a cruise that included Antigua.

Try Valley Church Beach.

its absolutely beautiful. They have good food and drinks there too but no pressure (you will however be harassed to buy souvenirs from vendors that walk up and down the beach. After I told them no the firs time, I really wasn't pressured anymore)

Nice beach but be careful waves can be rough and so are the under currents.

We went to the BOATYARD on Carlisle Bay. It's $15 admission but that includes beach chair, umbrella, wi-fi AND a free DRINK!!! the food is good there is good flying fish there too! Can't beat that!!! Water is calm and gorgeous. Nothing like seeing schools of fish right next to you

**I recommend going to the Highlands before going to the beach the view is breathtaking (and they make good drinks there too :D)

Just came from Barbados two days ago. Had the best "cutters" at the BOATYARD that was my first time trying them and they were absolutely delish!!! The fish cakes were good as well.

While we are at it...i tried the PIRATE'S PUNCH (which is the Boatyard's spin on the rum punch) absolutely delightful...and it was free!!!! Can't beat that:)

Yes. I am fresh off the the AOS and the Lobster tail is served the second formal night for FREE! However, if you want Lobster while dining they now have an option on the menu every night to order it for $29.95.:confused:

We had a wonderful day at Carlisle Bay this week! Private taxi fare was $4 pp, and there was no waiting for others to fill the vehicle. We are early birds and discovered the beach empty before 8 a.m. We were dropped off at the right end of this incredibly beautiful beach with gorgeous soft sand!

We saw the water toys of the Boatyard and knew we wanted to check out all the beach bar areas before deciding where to set up for the day. We immediately encountered a local (But Canadian) guy in front of Dee's bar, telling us Dee's was the best place to sit for the day. Needless to say, we moved on quickly.

We stopped at Harbour Lights, knowing they were closest to the turtles. A young man wearing a Harbour Lights shirt was setting up chairs and umbrellas. We mentioned to him that we wanted to snorkel with the turtles. I mentioned Nevilles name but was not sure if that was who we would get. After an hour or so, the guy came over and said Neville was on his way. He originally quoted $30 pp but quickly brought that down to $20 when I balked at the price. He also quoted $15 for 2 chairs and an umbrella.

Be very careful that the person you pay is wearing a shirt representing that beach bar. It was very strange that some people were given armbands, but we were not. We went back to him and asked about the armbands and eventually he did give us one, but claimed, "don't worry, I am one of the legal guys and I will watch out for you". We later saw a sign at the bar saying to ensure who you are paying are actual employees. Be careful and make sure you are given an armband!

Neville was wonderful. He brought us out to where a bunch of boats were grouped together and fed the turtles. There were 4-5 turtles swimming around. It was a great experience. Do it early though. The later in the day, the more people there were kicking around and less turtles were seen. We also snorkeled over a shipwreck. There were 10 of us in Neville's boat and we noticed the ones who paid Neville directly only paid $15, so the guy made a few bucks on us. Oh well. There were people selling turtle tours all day so do not worry that you will have to "find" someone to bring you out.

If you are a decent swimmer, you could definitely swim out to the turtles yourself but the wrecks were further away and the one we saw was not to be missed! If you walked to the far left of Harbour Lights, you will see a rope with floats that leads you right out to the turtles. I am glad we went with Neville. He gave a nice little tour and kept us safe..lots of boats going in and out of this area.

The entire beach got quite crowded as the day progressed but we had a ball. Beers at Harbour Lights were a bucket of 6 for $20,or $4 for a single beer, all US prices. If you walked to the left of Harbour lights and back towards the road a bit there was a trailer serving food and drinks and advertising the same beer for 4/$5 US (prices were also listed in Barbados dollars, so remember to do the math. $2 Barb=$1 US). She also served lunch which reportedly was great but it took a while to prepare!

Lots of walking vendors were on the beach but they did not get in your face, a simple No, thank you sent them on their way.

Very easy to get a cab back to port, in fact, around noon there were many drivers waiting right on the beach and asking if anyone needed a cab.

 

I had so many unanswered questions about this day before leaving, so I hope this will help fill in any gaps in your planning! I will do exactly the same thing next time in Barbados. What a fantastic day!

Lauri

Thank you so much for this information. My family and i leave in two weeks on RCI Adventure of the Seas and this helps a bunch!!!

Happy sailing everyone!

If you want a better selection of wines, ask your cab driver to make a quick stop at a SuperMax (local grocery stores). Another option is another stop at Plaza las Americas, the biggest shopping mall in the island. A couple of months ago one of the best wine distributors opened a small store there (really close to JC Penny's). The store is "La Enoteca" from Ballester Hermanos. Excellent selection of wines. This is a link to their Facebook page....https://www.facebook.com/LaEnotecaPR

Thanks this tip helped a lot!!! esp since our wine options will be limited.