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CaribbeanBound

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    Nachi Coccum

    in Cozumel

    Posted

    Mitsugirly... thanks for the helpful posts and photos.

     

    bguppies... I seen your posts on several threads. You've got some of the most helpful, informative, and "to the point" posts I've ever seen. You're a true asset. Thanks.

    Last port Granada- Suggestions

    in Grenada

    Posted · Edited by CaribbeanBound

    We're thinking of doing Grand Anse this trip. Can you tell more more about it and how you got there and back?

     

    On out last trip we arranged for a 4-hour half-day half day "Spice Plantation Route" tour with Mandoo Tours at $45 per person, plus tips. It ran from 8am to noon plus beach time. The spice plantation route is going to give you a great feel of the island. We visited the Douglaston Spice Depot where we saw a presentation on many of Grenada's spices, and where fresh quality spices were available for purchase. We drove through the lush volcanic mountains to where multiple spice plants, cocoa and bananas plantations were pointed out to us. Great photo shots. We visited Grand Etang Crater Lake where we saw our first Mona monkey. We drove through the rain forest and made a stop at Annandale Waterfall. At the end of the tour we were given time at the beach and then returned to the ship. We had lunch on the ship and then walked to Fort George, very close to the ship. We exited the pier terminal and turned right. There is a stairwell to the right of a tunnel. Just keep climbing until you get to the top. It's about a 15 minute walk up stone stairs and ramps. This might have been an awesome fort at one time. It has fallen into disrepair and is being used for multiple other purposes. Really too bad. However Fort George will give you lots of photo opportunities from its elevated point.

     

    More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

    Skip St. Croix??????

    in St. Croix

    Posted

    There's always "something" to do in a port, even if it's just laying out at one of the beaches.

     

    We're doing the Geckos ATV tour and laying on a beach. It's Sunday, so a lot will be closed.

    Thinking about St. John and how to go

    in St. Thomas/St. John

    Posted

    I agree with Host Anne.

    Yes, it's easy to get there on your own.

    St. John, US Virgin Islands: We berthed at Havensight Pier in St. Thomas. Our destination was Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay on the Island of St. John for snorkeling. Despite what everyone at the pier will tell you (and they will lie to you), you can get local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi to Red Hook to catch a ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John. Simply walk out of the Havensight pier main gate, cross the street, turn left and walk until you get to the Bus Stop (there is a pullover area) across from K-Mart and cross the street so that you are standing on the K-Mart side of the street. It is a leisurely 15-minute level walk. When you see an open-air taxi drive up, flag him down, tell him where you wish to go and enjoy the trip. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending upon traffic. The taxi will drop you off at the Red Hook ferry terminal. Pay upon exiting the taxi, go through the gates and hop on the ferry to St. John. We caught the 8:00am ferry and paid our $5.00/pp fare. Normally, you would pay at the booth prior to boarding. The very pretty ride across the bay runs about 15 minutes.

    [Note: there is also a downtown ferry that runs directly from Charlotte Amalie for $10/pp. The ferry dock is a short taxi ride from the Charlotte Amalie pier. This is a very pretty 40-minute ride. As I recall, it runs less often than the Red Hook ferry.]

    Upon arrival at Cruz Bay, St. John, we caught a 10-minute taxi ride ($6.00/pp) to Trunk Bay, stopping once along the way to take pictures of Trunk Bay from a picturesque spot along the road. We arrived at 8:30am which allowed us to get in free. Once the admission booth opens, it costs $4.00/pp to enter this beautiful white sand beach with clear waters, awesome views of islands and cays, nice facilities, and an underwater snorkeling trail. The snorkeling trail can be found on the right hand side of the beach. It begins on the far side of the little island and works its way around the island and ends on the closer side. The snorkeling is very good, with lots of fish and colorful coral. Including the four of us, there was a total of 7 people enjoying this beach from 8:30am to 10:15am when larger groups began arriving —– at which time we left and caught a $4/pp taxi for Cinnamon Bay. (Trunk Bay is now one of our top three Caribbean beaches).

    Cinnamon Bay is part of a campground with good facilities, snorkeling equipment rentals, and kayak rentals. The beach is not as pretty as Trunk Bay but offers good snorkeling as well. Sea Turtles can be spotted here in the middle of the bay feeding on the sea grass, but we did not spot any this trip. We caught a taxi back to Cruz Bay ($7/pp) at 11:40am. We just missed the noon ferry so we ate lunch at High Tide Bar and Grill adjacent to the pier. We enjoyed the Virgin Island Pale Ale (a fruity beer made for distribution in St. John by a brewery in Maine), and especially liked the sweet mango salsa which accompanies the chips and salsa appetizer. We shopped until 1:45pm and bought tickets for the 2:00pm ferry, which was 30 minutes late arriving. A very large crowd anxiously waited in a long line in the hot sun on the pier. There was no problem getting everyone on the ferry. We arrived back in Red Hook at 2:40pm. Ignore the $7/pp taxis and wait for a $2.00 taxi again EXACTLY where it dropped you off. (Do not cross the street). We got dropped off a couple blocks closer to Havensight than the K-Mart where we picked up the taxi. St. Thomas is a major shopping destination. Havensight has a large number of shops convenient to the ship, however, the real shoppers head into Charlotte Amalie to do their shopping. It is very easy to get to St. John from the ship. We look forward to doing this excursion on our own again.

    More secrets of the Caribbean: [url]http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html[/url]

    Theford Grey or Royston?

    in St. Kitts & Nevis

    Posted

    We also hired Thenford Grey himself for this "Island Tour". The tour ran from 8:00am until about 2:00 pm with beach time available at Cockleshell Beach at the end of the tour. Thenford first took us through the historic city of Basseterre which was founded in 1625 by French settlers. After the city highlights we stopped at the ruins of an old sugar cane processing factory and Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik which was once owned by Captain Samuel Jefferson, the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson. The Plantation House which sits amidst 25 acres of lush tropical gardens, is now a batik factory and store. The gardens feature a large collection of exotic plants, palms and trees from all over the world. We saw numerous green tailed monkeys in the short drive between the ruin and the Manor. We then spent an hour at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park which sets atop a volcanic cone that is 800 feet high and offers 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and neighboring islands. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a World Heritage Site. (The $8.00 entrance fee was included). The Fortress is indeed impressive. I could have easily spent 4 hours exploring this impressive site. A lot of monkeys make their home in the vegetation surrounding the fort. Thenford shared a lot of local history with us as we explored the island. We also saw a live cockfight (two roosters going at each other) in the middle of the street. Our last stop was Cockleshell Beach where we had an opportunity to swim, collect shells, and grab a beer. On the way, we saw wandering goats, cows, and more monkeys. Recommended!

     

    More Secrets of the Caribbean: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

    Best Beach in Tortola?

    in Tortola

    Posted · Edited by CaribbeanBound

    If you want the Cane Garden Bay experience, but with better snorkling and considerably less people, I recommend Brewer's Bay (but keep it a secret, okay?)

     

    On our third trip to Tortola, we stayed on the island and set our sights on Brewer's Bay. Taxi service here is on a "per person" basis. Brewers Bay costs $6.00 per person each way for parties of 4 or more. (For the curious, it's also $6.00 per person to beautiful Cane Garden Bay, heavily populated with cruise passengers). What a way to end our cruise! There were less than a dozen folks at Brewers Bay when we arrived at 9am and about 50 when we left at 1pm. This is a spectacularly beautiful bay with awesome snorkeling to the left of the bay. We saw a number our variety of fish including Tarpon (about 4 feet in length), box fish, trigger fish, loads of colorful parrot fish, thousands of interesting little reef dwellers and various coral formations. It was impressive to see large schools of fish descend across the reef devouring whatever morsels they enjoy and moving on to the next like locusts in a field. If you aren't into snorkeling, lay back and watch the dozen or so pelicans plunge into the ocean for fish all day long. They would dive within a couple feet of a snorkeler --- neither bothering the other. Beach chairs can be rented for $5 (loungers) or $3 (chairs) but we didn't see any umbrellas. There is plenty of shade on the left side of the beach (snorkeling side) in front of Nicole's Bar. Nicole's Bar offers mixed drinks and a collection of $3 bottled beer as well as a grill ($6 for a cheeseburger or $8 for shrimp and fries).

     

    Here are more of our Secrets of the Caribbean!

    http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

    These are our very detailed personal reviews, hints, and tips for ports of call that you will be visiting.

    Lamanai Excursion Questions

    in Belize

    Posted

    We almost never book through the cruiseline. One exception was Lamanai and we were glad we did because we were late returning to the ship.

     

    Here is the full review...

     

    Belize City, Belize

    This will be one of your favorite ports IF you book an excursion. You'll hate the place if you do not. This fact has been chronicled time and again. Do yourself a favor and book an excursion! The two most popular excursions are the Cave Tubing and the Lamanai Ruins / Jungle River Cruise. Both get rave reviews. Our selection of the Lamanai tour was no exception.

     

    Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

     

    Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us a lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

     

    We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

     

    Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

     

    We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a cruise-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand any of their passengers in Belize if they are on a cruise-sponsored excursion. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Bottom line: take this tour.

     

    More: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

    Speedy's ferry Tortola?

    in Tortola

    Posted

    Here's the answer to Speedy's lunch...

     

    "Lunch at Virgin Gorda’s No. 1 Hot Spot The Bath & Turtle set in the midst of the best shopping on the islands. With the Best Selection of Burgers, Fish Dishes, Pastas, Salads and Pizzas" It is located somewhere in the Yacht Harbour.

     

    According to Cruise Critic: this restaurant offers "Casual dining in small courtyard. Burgers, pizzas, seafood, wraps, rotis, salads and totally top-notch fish & chips. Entrees run from about $7.00 through $15.00. Don't miss the national drink of the BVI, the Painkiller. Open from 11:30 a.m. daily."

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