Pearl Island Treasure Hunt & Snorkel Safari

[Gambit6971]

Can anyone tell me if this excursion is worth the price. This is our first cruise and will be our first time snorkeling. Also, is there a safe place to store your camera while you are snorkeling?

[hunterandyo]

Hello.

 

My husband and I visited Pearl Island on a Royal Carribean Cruise last Feb. It didn't start out too well as we had to wait twenty minutes for another group on a diesel smelling boat, but once we got there we had a great time.

 

I think it is worth the price. The boat ride was 30 minutes I believe and you pass many nice houses on the way there...we were told they were the homes of Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfry...but believe if you'd like. Anyway - you can see the island in the distance by the lighthouse. Once on shore there is a beach area and you're served a simple lunch with free rum punch. There is an open room with a table to store your personal belongings. I hope you've purchased a waterproof camera to protect it from the sea and sand; don't risk bringing any nice photography equipment.

 

You are gauranteed a conch shell and/or an oyster with pearl. If you find one and can retrieve it from the bottom, it is yours. The conch shells are very easy to spot, but the oysters, wrapped in a rubber band, are much more difficult. It was a clear, cloudless day when we visited. You could see the bottom everywhere you went.

 

Afterwards you were offered a taste of freshly grilled conch meat, but I passed. I was a little put off by the cook's presentation. He couldn't stop repeating how conch meat is so good for the male sex drive. On and on he went that we left to sit on the beach.

 

I hope this review is helpful!

 

Yolanda

[hunterandyo]

One disappointment we had was that the conch shells were planted. In that I mean you will not find them alive. They are already shelled and cleaned and then placed on the ocean floor for you to retrieve. We were told this is done to save time, and we could understand that. If you find three shells, and you want to keep them, you may. They were already prepared so they weren't spending so much more time shelling and cleaning every conch shell that everyone brings in. That is also why they do the conch shell presentation for you afterwards. The cook right there shows you how to deshell the conch and points out different parts of it before he cooks it.

 

Yolanda

[antesfan]

I went on this excursion on my last cruise in April and we had a horrible time.

 

The boat trip was nice however once we got to the island we were hustled down to the beach after picking up our snorkle gear. We had to leave all our belongings in the sand and get in the water. There was someone on the rocks blowing a whistle to get us to move from section to section. For a 5 hour excursion we were in the water for only 30 minutes tops.

 

Less than half our group came back with a conch shell and the only one that had an oyster was the 5 year old that wouldn't get into the water.

 

After we got out of the water, we had to hike back across the rocks barefoot to retrieve our belongings.

 

Lunch? Just as dreadful. We didn't get to eat until 3pm and at that point the chicken and hotdogs had been sitting on the grill since 11ish so they were dry and wrinkled. Three salads were available - coleslaw, potato and pasta salad. These had been sitting out in the sun all day so they had that lovely yellow-glassy tinge that mayo gets when left out in the heat. :eek: Not something we wanted to eat.

 

We did not feel it was anything close to worth the money.