Help with River Tubing

[snickerseg]

Hello! My husband and I are cruising in mid December on Celebrity Millennium and one of our stops is Dominica. We are interested in a river tubing excursion. Celebrity is offering three different options (below). Wondering if anyone can recommend one over the other? Or, if folks know of an option not associated with the cruise ship, I would also consider that. I have read older posts on this subject and it sounded to me like Wacky Rollers and Antours can be booked outside of the cruise line? Also I have seen a website called Shore Trips but the testimonials on that site seem to refer to Wacky Rollers so I am completely confused by that. Looking forward to hearing your advice, opinions, and insights!

 

River Tubing, Waterfall and More - RO53

Scenic drive to Jaco Falls and then 1.5 hour river tubing starting at Hibiscus Eco Village and follows the "boundary line" to the last and only Carib Indian territory in the world. I am leaning toward this one - "exciting, beautiful, and peaceful voyage" and "combination of fast mini-rapids and lazy slow flowing pools" sounds good to me.

 

Wacky Rollers River Tubing Safari - RO13

30-40 minute drive to the starting point, ends at Hillsborough Reception Center. No mention of how long the tubing actually is. Online reviews seem to indicate that people like the Wacky Rollers company. This one is about $12 less than the other two and marked "moderate" vs "strenuous". Would we be missing out not to see Jaco or Emerald falls?

 

River Tubing & Emerald Pool Adventure - RO15

Visit to Emerald Pool and then start river tubing at Layou River Gorge. No mention of the length of the tubing. The gorge sounds amazing but the description of the river sounds a little scary to me -- "cascading downwards, enjoy the rush of excitement and maneuver through the challenges of the bubbling rapids as you descend to the calm pools."

 

Thank you!

--

Erica

[dcikon2]

We booked our excursoin with AnTours and highly recommend them. We took a drive through Dominica to Emerald Pool which was our first stop. There is a short walk to the pool. Make sure to wear water shoes. This is a great place. After getting back we shopped for local souvenirs at the stalls. You can also purchase things to drink and eat there. Our next stop was at Mr. Nice's Fruit Stand. This was better than I expected. I am glad that we stopped here even though I am not a huge fruit eater. Our final destination was river tubing. Do not wear jewelry while doing this as this is like white-water rafting. We loved it and would do it again. You can't beat the cost for what you get with AnTours. They meet you right outside the pier.

[snickerseg]

Thanks dcikon2! I will check out Antours website for options and pricing. I appreciate the tips about water shoes and no jewelry too. Is the river very fast/scary? Also, how long did it take to get to the launch and how much time did you get in the water?

[dcikon2]

I don't remember exactly the amount of time we were on the river, but I guess it was close to 2 hrs. We only had around 20 minutes to swim in Emerald Pool. I really liked that place! I also forgot to mention a stop at Mr. Nice's Fruit Stand. You definately get your water time in on this excursion. I did not want to wear a vest or helmet on the river tubing. It is required. I am glad we had them as the water was like rapids in some spots. I am a good swimmer and ended up flipping over. The guides are there to help you through the rapids. We have videos and pictures of this trip.

[avril4111]

Could you post a link to the video of your river tubing trip? I'm thinking of booking it as my TA recommended it, but I can't swim! I know you wear vests, but I'm still a little nervous...

thanks!!!:o

[avril4111]

Do you know if the Emerald Pool/River Tubing excursion offered through Royal (but with Wacky Rollers) includes Mr. Nice? They mention rum punch and fruit but not the name. Also, how crazy are the rapids on the river? Some videos don't look too bad, but others are CRAZY!!! :rolleyes: Maybe depends on the rainfall?

[xstormerx]

I just got off the Carnival Victory and did the excursion through Carnival for the River Tubing. It was a lot of fun. They used the Wacky Rollers people for this excursion. As long as you can lift your behind up when you are nearing some rocks you should be fine (the bottom of the tube is closed in but it still gets bumpy). We (my family & I) laughed the whole way down.

Hope this helps a little.

 

Oh and the rum punch they gave here was the best we had compared to all of our excursions. And they gave a sampling of some local fruit.

Don't forget to bring your towel on the bus to sit on.

[avril4111]

Thank you so much- I booked us through RC which also uses Wacky Rollers (I e-mailed RC)- my family did the tubing in Jamaica in May and LOVED it! I was afraid because I saw pictures with helmets and paddles, but since I'm not getting any younger I figured what the heck!!! And the idea of rum punch helps too...:o

[tjschwalm]

Another vote for Antours ,was an unforgettable day ! The young men that took us tubing were awesome and bonded immediately with our teens . We too just loved the Emerald pools and the surrounding area , can't say enough good things about Antours .

[Cinder Again]

We booked our excursoin with AnTours and highly recommend them. We took a drive through Dominica to Emerald Pool which was our first stop. There is a short walk to the pool. Make sure to wear water shoes. This is a great place. After getting back we shopped for local souvenirs at the stalls. You can also purchase things to drink and eat there. Our next stop was at Mr. Nice's Fruit Stand. This was better than I expected. I am glad that we stopped here even though I am not a huge fruit eater. Our final destination was river tubing. Do not wear jewelry while doing this as this is like white-water rafting. We loved it and would do it again. You can't beat the cost for what you get with AnTours. They meet you right outside the pier.

I tried to contact Antours through their website to ask this question, but their link isn't working. I looked at what they have offered, and didn't see the "river tubing" which I am particulary interested in doing. Is it called something else, do you think? Can you give me a ballpark figure on how much they charged? Thanks in advance.

[schmoopie17]

I tried to contact Antours through their website to ask this question, but their link isn't working. I looked at what they have offered, and didn't see the "river tubing" which I am particulary interested in doing. Is it called something else, do you think? Can you give me a ballpark figure on how much they charged? Thanks in advance.

 

I answered this on the other thread, but will post it here.

 

antours@yahoo.com

 

We booked with them several weeks ago for February, 2011 and at the time they were running a 2 for 1 sale. We got two people for $57.00 total. If you ask, maybe they'll still give you that price. Just tell them you want the tubing trip. They are very prompt and courteous in their replies...and they use PayPal, so no worries about payment.

[Cinder Again]

I answered this on the other thread, but will post it here.

 

antours@yahoo.com

 

We booked with them several weeks ago for February, 2011 and at the time they were running a 2 for 1 sale. We got two people for $57.00 total. If you ask, maybe they'll still give you that price. Just tell them you want the tubing trip. They are very prompt and courteous in their replies...and they use PayPal, so no worries about payment.

Thank you for taking the time to post. I'll check with my friends... Kathi

[zoncom]

Was on tubing excursion several yrs. ago. Remember they had custom tubes, maybe red/white? Anyone know which company? they did a great job. Also, is Dominica drought over? Thanks.

[dz63]

We did the Emerald Pool and River Tubing with Antours and had a wonderful time.

 

We walked for about 10 minutes through a lush rainforest to get to the Emerald Pool and Falls. The falls were nestled in a secluded paradise and the water was cool but refreshing.

 

We also stopped at Mr. Nice's Fruit Stand and got to sample lots of delicious fresh fruit like bananas, pineapples, coconut and mango.

 

We then went river tubing for 1 1/4 hours down the Layou River. We also wore helmets and life jackets. Our river tubing guides did an excellent job keeping everyone together and pulling us out if we got stuck.

 

If you are interested to see photos and short video clips of our excursion at the Emerald Pool and River Tubing with Antours, you can check out my youtube video. The link to this is below:

 

[MartinsCruise]

We went river tubing and snorkeling at Champagne Bay last week with Antours. It's not a typical tour but we wanted to do both in a day so they made arrangements for four of us. The tubing was better than I expected. There were three guides with us during the river tubing and they were a lot of fun. One of them used our underwater camera to take videos and pictures of us. Another couple at our dinner table took the ship's tour and did not have as much fun. I believe they don't start back as far on the river so they miss some good white water. The snorkeling at Champagne Bay was some of the best we have experienced.

[tracyktn]

Martinscruise - We are thinking about doing this tour. How much did it cost per person? Do you remember how long it took to do tubing and how long you were at Champagne?

 

THANKS

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

We were supposed to do the river tubing excursion with Antours but we didn't get to go tubing because of major flooding & a mudslide that day. We did get to go to Mr. Nice's fruitstand & Emerald Pool & Falls (which were both wonderful even in the pouring down rain).

I didn't really think anything about it because we had a fun day there but I received half our money back through PayPal. I pushed send refund thinking it would go to my bank account & it went back to Antours. I had to e-mail them & ask them to resend it & they did. I was so impressed with their customer service! They sent me several e-mails to make sure I received the money so even though I am usually a little leery of paying in advance for a tour I would feel very confident booking with them.

Juli

 

[schmoopie17]

Sorry to hear that your tubing was a washout, but glad to hear of your positive experience with Antours. We are booked with them for tubing in February and have been very impressed with their customer service prior to the trip, as well.