Review: Thriller Turtle Adventure with Stephen T

[sadams26]

We were on the Victory April 1st, 2012. This is a review of the tour we did on Barbados. We had a blast and wanted to share. Thanks Stephen!!

Best Barbados Turtle Tour!

Thriller Adventure Turtle trip with Stephen (owner) was by far the best tour we did on our cruise. The excellent service started well before we set foot on Barbados soil. It started with prompt and courteous responses to emails. Stephen answered all questions I had and made sure we knew exactly what the tour entailed. We had a group of six traveling together ages 4-65. Stephen met us at the cruise terminal and drove us to his 35 foot power boat. We met up with another group and we were off. There were a total of 13 people. ( The cruise excursions pack had 2-3x that amount of people on their boats. )

On our way to swimming with the turtles, Stephen and his daughter pointed out some of the Barbados sites and famous houses. When we arrived to the first spot, we were the only people there. As soon as we set anchor the turtles arrived. Not just 1 or 2 like I’ve seen on some of the videos from the cruise excursions, but 10+ turtles! We were provided snorkel vest, and snorkel gear. (No fins for this stop to protect the turtles) There was plenty of time to spend with the turtles, and plenty of friendly turtles to go around. So many in fact that I accidentally kicked the poor things a few times. They didn’t seem to mind as they were busy eating.

Next we went to a beautiful coral reef literally bubbling with fish. We spent about 30-40 minutes enjoying a broad range of sea life. We were provided fins at this spot. (Note- there weren’t children’s sizes for the fins, so bring your own if you need smaller sizes than size 1) Again there weren’t any other boats around. Simply beautiful.

We loaded up and headed to our next stop… a snorkel at two shipwrecks. One of the ships was deeper than the other. We enjoyed watching a scuba diver explore this ship before heading to a shallower ship. This ship was shallow enough to see details on it. My son even pointed out the anchor. As we loaded up here, an excursion from the ship pulled up packed with people. I was glad to be on our way to our last stop.

We set anchor at Browns Beach and some fresh coconut bread and chips with salsa were provided. They also provided soft drinks and rum punch. In fact soft drinks and water were provided throughout the entire trip. For obvious reasons, the rum punch was only offered after the snorkeling was done. Back to the beach. The sand on Brown Beach was the softest sand out of all the island we went to. The sand was also a beautiful shade of pink. Stephen said the beach was crowded because the locals were on holiday, but it didn’t seem crowded to me at all. What was also really nice is that nobody tried to sell us anything.

Overall this was an amazing trip, not only because of the beautiful sites we went to, but also because of the hospitality that Stephen and his daughter showed to us. They were genuine and friendly, and I could tell that the truly loved “their” island.

If you are interested in this tour, here is the email I used.

thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com

[Cruiseoholic000]

I was wondering do you have a link for this tour group? What was the cost and how long did you actually have with the turtles? Did you have to pay before hand or could you pay with US currency the day of the tour? Was there pick up and drop off from at the cruise ship?

[sadams26]

I was wondering do you have a link for this tour group? What was the cost and how long did you actually have with the turtles? Did you have to pay before hand or could you pay with US currency the day of the tour? Was there pick up and drop off from at the cruise ship?

 

 

Cruiseoholic,

 

The cost I believe was $60 pp but don't quote me on that. I would say we swam with the turtles 40 minutes of so. It was the first stop and we were the only group there. It was great! We used the email below to set up all the details. Stephan (owner) picked us up from the cruise terminal but I don't know if that is a normal thing or not. He is very good at getting back with you answering any questions you might have. We paid the day of the tour using US cash. He dropped us off in town so we could walk the streets a little before heading back. The dock where his boat is kept is about a 5 min cab ride from the ship. Hope this helps. I again would highly recommend him. Shawna

 

thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com

[Snorkel Dawg]

Good to hear they are still in operation, we had a most enjoyable time with them a few years ago & might do it again. Have you any pics to share?

[sadams26]

Good to hear they are still in operation, we had a most enjoyable time with them a few years ago & might do it again. Have you any pics to share?

 

I have lots of great pictures, but I don't know how to share them on this board. Sorry. :confused:

[Snorkel Dawg]

Was there a young guy (1st mate?) named Matthew still working w/Stephen?

[sadams26]

Was there a young guy (1st mate?) named Matthew still working w/Stephen?

 

 

Not on our trip. It was just Stephen and his daughter. She did a great job... especially with my kids.

[Snorkel Dawg]

Not on our trip. It was just Stephen and his daughter. She did a great job... especially with my kids.

 

 

 

Matthew was an incredible snorkeler & free diver. He was going through ship wrecks, in one end of the ship & coming out the other of some pretty big ships. It was really cool! No way I was trying that

[LostShakerofSalt]

I was wondering do you have a link for this tour group? What was the cost and how long did you actually have with the turtles? Did you have to pay before hand or could you pay with US currency the day of the tour? Was there pick up and drop off from at the cruise ship?

 

About how long was the tour?

[banda143]

Did you end up taking a taxi back to the port? If so, how much was it? We are only a party of 2. Were the taxis waiting there for you when your tour ended? I spoke with Stephen and he said that our tour would not get back until 4pm and we have to be on the ship by 4:30pm. Just a little worried about the time crunch. Any info would be helpful. Thanks much!

[sadams26]

Did you end up taking a taxi back to the port? If so, how much was it? We are only a party of 2. Were the taxis waiting there for you when your tour ended? I spoke with Stephen and he said that our tour would not get back until 4pm and we have to be on the ship by 4:30pm. Just a little worried about the time crunch. Any info would be helpful. Thanks much!

 

I can't remember the cost of the Taxi. Maybe $10-15? That's just a guess. It only took about 10 min to get to the ship... if that. Make sure that you have either a dry towel or clothes for the cab. We were turned away twice because we were wet. We must have been on the early tour cause we were back on the ship for lunch. That is cutting it short. Make sure Stephen knows and I'm sure you'll be fine. Have fun and say hi to the turtles for me. Shawna:D

[sadams26]

About how long was the tour?

 

 

I beleive it was 3 hours. Here is a link to a website and email.:D

 

http://www.familytravelfun.com/thrillertourbarbados.html for more info.

 

thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com for email

[sns1009]

I was wondering how old your kids were Shawna. My son is 5 and I am thinking about this excursion. Can you choose not to snorkel at some of the spots and just watch from the boat?

[sadams26]

I was wondering how old your kids were Shawna. My son is 5 and I am thinking about this excursion. Can you choose not to snorkel at some of the spots and just watch from the boat?

 

My son is 8 and daughter is 4. There were 2 on the boat from another family that sat out some of the stops. My daughter wanted to stay on the boat at one stop, so Stephen sat with her and talked, while the rest of us snorkeled. She is shy, so the fact that she was ok with him, lets me know that he is good with kids. Hope you have a great trip. :)