Capt Bob - Soualiga Destinations

[mamoni]

This sounds like it might be exactly what we are looking for.

 

What is the approximate cost?

 

Do you have the option to get off at Maho or do you stay on the boat?

 

It was $99 pp and we paid 20% when we made our reservations. We stayed on the boat at Maho. It is such a full day and I don't think there would of been time to get off and make it back to the pier by 4.

[markwojo]

We had a phenominal day with Capt Bob last week. A leisurely boat ride over to Creole Rock for our first stop to snorkel was the first part of the trip. Creole was wonderful...we saw spotted stingrays, a turtle, tons of fish and generally had a great experience there for our first stop. Next, a little more boating brought us to Pinel where we had a REALLY good lunch and fed the leftovers to a group of iguana's that congregate behind the restaurant. We then went over to Tintamarre Island and snorkeled looking for turtles of which we saw a handful. Not really any fish here to speak of, but floating over a turtle as it nibbled on some sea grass oblivious to us above watching was pretty cool. We then hoped in the boat for a while in which Bob gave each of my kids a chance to "drive" the boat. We ended up just off a beach (near Maho) where we jumped in and had a swarm of small silver fish in a frenzy all around us as they were fed some crackers. You literally had them bumping into you and if you stuck your hand out could touch fish as they were so plentiful. Last stop was over to Maho to watch a few planes come in...we weren;t ther long and didn't see anything of any significant size as apparently after day light savings time changeover, most of the big stuff comes in pretty early. Still cool seeing a few of the small puddle jumpers slide right over the top of the boat.

 

All in all, an awesome day that was well worth every penny we spent. Capt Bob aptly described himself as captain, snorkel instructor, tour guide, waiter, entertainment, life guard, fish identifier, and he was all that and more. This was our 8th cruise and we've been to on many tours on many different islands and this has to be among the top.

[texkan]

Great trip with Capt Bob. Very nice man that makes day in St Martin a FUN day.

[texkan]

We really enjoyed our day with Captain Bob last month....the man was a riot and really did his best to make sure everyone had a great day.

 

He's got plenty of beer (Coors Light and Heineken), Soda (Coke and Diet Coke) and water. You can get mixed drinks on Pinel Island which is the lunch stop. Capt Bob doesn't want you to take the beer from the boat to the restaurant.

 

He had a table at the restaurant reserved for the group and he also took on the role of waiter. Save some of your leafy greens if you want to feed the iguanas after lunch.

 

The snorkeling was OK, but still enjoyable. St. Martin isn't really known for their snorkeling anyway. Pinel Island was such a treat, a little secluded bit of paradise. We made a stop to see the airplanes but the boat decided to head off to try to beat a rain cloud that was threatening us. I really enjoyed the stop to swim with the fish. And don't worry, they don't hurt. Great photo opportunity!

 

We hope Captain Bob is doing this tour again next year since we already have another cruise booked and can't think of a better way to spend our day in St. Martin.

 

Rosemary

 

Thanks Rosemary for the info - we had a GREAT day with Capt Bob. Very nice and fun man :)

[cvrap]

After reading all of these wonderful reviews here and on Trip Advisor, we booked with Capt Bob for our May cruise!! As everyone has said, he communicates very well!! I'm really looking forward to this.

 

Now, to decide what we want to do in St. Thomas . . .

[texkan]

After reading all of these wonderful reviews here and on Trip Advisor, we booked with Capt Bob for our May cruise!! As everyone has said, he communicates very well!! I'm really looking forward to this.

 

Now, to decide what we want to do in St. Thomas . . .

 

Capt Bob's excursion was a highlight of our visit to St Martin. Have a great time:)

 

St. Thomas - take Red Hook Ferry to St John for the day and visit Trunk Bay.

[cvrap]

;):):DThanks, Texcan!! That is exactly what I was thinking today. I am on page 15 of the 34 page thread and getting my info straight to then show my husband!!

 

Thanks!

[texkan]

;):):DThanks, Texcan!! That is exactly what I was thinking today. I am on page 15 of the 34 page thread and getting my info straight to then show my husband!!

 

Thanks!

 

Trip to St John via Red Hook ferry is easy to do on your own. Google Red Hook Ferry for Ferry times and fares. There are many shuttles at Cruz Bay to take you to Trunk Bay. We always take the 3 pm Ferry back to St Thomas.

[cvrap]

Our ship, Carnival Dream, will be in STT 10 to 8. So I'm thinking we can take the five o'clock ferry back. We really want a relaxing day at the beach!!

[LB9158]

Hello,

 

I am new to cruising and looking to book an excursion with Capt. Bob after reading all the wonderful reviews.

 

However, DH and I are worry about being able to make it back on time to the ship for the all-aboard. :eek:

 

We will be in port from 8AM to 5PM with Oasis of the Seas. If we are back at the dock at 4PM and factoring the walk time back to the ship (20-30min), are we cutting it to short?

 

With RCI, how soon should we get back to the ship? 30min or 60min before departure?

 

Thanks

[mamoni]

Hello,

 

I am new to cruising and looking to book an excursion with Capt. Bob after reading all the wonderful reviews.

 

However, DH and I are worry about being able to make it back on time to the ship for the all-aboard. :eek:

 

We will be in port from 8AM to 5PM with Oasis of the Seas. If we are back at the dock at 4PM and factoring the walk time back to the ship (20-30min), are we cutting it to short?

 

With RCI, how soon should we get back to the ship? 30min or 60min before departure?

 

Thanks

 

We were on the Celebrity Equinox last month, parent company is RCI, and we had to be back on the ship by 4:45 for a 5 pm departure. I would imagine it to be similar with the Oasis.

 

If you are in average shape and don't have problems with walking, you should easily be able to walk back in less than 20 minutes. As a new cruiser I can understand how you would have concerns about missing the ship. I wouldn't worry about it for this tour, Captain Bob won't let you miss the boat.

 

Enjoy planning for your first cruise. It probably won't be your last!

[SissasMomE]

This excursion was the highlight of our cruise!! You won't be sorry booking with Capt. Bob. We are returning in April and are booking again with him!

[markwojo]

The walk is literally 15 minutes. Capt Bob is a professional who's ability to earn a living hinges on satisfied customers and I can not phathom he would ever put you in a situation where you would be in any jeopardy in missing your ship (that happens once...and a tour operator would essentially be out of business).

 

In fact, our tour got off to a slower start as we were delayed with another ship arriving slightly later and then those folks not quite being able to figure out how to get to the marina (Bob actually sent a car over to pick them up so we could get started without further delay). He had a cab lined up to cut out the walk if by any chance we were pushing it close to ship departure time and despite all we did and saw that day...he had us there with plenty of time to spare if we wanted to walk (we went ahead and took the cab since it was a long day/we wanted to shop the few stores right in the pier area and the cabbie was there and offered at only the cost of a tip to us).

 

Hello,

 

I am new to cruising and looking to book an excursion with Capt. Bob after reading all the wonderful reviews.

 

However, DH and I are worry about being able to make it back on time to the ship for the all-aboard. :eek:

 

We will be in port from 8AM to 5PM with Oasis of the Seas. If we are back at the dock at 4PM and factoring the walk time back to the ship (20-30min), are we cutting it to short?

 

With RCI, how soon should we get back to the ship? 30min or 60min before departure?

 

Thanks

[rundogrun]

Yet another thumbs up for Capt. Bob!

 

We rarely book excursions through the cruiselines as they are overpriced and never live up to the hype.

 

Capt. Bob was everything we expected, plus a whole lot more. Our day with him was the highlight of our April cruise. Never any worries about making it back to the ship on time as he is extremely conscientous of this.

[texkan]

I was a little worried about getting back to pier at 4pm (had to be on ship at $:45pm). Capt Bob had us back at 4 pm, he also offered to get our group a cab. The walk was 15 minutes. We chose to walk will time to spare.

 

Capt Bob does this excursion every day and knows the time it takes at each stop.

 

So glad we sailed with Capt Bob, highlight of our stop in St Martin :)

[LB9158]

Thanks for all the feedback. We booked with Capt. Bob and looking forward for this tour.

[cruisin07family]

Is this entire tour by boat? I kinda want to see the island since we've never been but we're also cruising to celebrate dh's 50th birthday and he is a snorkeling nut so I'm having trouble deciding which way to go...

 

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

[texkan]

Is this entire tour by boat? I kinda want to see the island since we've never been but we're also cruising to celebrate dh's 50th birthday and he is a snorkeling nut so I'm having trouble deciding which way to go...

 

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

 

Yes, the excursion is via boat.

[markwojo]

All boat, but in honesty, there is not a ton to do in St Martin that does not involve being near the water anyways. We've been several times and while the shopping is among the best in the Carribbean...I'm not sure the prices are all that different then on the ship anymore. The Butterfly Farm is interesting, but it's not that different then the one in Key West and once you've seen a bunch of butterflies flying around under a tent...it really is not that special. Marigot is a nice little town to have a bite in a cafe, but again I would not miss all the stuff you can do with Capt Bob for that either.

 

If you are looking for pure snorkeling, there are surely better tours where that is the main or only focus. The stop at Creole Rock was some very good snorkeling....we saw 3 spotted stingrays, tons of fish, squid, ect. We also jumped in at Tintamarre, but there was no coral/rocks and you were only looking for/seeing turtles. Creole was maybe 45 minutes to an hour of snorkeling and Tintamarre was maybe a half hour in total. If you want some good snorkeling and to see lots of other cool stuff...Capt Bob is a great way to go. You just won;t see nearly as much if you are driving as Bob's boat will get you around much faster.

[cruisin07family]

Thanks for the info. If we decide to book, how early is necessary to reserve 2 slots? Our cruise (as indicated below) is still several months away.

[texkan]

Thanks for the info. If we decide to book, how early is necessary to reserve 2 slots? Our cruise (as indicated below) is still several months away.

 

I would suggest that you email Captain Bob for the answer. He would be the one to give you the correct answer :)

[dreamr]

My friend and I just booked this excursion for our St. Maarten stop in November. I'm so excited. I can't wait! :D

 

Not sure how necessary it is to book early, but... since there's such a limited number of spots available, I didn't want to risk waiting and booked our spots a couple of days after I found out about him.

[jmlv]

For those of you that have done this already with Capt Bob, do you know how it would compare to Random Wind or Capt Al?

 

They all seem to have amazing reviews, and I'm not sure which one would be best if we prefer swimming and beach time over snorkeling? I guess a little bit of everything is a better way to phrase that instead of focusing on snorkeling?

 

Any input would be appreciated!

[Hogladyrider]

I have no done the excursion with Capt Bob but I have done an excursion with Randomwind............oh my gosh, what a FUN day.

 

We had so many people booked with our excursion that Di had to get a 2nd boat, a catamaran, Celine for our overflow of people.

 

We had a nice liesurely sail out to a great spot, where we were able to swim and snorkel if you wanted, there wasn't much to see for us snorkelers but it was all good.

 

While we were enjoying the water, Di was fixing lunch....amazing is all I can say...she even swam between boats herself holding a plate of food above her head to take care of all her customers.

 

After lunch out came the Tarzan rope/swing and those that were brave enough enjoyed this activity to swing into the water....great photo opportunity.

 

There was plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages all day long and more fun than anyone could possibly ask for.

 

Hopefully others will comment on Capt Al as well as other experiences they have had.

 

I would do Random Wind again in a heartbeat. In fact for our next cruise we have booked the Celine for a day cruise........which also looks amazing.

 

For us it is just all about being out on the water and trying different venues, we can always cruise again and try something different next time.

 

Happy cruising!

Susan

[ekatiel]

Considering Capt. Bob for our Sept. Oasis cruise. One problem: DH gets seasick. He's fine on cruise ships with Dramamine in him-- He usually takes extra if we need to tender in to somewhere, and he's OK for a 30-45 min. tender. How choppy are the waters? Is this not a good excursion for us? The reviews sound amazing, but I definitely don't want DH to get sick! --Katie