Need advice for Southern Caribbean cruies

[bigdawgmatty]

I am cruising in October to the southern Caribbean. St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maartin. I have never been to any of these islands and I'm going with some friends who are on a budget. My question is which of these ports have decent beaches nearby where Carnival docks and which ports will require either excursions or transportation to somewhere good, understanding that we are not really into local gift-shop types of shopping.

 

October 5th. Carnival Valor out of San Juan.

 

I appreciate the advice in advance!

[O2B@Cagain]

On St Thomas, you will have to take a taxi or the $2 safari to get to a beach.

 

Cruise ship docks tend to be in industrial areas. On most islands, you will be herded through a vendor/shopping area first. On Barbados, it is a bit of a walk to get to it, then you would have to take a taxi. On St Kitts and St Lucia, you will be in the middle of town. I have never been to St Maarten by cruise ship.

 

You will save money by using the local transportation in all cases. Make sure you know what to look for. We got on a vehicle in St Lucia we thought was a taxi (and the guy was going to charge us taxi fare) when a local got on and told us it was actually a bus. Let the buyer beware.:D

[Hotel CA]

We have been to the southern islands several times and here is our recommendation

 

Barbados-- we hired a taxi and did a tour of the island and it was great and inexpensive but this depends on the number of [people you have-- Lobsters Alive good beach/food option for inexpensive day and the cave tour is nice as well or you can spend the day at the Hilton --nice beach but great pool

 

St Lucia--big island with lots to see --cool mountains with spectac views and variety of waterfalls and mud baths etc-- recommend a day long tour (like realstluciatours.com) or spend day at inexpensive all inclusive like Rendezvous

 

St Thomas-- great shopping but we love Sapphire beach

 

St Martin-- again great shopping and beaches are nice everywhere

 

Antigua-- Church Valley Beach

 

Hope this helps-- have fun

[seashinesunshine]

I am cruising in October to the southern Caribbean. St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maartin. I have never been to any of these islands and I'm going with some friends who are on a budget. My question is which of these ports have decent beaches nearby where Carnival docks and which ports will require either excursions or transportation to somewhere good, understanding that we are not really into local gift-shop types of shopping.

 

October 5th. Carnival Valor out of San Juan.

 

I appreciate the advice in advance!

 

You have picked a great itinerary, We have done similar several times.

Off hand I can't think of any beaches really close, but here are my recommendations,

St Thomas, taxi to Coki about 8$ pp each way, best snorkeling ever! There is food etc and stuff to buy but no need to spend more $ if you don't want.

Barbados, Carlisle Bay is about a 15 min walk, or a 5$ taxi ride. Swim with the sea turtles, we took a boat for I think 15$ pp, but if you are strong good swimmers, you can do it from shore.

St Lucia at the port, shopping, and walking around town is free, but the fun stuff is an excursion away. Looking at the maps there is a beach close and we have talked about walking to it, but have never tried, its behind the airport from the cruise port.

St Kitts there is a shopping area, and a very dirty black sand beach full of sea glass, but no one swims there, it's literally a very shallow beach along side the road. You could take a taxi to a beach we did Cockelshell, lots of fun there.

St Martin, I for sure recommend taking a taxi to Maho, I am pretty sure it was less than 10$ pp each way in a larger group type taxi.

I am cheap traveler too, on my first cruise, I think the biggest shick was taxi fees. I grew up in an area were no one took taxis so it was a new concept to me, Now, I feel like a 10$ pp taxi fee is understandable, then it was just culture shock. We budget 100$ per port, and rarely spend that much, some ports we do an excursion for more and some we don't do anything but walk around. My husband is a photographer so the old buildings etc are really fun for him.

[RMH]

St Martin, I for sure recommend taking a taxi to Maho, I am pretty sure it was less than 10$ pp each way in a larger group type taxi.

.

 

In St Martin you can take a bus to Maho and Mullet Bay for only $2 a person each way. There is a lot of info on how to do this on the St Martin board.

[blue_water]

Very popular itinerary and all beautiful islands in their own way. For a nice beach day we'd choose one of the west coast beaches on St Martin like Bae Rouge or Happy Bay, we'd avoid Orient Bay on St Martin. If choosing a beach on St THomas consider Sapphire Beach, nicest beach with abbundant natural shade and amenities. And of course any beach along the west coast of Barbados will be gorgeous, we like "Malibu Beach".

 

You'll also get great feedback if you post this in the general Caribbean forum.

[bigdawgmatty]

Thank you everyone so much for your advice. I'm the planner and don't like that role. Haha. You have made the job a lot easier. Much thanks!

 

 

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