Grand Turk; Please Help!!

[chach123]

:confused: I've tried to post some questions concerning this on the Ports of Call Board, but rarely get any helpful answers, so if anyone on this board can help, it's greatly appreciated!!!

 

Okay,

My boyfriend and I will be in GT in August, and definitely want to do some snorkeling. I've heard if you do it through a local company, it can be better than doing it through the cruiseline. We looked into doing the Ultimate Snorkel through Carnival and were pretty set on it, then I heard great reviews and Blue Water Divers and Grand Turk Divers. It will just be us two, and I read that sometimes you need a minimum of four...So does anyone have opinions about doing in through cruise ship, or should we do it through a company on GT? We've never been snorkeling, but we're good swimmers and really want a great experience. Going to the wall, seeing barracuda and lots of fish! Thanks so much in advance!!

[islandwannabee]

Here's my suggestion, go to the roll call section, introduce yourself and see if anyone on your cruise is interested in joining you.

 

Cindy

[michelle1836]

my guess is that they will be similar experiences except for the price. Since GT is pretty small, I would definitely consider a non carnival excursion (although my first time there we did do a carnival excursion)

[hpreece]

GT is very small and a lot of people either go to Margaritta or snorkel or lounge right off to the right of the pier. That's probably why you haven't gotten a response from the GT thread. I too recommend asking your roll call or maybe join in on a roll call of a cruise that already took place.

[Panelope Barnabus]

We were in Grand Turk in August and my Father-in-law booked the 10 of us for the snorkel excursion. It was fun and the people were very sweet. I have no complaints at all. Here are some pictures if you are interested.

 

This is where the boat was:

 

Everyone snorkeling:

 

Under water pics:

 

 

 

 

That's all we really saw. Saw a few fish once. But pretty much what you see on the pictures is what we saw.

Hope some of that helps!

[cassiebryan]

My husband and I went to Grand Turk last May and we chose to do the snorkeling excursion through Carnival. Unless the price difference is pretty significant, I don't like to stray from Carnival excursions too often just for the peace of mind.

Anyway, we LOVED the excursion! We saw tons and tons of fish, a lobster, a little shark, etc. I'm really surprised the person that posted above me didn't really see anything! I'm pretty sure it was the ultimate one you're looking at, and we were gone for 3 or 4 hours and snorkeled in two different places with a great tour guide. This was probably our favorite port just because the snorkeling!

[memecakes]

Grant Turk.....may be small but it is by far one of my all time fav places on this earth!!! Love love love it! You will have so much fun there! If it is just the two of you I would just book the Carnival tour for a couple of reasons. You don't have to worry about anything with them and it will be the same tour that a private one because the island is so small and second because you are on a Carnival tour you get first tendering rights so you get to get off the ship first!

[elcuchio24]

We did a ccl excursion here with Ocean Breezes Catamaran. Good time. Decent snorkeling, not the best, but seeing the big drop alone off was worth it. Plus free drinks, sail the coast a ways, beach time. Recomended.

The cat and pics from the beach you stop off at on the way back to the dock.

[justloud]

I emailed the snorkel company and asked if they would take 2. They said YES!

[EMc&DrS]

:confused: I've tried to post some questions concerning this on the Ports of Call Board, but rarely get any helpful answers, so if anyone on this board can help, it's greatly appreciated!!!

 

Okay,

My boyfriend and I will be in GT in August, and definitely want to do some snorkeling. I've heard if you do it through a local company, it can be better than doing it through the cruiseline. We looked into doing the Ultimate Snorkel through Carnival and were pretty set on it, then I heard great reviews and Blue Water Divers and Grand Turk Divers. It will just be us two, and I read that sometimes you need a minimum of four...So does anyone have opinions about doing in through cruise ship, or should we do it through a company on GT? We've never been snorkeling, but we're good swimmers and really want a great experience. Going to the wall, seeing barracuda and lots of fish! Thanks so much in advance!!

 

 

We were there in Nov '08 and had a fantastic time. We've gone on numerous snorkeling excursions in the past, but in GT we chose to try our luck snorkeling right at the beach at the cruise pier. It was some of the best snorkeling we've ever experienced on any island. It's very shallow for a long distance, and then it drops off drastically as you get closer to where the ship is docked. We saw octopus, all kinds of tropical fish, barracuda, and then huge fish once we ventured into the deep water. We had 2 teens with us and my wife's parents in their 70's. All had a great time. My MIL loved how shallow it was--she could stand when she got tired. If you aren't some huge enthusiast, I'd stay right at the boat, enjoy some free snorkeling, and visit the pool at Margaritaville and use some of the money you'd pay for an excursion on frozen margaritas! We did bring our own snorkel equipment (minus fins), but we got it for a reasonable price at Sports Authority before we left for the trip.

[Panelope Barnabus]

My husband and I went to Grand Turk last May and we chose to do the snorkeling excursion through Carnival. Unless the price difference is pretty significant, I don't like to stray from Carnival excursions too often just for the peace of mind.

Anyway, we LOVED the excursion! We saw tons and tons of fish, a lobster, a little shark, etc. I'm really surprised the person that posted above me didn't really see anything! I'm pretty sure it was the ultimate one you're looking at, and we were gone for 3 or 4 hours and snorkeled in two different places with a great tour guide. This was probably our favorite port just because the snorkeling!

 

Yours sounds like ours... 2 different places with a great tour guide! But we didn't seen anything like you did!! lol Maybe it was just the time of year or something? Or just the day... who knows. But we did enjoy it! :)

[joyful34]

We were in Grand Turk Jan 2010. Wanted to snorkel but Blue Water Divers and the 1 other company we contacted filled up w/scuba divers which is their preferred clients so we were out of luck. Heard about a resort that offered snorkeling.....BOHIO Resort. I think we paid $40 pp and they literally took us out to the wall in a little fishing boat. Just the 3 of us. There were all these huge catamarans and other boats filled with 100+ people from the cruise ship....have no idea how they could see any fish w/all those people splashing around. Our guide had lived on the island his whole life and free dived a lot of the time. He pointed out all kinds of things we might have missed and answered all of our questions.

 

We were out there between 30-40 mins & saw a HUGE turtle that kept swimming back and forth right next to us....plus tons of fish. When we went back to the resort we got lunch a couple of drinks and hung out in the shade for awhile. It was a great way to spend the day.

 

We had 8 people in our group and those that didn't go snorkeling just stayed at the resort and went swimming. It cost us $7 pp for the taxi ride to the resort. The taxis are lined up at the cruise terminal when you get off the ship. Just tell them where your going and its a flat rate depending on the area of the island you go to.....the taxe driver actually gave us a mini-island tour along the way. Beer at the resort was $4- $5 & drinks $6-$8. Food was a little expensive I thought but when we talked to people that went to Margaritaville we changed our minds and thought we got off cheap!

 

Just look up Bohio resort in Grand Turk and call in your reservation. They held a credit card for our reservation and then we paid in cash when we got there.