Shasa Tours-swim w/turtles

[sue7045]

Does anyone have an opinion on Shasa Tours? I am looking for swimming with the sea turtles and so far this seems to be the best. Has anyone gone with this tour? Does anyone have any other ideas or best places/tours?

[klepton]

I left somewhat detailed notes about my trip with Shasa in this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1144751

 

Hope this helps!

[Haysiedaze]

I just copied and pasted my post from the other thread on Shasa.

 

We just came back from our Carnival Victory Cruise that left San Juan 2/21/10. We (family of 4) had the opportunity to sail with Jason on Shasa. Three of us snorkeled.

 

It was a very windy and choppy day with the wind coming from the South instead of the normal easterly flow. The turtles were plentiful at the site we anchored at. There were only a couple other small boats there, so we had lots of room. Jason found a sheltered cove on the way back for snorkeling and while the fish weren't plentiful we had a great swim. He did a great job under the windy circumstances. Even my wife who doesn't swim found the trip to be very relaxing and beautiful.

 

As for Tess all our email was answered promptly and all questions were answered. This is a great outfit.

 

Thanks Tess and Jason,

The Hayes Family

[rebeljohn]

We've cruised with Jason , and would go with him again in a minute. VERY personalized service. His cat is a smaller one, so you don't have to face big crowds. We also spent some time actually SAILING, while I notcied the larger cats just motored around from spot to spot.

[DrmnOfMaui]

We've cruised with Jason , and would go with him again in a minute. VERY personalized service. His cat is a smaller one, so you don't have to face big crowds. We also spent some time actually SAILING, while I notcied the larger cats just motored around from spot to spot.

Ditto above!!

 

We did the full day including lunch with Jason and really enjoyed it. I'm fairly particular about my food, and the lunch was wonderful. Jason was a fantastic host and kept an eye on everyone and made sure everyone was happy. I would sail again with him any time! His wife was a pleasure as well.

 

Shasa

 

Ship snorkel excursion... and all the people!!

 

Under sail... ahhhh!!!:)

[tobecool]

we are just back one week. It was a good sail with Jason, we really saw a lot of sea turtles and fish, kids love that so much. It was a so personal sail, all kinds of drink offered. To us the problem is one of us has seasick since this is very small boat and too slow sailing. Overall, it is worth to go. Have fun!

[zazou]

We had a great time with Shasa tour. Jason didn't talk much but that was all right with us. We saw a lot of turtles and that was wonderful for us :D. We went with our tween daughters and we should have stick with the 3 hours tour, even if the lunch was great. The first 3 hours is pack with the ride and the 2 dives but the last 2 hours, we were anchored the whole time near a beach and the girls were bored and was waiting for the taxi to take us back. Just a tip : since we were 12, Jason need some people on the front of the boat. We volunteer and we stayed there the whole time under the sun and get very sunburned. Just remember to put sunscreen back after a dive.

 

here is some turtles pictures:

 

[noway]

#52 March 21st, 2010, 10:09 PM

noway

Cool Cruiser Join Date: Jan 2001

Posts: 11

 

 

 

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i was just with Jason on march 14th & he was great , took us to swim with the turtles & we were the only ones at his location , We saw a ton of turtles & he is very professional. We then went to a reef to snorkel & we saw a lot of fish there. All the time he is very aware of whats going on around him . My friend sucked in some saltwater & was choking & started to panic , Jason was there in a flash & had him back in the cat. before anyone even knew what happened, he was fine once he was on the cat. we then went to a cove where Tess met us with lunch, Everything was great & plentiful ,way too much food , i guess Jason was eating alot for dinner that evening. it was a great day of sailing & snorkeling & well worth every penny we paid. Jason ,if you read this , thanks for helping me do one of the things i had on my bucket list , it was a great time, Phil

[noway]

pic of turtle

[panamatiger]

Thanks for all the positive reviews about Jason. We are booked with him in one month. Cant wait

[inai]

We did Shasa with Jason 2 years ago and will be going to Barbados again in November. Can someone tell me what he currently charges for a half day sail (no lunch)?

[klepton]

We did Shasa with Jason 2 years ago and will be going to Barbados again in November. Can someone tell me what he currently charges for a half day sail (no lunch)?

 

We were there 5 weeks ago and the half-day (no lunch) cruise was $60pp.

[inai]

We were there 5 weeks ago and the half-day (no lunch) cruise was $60pp.

Thanks for your quick response.

[annpharm]

Just got back (4/4). We sailed with Jason and Andrew on a rainy day. Due to the rain they shortened our tour and didn't offer lunch, but adjusted the rate fairly. The rain didn't affect our spirits or the turtles lol! The funniest part of the trip was when Jason realized we would be making up for the lack of sun with the rum and he had another boat come by and toss a bottle of rum to him!

We absolutely loved swimming with the turtles and even saw a puffer fish and some really big fish that Andrew said were Tarpons (sp?), looked like sharks to me!

It was really nice to have a private tour, we saw Heatwave and everyone looked like they were having a great time as well but there were soooo many people onboard. There were 10 of us who all knew each other and we were able to be our fun loving selves without worrying about offending anyone. I am pretty sure Jason and Andrew had a lot to talk about at dinner that night!

One of my favorite excursions!! Would definitely book with him again.

[weirdboy68]

Just back from Carnival victory last week, and without a doubt Shasa was the best excursion of the trip! Only 4 of us total on the boat for the day. Jason was very attentive to our every need. We had about a dozen turtles all to ourselves for about 45 minutes until on of the bigger boats came by. I was very suprised, and impressed, by the amount of actual sailing we did. On other tours i have been on you motor around and only sail for a small portion of the trip. Not the case here!! A full day of sailing! Also, the lunch was out of this world. Tess is a first class chef, driver, and a very nice person on top of all that. If you are going to barbados on vacation, DO NOT hesitate to book with shasa. You wont regret it!

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Thanks for the review! We've got Shasa booked in July and I am SO excited! Do you know if they do any snorkeling near shore (where you can touch bottom)?

[notentirelynormal]

Thanks for the review! We've got Shasa booked in July and I am SO excited! Do you know if they do any snorkeling near shore (where you can touch bottom)?

 

We did the lunch (5 hour tour) and we were anchored off shore. After you finished eating you could jump in the water and snorkel or relax on board. It was easiliy within swimming distance of the shore even for weak swimmers. We had two catamarans for our group and Tess was there to meet us at the port (and waited for 2 stragglers) and Jason was there (with 2nd boat) to take us out. It was a great sail and both groups had an excellent time. Jason was great with non snorkelers and experts alike. Lunch was nummy too.

[TLC535]

Hi all...could someone list the contact info. or website info.

Thanks in advance :)

[notentirelynormal]

shasacatamarancruises@gmail.com

[nik1009]

Do you have get your own trans. or is it included? If your own, how to get there and back,prices if known? Thank You, Nick

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

No, they pick you up and bring you back. The prices we were for the 3 hr were 60/adult, 30/child. It's evidently only a few minute ride to where you get on the cat.

[bdgf]

If anyone is interested in one of their 3 hour snorkel/turtle tours in Barbados, we have room for up to 9 more on the tour we booked for 10/27/10. Check out the link below.

 

http://www.shasacatamarancruises.com

 

3 hr, $60pp, 11:30 - 3:30, 12 person max boat

[BroncosFan2010]

We did the 5 hour tour as a part of our B2B in August. It was a wonderful tour. The turtles were very friendly and did not mind being touched. The reef was beautiful, and we saw some squid that I had never seen before. Lunch was very tasty, and I would not hesitate to book with them again. We had a great time.