Is Cosol in St. Lucia as good as people say??

[mojo2rusty]

Hey Lemon Drop, you couldn't have said it better. Cosol is great. Anyone thinking of taking the tour with Cosol will not be disappointed. His vans or clean and in the best shape of any taxi or tour bus/van I have seen on any island. Cosol is very aware that a lot of if not all his business comes from word of mouth so he is determined to provide you with a first rate view of this beautiful island. And as Lemon Drop said,he give you a wonderful sample of island food. You will not stop for a sit down meal, however you do get plenty of island snacks, fruits and the hot bread & cheese is wonderful. He also stops along the way and gets some island cookies to snack on as you go. We had a great time Didn't we Lemon Drop? Oh ya, if you want Cosol himself as you guide. Make sure when he greats you your having a great time. Our group was laughing and having a ball when me met him and he took us straight to his van.

Tell him we all said HI!!

[presnat]

The Cosol trip to the beach involves taking a water taxi (arranged by Cosol) for about five minutes. It is a beautiful beach. You probably should wear your swim suits under your clothes, as I don't remember a place to change there--no access to shore facilities except a few chairs. What a beach in a beautiful setting between the pitons! It was tempting to just stay there (permanently)....but seriously, I don't think you could get back to the ship except with Cosol. It's a full day tour, so you wouldn't have slack time for staying longer at the beach--and you would be two hours from the ship then. It was an outstanding trip down the coast, with great scenery along with good local food, rum punch and other drinks, and information provided by Colsol. Highly recommended!

[English_in_Spain]

The Cosol trip to the beach involves taking a water taxi (arranged by Cosol) for about five minutes. It is a beautiful beach. You probably should wear your swim suits under your clothes, as I don't remember a place to change there--no access to shore facilities except a few chairs. What a beach in a beautiful setting between the pitons! It was tempting to just stay there (permanently)....but seriously, I don't think you could get back to the ship except with Cosol. It's a full day tour, so you wouldn't have slack time for staying longer at the beach--and you would be two hours from the ship then. It was an outstanding trip down the coast, with great scenery along with good local food, rum punch and other drinks, and information provided by Colsol. Highly recommended!

 

Are there no bathroom facilities at the beach? How long are you there?

[ezi-amy]

Cosol Best Tour ever taken...

1st photo is of Cosol himself, 2) Waterfall 3) house where they feed you 4) feast that Cosol tour give you.

 

This is what the tour included: Local Food, Beers, Sodas, Water, Local Rum and other local drinks. Included was the round trip boats that took us to the beach between the Petons. On the way back to the ship they gave us Hot out of the oven delicious local bread and cheese. They never tried to force you into buying anything and did try to take you shopping (so they can get a cut, like other tours do).

 

They picked us up 8:30am and we returned 4pm, they had 5 or 6 min-vans 12 people in each with their own guide.

We stopped at a banana plantation and they gave us fresh babanas, then we went to a house on the hill with a fantastic view see picture and they had 8 tables full of local food from beef fish vegetarian chicken etc.. all you can eat, just in case you missed a meal on the ship.

They had a van full of ice cold water, beer, soda, home made rum (all included) every stop that we made the truck would follow us there and they would give us as many drinks as we wanted.

We went to the volcano, the water falls, one hour on the beach between the Petons.

 

They were very organized and knew what they were doing, Best $65 per person we ever spent. Its a must do for anyone that go to St Lucia.

 

 

[wcal]

We are part of a group of 10 booked with him March 2nd. Looking forward to his tour.

[carads]

Are there no bathroom facilities at the beach? How long are you there?

When we were there with Cosol last year there were bathrooms at the beach and you could use them to change. I think we were there 45 minutes to an hour.

[anubian]

We did Cosol's tour two years in a row. It was that good. As was stated, the drivers are top notch. I was impressed with the cleanliness and the good mechanical condition of the vans. On those twisted and hilly roads, you will be happy not to hear the brakes squeaking. St. Lucia is a beautiful island and Cosol's tour is a great and safe way to see it. There were some vendors at some stops, but they were not pushy, like one will find in many Caribbean islands. We actually had to approach them. There is some van travel, but there are lots of stops in between, so you don't feel like it is a long ride, despite the distances covered.

 

The food and rum punch is very good. This was easily one of our favorite general island tours in the Caribbean. Cosol (Francis Nerius) is at the terminal and greets you, then directs you onto your van. He has definitely put together a great tour package for the price. Both times, we happily tipped our driver $20 after the tour, they were that good.

 

Eric

 

 

Question,

Do they vendors take US cash and was there tipping at the various food stops?

[JackieD223]

I'm a cruise virgin and thinking of planning this tour. So the typical question.... Cosol does get you back to the boat in enough time where I won't start to panic?? None of the excursions on the Carnival site seem to appeal to me. Does it feel like you are on a long road trip the whole day, or do the stops break up the ride enough to where you don't mind?

[quietk]

I will be travelling with my pregnant wife, my parents, wife's parents and a 2 year old son (7 of us total). Do all the vans hold up to 12 people? Do they try to sqeeze everyone into the same van or is it pretty flexible? It would be nice to have our own van and not have to worry about my son causing a fuss for other people on the tour. We'll be bringing his car seat. I'm probably over reacting but just wanna have a great time and sounds like we will from everyone's posts. Thanks.

[carads]

So the typical question.... Cosol does get you back to the boat in enough time where I won't start to panic?

 

For us last year it depended on when you panic. We made it back 45 minutes before the ship was due to depart. I wasn't worried but my wife was.

[stipmom]

I just got back from St.Lucia and toured with Yellow Bird. He was great. Cosol really has his act together. Don't hesitate to go with him

[ezi-amy]

They are very well organized and they put couples in one van and family groups in a separate van, there isn't much difference between the vans they all go to the same places.

You are never pressured into buyng anything from anyone. The food and all the drinks that you want are included, after the tour we took a couple of sodas with us to the ship.

They are very experienced and will get you back to the ship with plenty of time, you will even have time to go shopping at the peer.

You are under no pressure to tip but we loved the tour and the driver so much that we tipped generously, I don't know what teh other people did.

We have been on many other tours and Cosol was one of the best by far.

The only regret is that they do tours only in ST Lucia, I wish thaht they did other Islands.

:) Ezi

[funsunner]

Just wanted to clarify something regarding the beach/snorkel portion of the tour. So I understand you take a water taxi to the beach, my question is how much time do you have at the beach and is snorkeling available, do you need your own equipment and is there rentals available? There does not seem to be any mention of the snorkel/beach on Cosol's website. Let me know.

[nitlioner]

Just wanted to clarify something regarding the beach/snorkel portion of the tour. So I understand you take a water taxi to the beach, my question is how much time do you have at the beach and is snorkeling available, do you need your own equipment and is there rentals available? There does not seem to be any mention of the snorkel/beach on Cosol's website. Let me know.

 

We had about an hour at the beach. There was snorkel equipment available to rent at the beach for $10. We didn't snorkel so can't comment on how good it was.

[ezi-amy]

We were told by everyone that went snorkeling that it was the best they ever did. I didn't think that an hour would have been enough for snorkeling so I didn't do it.

 

The water taxi (more like a speed boat) was included in the price. The ride was a lot of fun.

Part of the beach had chairs that were for free. The beach and the view with the pitons behind us were amazing.

 

It is very cold outside and I wish that I was there right now, Ezi

[SeanSD]

Just concerned about the motion sickness since my wife gets carsick sometimes. I think if the stops are frequent enough it may not be a problem (or if she can sit in the front seat). But it sounds like an awesome tour!

 

My other question is do you go to Marigot Bay and if so for how long and what can you do there?

[nitlioner]

Just concerned about the motion sickness since my wife gets carsick sometimes. I think if the stops are frequent enough it may not be a problem (or if she can sit in the front seat). But it sounds like an awesome tour!

 

A word of caution, not meant to scare you off, but the roads on St Lucia are very twisty with lots of turns and hills. My DW got very sick on the trip and she was using a prescription patch. She is prone is motion sickness and is typically OK with the prescription, but not that day.

[Mary in Maine]

We are not drinkers but we had a great time on the Cosol tour. The banter is informative and fun, the sights are interesting, the food samples tasty. A great way to spend a day, especially when so many island tours take you to the post office, two churches and an overlook . . . and call it a day!

[SeanSD]

A word of caution, not meant to scare you off, but the roads on St Lucia are very twisty with lots of turns and hills. My DW got very sick on the trip and she was using a prescription patch. She is prone is motion sickness and is typically OK with the prescription, but not that day.

 

I appreciate the info. We probably should pass, since that sounds like she'd be queasy, which wouldnt be much fun. Oh well!

[okbowler]

Cosol tour stops many times. Wife should be able to sit in front seat if you ask driver ahead of time. On our tour we went to a hotel private beach for about an hour. Beach had two areas one swimming, one snorkling. Do not know the quality of the snorkling side but those who did seemed to be pleased. This hotel is located at the base of the Pitons, beautiful. We did not have to take water taxi. At the time we went he seemed to have 2 tours, many of the same stops but not all the same. We were 8 in our party and had our own van but did not request it. Believe Yellowbird is Cosol's brother. Beautiful scenery, good drinks , good food great guides.:) Bill

[GaryNFla]

If their on site service is as good as their email replies this will be a awesome trip. Super fast emails and very friendly!!

[skybosun]

We toured with Cosol himself in Jan 2008 and with his brother Yellow Bird in Jan 2009. Both were great tours. I thinks its Cosol's lady friend and her mum (who used to live in UK if I remember correctly) that do the buffet on the way down the island. In 2008, we didn't go to the beach but did in 2009. Yellow Bird managed to negotiate passage through the hotel grounds for our 6 to 8 seater bus so we had a good couple of hours on the beach and eventually Cosol's party arrived by water taxi. It was a public holiday when we visited in 2009 so I believe the normal bakeries were closed and Yellow Bird went out of his way to make up for it. Apart from additional butties on the way back at the same location we had visited for the buffet, he also stopped in a village and brought us fresh Kasva bread which is made from tree roots but tastes like bread and butter pudding. Have your cameras ready for humming birds in the botantical gardens but they move really fast.

Would definately recommend this tour especially with pound strong against the dollar.

[rpurkey]

I will simply say we love the tour last Feb and will do it again when/if we go back.

 

If there are any negatives, they are..

 

#1 Size. The word of mouth has led to his tour growing exponentially. When we went there were about 10 vans. At times it was congested. Other times, we were spread out and it was great. Also, the 'bar car' was not as readily available as promised. This, I think, was due to the size of the tour. But all in all, I had enough (or more) than I needed!

 

#2 Time in Van. There is really no way around it. You are going to spend a lot of time in transit. I was a bit worried because I have a queasy stomach. However, I had no problems. They do an excellent job of breaking up the trip with man stops. It seems like the last leg of the tour back to the ship was a pretty long .

 

#3 Drinks at the Beach. I waited over 30 minutes at the little bar at the Resort Beach for a drink.

 

Like I said, terrific tour and I would do it again.

[dmjohn2]

I have been trying to book a tour with Cosol in March. I have left phone messages and also sent an email but have not gotten a response. I got the numbers off their web site. Help! I don't want to miss out on not taking the tour. Do anyone have the necessary information I need to book with Cosol. How did you go about booking your tour?

[candhmama]

I have been trying to book a tour with Cosol in March. I have left phone messages and also sent an email but have not gotten a response. I got the numbers off their web site. Help! I don't want to miss out on not taking the tour. Do anyone have the necessary information I need to book with Cosol. How did you go about booking your tour?

 

I just recently booked a 2nd trip with him and I e-mailed him from the e-mail on his website and heard back from him very quickly. Have you checked your junk mail? I know sometimes things end up in there.