Ziplining in St. Johns, Antigua

[mamacruiser2012]

I heard there is a zip line through the rainforrest in St. Johns. Has anyone ever done this. My DD and I have done it several times in Michigan and would LOVE to do it through a rainforrest!!! Any information such as where it is, the cost, safety issues etc.. would be welcome!!:p

[DougYWG]

http://www.antiguarainforest.com/

 

It's on the southwest corner of the island on Fig Tree Drive, not in St. John's. About three miles away from the ship as the crow flies, but four or five by road. I did it a couple of years ago and would happily do it again. Wear old clothes. Do a search, there are several threads on the subject in this forum.

[TOlson70]

My wife and I did it in February as an excursion off the Adventure of the Seas. Had a really good time! Staff is very professional and helpful. Youy go through a safety orientation and get geared up as a group. Fun times!

[bigque]

Went there in October of last year and it was a blast!. I have a review of it in my Serenade review in my signature below.

[MisterBill99]

I went to that site and they list a combination 9 zip/beach/lunch tour. Has anyone done that? I checked Celebrity's excursion list and they do not seem to offer it, which is surprising (not that I would book with them, of course).

[berkyvdr]

I emailed them and their cost is $119. I found another operator who does the same thing essentially but without the stop at the dam and their website was quoting $84 for 9 ziplines and beach or $100 for zipline, rope challenge and beach. When I emailed them they asked how many people we would be and after I replied with just the two of us, I have not heard back. Sounds like fun, but I am always looking for the best price. Through the ship it is just the canopy tour and it costs $109!

[MisterBill99]

I emailed them and their cost is $119. I found another operator who does the same thing essentially but without the stop at the dam and their website was quoting $84 for 9 ziplines and beach or $100 for zipline, rope challenge and beach. When I emailed them they asked how many people we would be and after I replied with just the two of us, I have not heard back. Sounds like fun, but I am always looking for the best price. Through the ship it is just the canopy tour and it costs $109!

Thanks.. I also got the $119 quote from them. Can you share the name of the company with the $100 quote? Do they have any positive write-ups here? You can email me at my screen name here at gmail.com, if you'd rather not post.

 

It would be nice if the cruise line (Celebrity in my case) ran the same zip/beach combo since we would presumably just tag along at a cheaper price.

[berkyvdr]

I think it was gordontours--the first email I received was from tourguidegordon365@yahoo.com. I think I found them from posts elsewhere on this site. Still waiting to hear back about the price for my group of two. Do post if you have luck with this.

[MisterBill99]

I think it was gordontours--the first email I received was from tourguidegordon365@yahoo.com. I think I found them from posts elsewhere on this site. Still waiting to hear back about the price for my group of two. Do post if you have luck with this.

Thanks. I also found him. It appears that the minimum for his tours is 3 (per his website), so you probably need to find someone else on your cruise to join you.

[camofwilliamsburg]

AS you see on other posts, no one can get a hold of Gordon. SO lower pricing is hardly worth it. I also found out that the ziplining itself costs more than gordon was charging for the ziplining and beach break so I am feeling a bit uneasy about Gordon's pricing. I did try to get the same with Lawrence and he was charging the full price for the zipline course plus 35 $ pp to take us to the beach and then back to the ship as well as taking us ziplining. We felt that was too much for just transportation. We are sticking with the canopy company who also have the ziplining and the beach break with the lunch, drinks and the chairs. They are also able to customize the tour with a start time on the ziplining course. No one else seems to be able to do that. There are set times. It seems like 9 and 11:15. Our ship docks at 9 and 11:15 is too late. I think when you book with the canopy place directly it does say they can make a custom time for you. Booking with someone else you lose that.

[MisterBill99]

AS you see on other posts, no one can get a hold of Gordon. SO lower pricing is hardly worth it.

I finally got a reply Sunday, the person apologized for the delay, saying that they had been very busy. Their price was $74 for the zipline and $40 for the tour (presumably it is the same tour you would get otherwise and better than what you would get from the canopy company). Sadly, there are only 2 of us and I have been unable to find anyone on our roll call board interested in joining us, and there is no one else who has booked with Gordon from our cruise, so we cannot join another tour.

 

And BTW, I emailed the canopy tour place at the same time as I emailed Gordon, and have yet to hear back from them.

[camofwilliamsburg]

I have no idea what each includes and it is getting crazy asking over and over. If the ziplines are 89$ for the 9 zips I was wondering about Gordon charging 84 for the zip lining and the beach, or is that ziplines plus more for the beach, lunch...

His tour info on the page is difficult to understand also. So now you are getting less for the ziplining( is it 5 zips or 9 does it include the repel?) and then additional 40 for the transport and the beach stuff. If you can sort it out better than I can pls post here or email me.

 

At this point I do not even wish to do it. The course is not so great if you have done it before especially in COsta Rica which was fantastic. The lengths of the lines are short. Someone actually timed it and for 9 zips it was under 4 minutes total time on the zips.

 

My group of people I am traveling with are a bit upset at all the misinformation and as I already posted, they are thinking of doing a ship excurison to snorkel and the stingrays. At least now they know when to meet the tour and all the stuff is taken care of.

Seems like all the private tour people are not giving enough info to make this an easy transaction.

Do not want to get there and find a problem. It was in Antigua a few years ago that some young Americans were taken to jail for not paying to get back via a cab. They asked the pricing and were told so that is what they were willing to pay. Then to find that the price quoted was for ONE WAY. When they refused to pay more the police were called. They were put in jail for disorderly conduct, missed the ship, cost tens of thousands to get them out.... it was a mess. So without knowing all the details upfront I am not putting anyone in that position. When I ask and ask about pricing and get half info it makes me very suspicious.

[camofwilliamsburg]

Gordon does not do the beach break any more. His pricing is 74$ for the 9 zipline course and 20$ pp round trip to the zipline and back to the ship.

That also means you have to make your own reservation at the zipline course. That means you can be placed behind any large group. It really is too confusing dealing with all the tour people for Antigua about being upfront and telling what is the real cost. It took me 4 new emails to get this info about not doing the beach break and the price of 74$ which I had to ask many times.... what does that include? Now only to find out, a clause.... plus transportation, even after asking many times.

 

Everyone needs to be aware of this beforehand.

[MisterBill99]

Not sure what the problem is with booking, or what you are talking about with the tour only being $20 without beach. I just got this yesterday from Gordon:

 

I don't have anyone else booked for a group tour. If I book two or more others then the cost will be USD$40.00 per person for the island tour and the 9 Ziplines Tour will cost USD$74.00

 

I did private tours in St. Lucia and Grenada and they were fantastic, much better than the cruise excursion and much cheaper. It would appear that this is the case with Gordon as well. I cannot believe that your friends would switch to a completely different ship's excursion as a result of this. I am sure there must be cheaper versions of the the stingray tour available to book on your own, if they want to switch to that.

[hoosiergirl34787]

I went to that site and they list a combination 9 zip/beach/lunch tour. Has anyone done that? I checked Celebrity's excursion list and they do not seem to offer it, which is surprising (not that I would book with them, of course).

 

My husband and I did this in June. We loved it. Ask for Bernard as your driver, he was phenomenal. The beach was nice and not crowded and the lunch was delicious!

[berkyvdr]

Just sent them an email to book this for March 2012--sailing on the Norwegian Dawn!!

[CaJazzman]

Just sent them an email to book this for March 2012--sailing on the Norwegian Dawn!!

My wife and I are also booked on the Dawn for March 28th. We too are looking for the best ziplining, since we plan on doing just one of the zipline excursions. We have found four different excursions for ziplining, so...Just aren't sure yet, which one. We do know that the one with Walk the Plank Zip Line of Samana, is $90.00 per person and they pick you up at the dock. They also have the atv tour as well. Which we are wanting to do as well, but only once as well. So many options.

[CaJazzman]

Ok, so my wife and have settled on just a couple of ziplinings, to choose from. the Dominica Canopy Challenge, Antigua Canopy Tour, or the Samma with Terry Zipline. an anyone help us make our decision? Thank in advance. :cool:

 

 

[CaJazzman]

We hope someone can help us!:cool:

[berkyvdr]

We are also on the Norwegian Dawn but at the end of February. Six ports of call and we wished to dive, zipline, kayak, sail, race sailboats, snorkel, swim with turtles . . . took a while to figure it all out. We decided on the zipline and beach tour in Antigua. (through www.antiguarainforest.com) I could let you know, CaJazzman, how it is once we return.

[4wheelr]

^^ hey berky... please let us know what your opinion of the zip line canopy tour was ^^

 

I am going to do this excursion in July. Thanks. Subscribed to the thread.

[Cupcrazy]

I did the zip lining in Nov 2010. It was a blast. I booked it on the Grand Princess. I believe, if my memory serves me right, the price was $99. This included round trip transportation in an 9 seater van. The zip lining was 12 zips. 3 repeated, but 1 of the 3 was the longest one they had. I brought my camera but didn't take any pictures. They take a few pictures of you along the way. You can buy them after for $10. Of course I had to buy one because I didn't take my own. They also take a video of you which I think cost $20. Its about 10 seconds and they burn it onto a CD. The video isn't really worth it.

[KDilly]

I did the zip lining in Nov 2010. It was a blast. I booked it on the Grand Princess. I believe, if my memory serves me right, the price was $99. This included round trip transportation in an 9 seater van. The zip lining was 12 zips. 3 repeated, but 1 of the 3 was the longest one they had. I brought my camera but didn't take any pictures. They take a few pictures of you along the way. You can buy them after for $10. Of course I had to buy one because I didn't take my own. They also take a video of you which I think cost $20. Its about 10 seconds and they burn it onto a CD. The video isn't really worth it.

 

That clearly seems to be the most bang for your buck. What company did you use for that deal?

 

-KD

[Cupcrazy]

That clearly seems to be the most bang for your buck. What company did you use for that deal?

 

-KD

 

It was booked on board the Grand Princess.

[berkyvdr]

Back from our cruise and did the zipline, lunch and beach combo booking it through www.antiguarainforest.com). Our driver, Alman (sp?)picked us up promptly at the pier in his clean vehicle and drove us to the zipline, telling us about the island as we drove.

 

At zipline HQ he got us squared away with payment, etc. We were one of the first people to arrive, but then did have to wait until there were enough people for group equipment distribution and orientation information. It was well organized with enough staff ensuring we all had our equipment on properly. There were several groups, each distinguishable by a different coloured dot on the helmet; the smaller groups went ahead of the ship excursion larger group.

 

Some people only did 5 ziplines; we did either 8 or 9 with the last zip being a repeat of the longest zipline we did earlier.

 

At the end there were pictures and videos available for purchase--$50 for the whole photo/video package. There were other souvenirs, drinks, etc also for purchase.

 

Our driver picked us up and drove us to Turner's Beach which was lovely--white sand, turquoise waters, gentle waves. Again he ensured our lunch would be served (He had called ahead to indicate our preference of burgers, roast chicken, etc.) and a beach chair available. All the umbrellas were in use already, but we found some shade under a palm tree.

 

At the appointed time, Alman was there to return us safe and happy to our ship. It was a wonderful day and for the price, I would say a great value.