Coral World and Butterfly Farm in St. Thomas w toddler

[eskiemomo]

DD will be 18 months on our Eastern Caribbean cruise so I've researching activities that are age appropriate and we're packing a Britax car seat (she is small so still fits in infant seat). We booked this Coral World and Butterfly Farm tour on St. Thomas because great reviews, besides we've been to St. Thomas before but not to these.

 

the description of the tour is here http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/shore-excursions/st-thomas-st-john-us-virgin-islands/coral-world-and-butterfly-farm/ I suspect other cruise lines probably offer the exact same tour through the same operator.

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it says all ages, stroller accessible so I booked it. But what is this about "Open Safari bus"?:eek: Can you put an infant/toddler in a carseat on one of those? According to some posts on this forum that kind of transport is a no-no, but DCL really caters to families and this is billed as for "all ages" so anyone with firsthand experience of going to St. Thomas with a toddler please chime in!

[c-cruise]

We did a Coral World tour a few years ago when our daughter was right around 1 year old. I don't remember if the bus was open sided or not, but it very well could have been. It seem to me it was similar to the larger taxis you find on St. Thomas. Basically a truck with bench seats in the back and a canvas roof. I know we didn't bring a car seat. Don't believe there were even seat belts.

 

Coral World itself has a combination of paved paths and wood boardwalk type paths. We used a Maclaren umbrella stroller which worked pretty well. There are some stairs so we did take dd out and carry her on occasion.

 

Found Coral World to be just ok - nothing spectacular if you have been to any other decent aquarium. It's pretty small and was a bit run down when we were there. There is a small beach right next to it where you can take a quick swim and cool off if time allows on your tour. The beach is fine (great snorkeling), but it's in a pretty sketchy area, I wouldn't want to leave my belongings laying around.

[kitty9]

I know about those Open Safari Buses, as I'm disabled and looked into whether they were accessible. So for you, no, there are no seat belts and you cannot use a car seat in those things. Sorry. Coral World is OK for a toddler and they are accessible for a scooter, so they would be fine with a stroller.

[jac1976]

As the others have said, we did Coral World in March and the taxi/safari bus did not have seat belts, so car seats wouldn't work. Picture a converted pick up truck, with bench seats and a canopy added in the back. Here are some pics I have found to try to give you an idea of what it is like:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2592461930038962164NzSISi

 

http://serenitytravelnewark.com/247/taxi-in-st-thomas/ (You have to scroll down a little.)

[Mom2B&Z]

Honestly I wouldn't consider them safe for anyone to ride in, but that's just me.

The trip to Coral World from port is up a very winding set of narrow roads, that often get right up against the side of a cliff. Beautiful view, but I prefer to be inside a vehicle with doors when in this situation ;)

There were many cabs with seatbelts that could accommodate your Britax. Many were newer, although we used the built in lock offs on our Marathon with a seatbelt for installation.

We quite enjoyed Coral World, the boys were 3 and 5 and loved the underwater observatory with the sharks, as well as touching the star fish and rays. DS2 loved the bird spot where we fed lorakeets some sort of sweet liquid. We spent a lot more time there than we thought.

As for a stroller, everyone in our group walked but there were a few steps up and down here and there. The stairs to the underwater observatory were fairly steep, you'd probably leave the stroller at the top of the stairs.

[Carolin]

And a side note for Coral World...Your entry fee into Coral world is all day you can come in and out as much as you want. They have showers and lockers. If you want to go to the beach for a bit, get a locker ($2 refundable) lock up your stuff and head on over to the beach. I loved it.