Whats the best Swim with Sea Turtles Excursion

[trev71]

I am booked for the Adventure in May and we are going to Barbados, I was wonder what is the best Excursion to go to swim with the Sea Turtles or Snokel ? Any sites or is there a good one with royals excrusion ?

 

I really prefer a Royal sponsered excursion but any tips I will take :)

Edited January 30, 2015 by trev71

[AZPam]

Book your own. Most likely will be less expensive and will be only a handful of people with you vs 25-30 with a ships tour. We are booked with Calabaza for April and have only heard excellent things. We went with somebody else last time we were there, but only because Calabaza was already booked.

[aimodels]

Yup, best to book on your own - less crowded and generally cheaper. Don't get too hung up on which company to use... We've gone with a few different companies and found them all to be decent. They generally all go to the same places - Carlisle Bay, Paynes, Batts Rock, etc.

 

Cheers, P:)

[girlscruise2011]

I am booked for the Adventure in May and we are going to Barbados, I was wonder what is the best Excursion to go to swim with the Sea Turtles or Snokel ? Any sites or is there a good one with royals excrusion ?

 

I really prefer a Royal sponsered excursion but any tips I will take :)

 

Calabaza all the way. Booked with them in 2012. Returning this November and booked Gina and her crew the day AFTER I booked the cruise to guarantee my spot. Thats how good they are. Don't hesitate to book. She only has 12 person per cat and sells out fast.

 

Definately #1 for a reason.

[Maysel]

Calabaza all the way. Booked with them in 2012. Returning this November and booked Gina and her crew the day AFTER I booked the cruise to guarantee my spot. Thats how good they are. Don't hesitate to book. She only has 12 person per cat and sells out fast.

 

Definately #1 for a reason.

 

I am also booked with Gina in November. What day will you be going? There are 4 of us. Perhaps we will be on the same excursion! We will be arriving on Carnival Liberty, so our day on Barbados is Wednesday November 11th.

[jedokids]

Hello--

Just wondering how long it took to get a response from Calabaza? We have emailed them twice and no response! Did you call or email?

[Maysel]

I emailed them. Gina got back to me the same day. The email is sailcalabaza@gmail.com

 

I would try again. She is usually very good at returning emails.

[girlscruise2011]

I am also booked with Gina in November. What day will you be going? There are 4 of us. Perhaps we will be on the same excursion! We will be arriving on Carnival Liberty, so our day on Barbados is Wednesday November 11th.

 

We are on the Liberty also but will be there the week before. Actually we have Gina for a private charter that day. I am sailing with a group that I sailed with before so we took all the spots on her first cat and now others are working on the second.

[bedfordmom]

Just came back from sailing with Gina on the Calabazza. it was an unbelievable experience and I am looking to book the next cruise just to go on her catamaran again.

[SNJCruisers]

Just got done checking out the top 10 recommended on Tripadvisor and most of the tours were 5 hours in length, with 2 snorkel stops and a beach stop with lunch, with a price range from 88-125. They were all in the 98-100% recommendation range.

 

There was a 3 hour option with 2 snorkel stops without lunch from El Tigre that was only 70 bucks. This was on a larger cat with 36 maximum passengers. Most of the others maxed at 12, 14 or 24.

[show_me_girl]

We were in Barbados last week and enjoyed a fabulous day with Calypso Cruises. This was our favorite excursion of 10 ports of call on a 2 week cruise. We booked this online prior to departure. Nic was very prompt in returning emails and answering questions. We book the 5 hour lunch cruise. The schedule will be based on your time in port. Price was $100/person. We were picked up right outside the port and driven about 5 minutes to the dock where the catamaran was located. There were 13 passengers (they take 14 maximum) and 3 crew members. We had lots of room to spread out.

 

We were warmly greeted and offered beverages and snacks. They have a full bar with anything you could want.. sodas, juice, water, alcohol, beer, rum punch, anything. Our first stop was Carlisle Bay where we snorkeled with the sea turtles. An amazing experience. The turtles came very close to us and we got some great pictures. Then a second stop where we snorkeled over several ship wrecks. From there we sailed and enjoyed the day. Crew members were in the water with you to assist as needed.

 

We stopped for lunch offshore of a beach and ate onboard. Lunch included various appetizers, cheese and crackers, flying fish, chicken, mac and cheese, potato salad, lettuce salad and dessert. It was delicious.

 

Some more sailing before we returned to the dock, and a 5 minute ride back to the ship's port.

 

The crew was outstanding, friendly and fun, always checking on you to make sure you you had plenty of food and drink. If we ever are in Barbados again, we we book the Calypso again.

[dholly]

My family of five sailed with Nick on Calypso February 18, 2015 and I also would recommend. We had a wonderful time even though the weather was affected by the huge storm along the East Coast of the U.S. As a result of unusually big surf to the West, all of the catamarans immediately went to Carlisle Bay for the turtles so it was a bit of a logjam there. We did see a few turtles heading away from the crowd but that was a bit of a disappointment. Wreck snorkeling was great for a bit then murked up. Nick was super jealous of his surfer buddies who made sure to wave as we went by. A once per year opportunity for 20'+ swells apparently, and it sure made for great sailing. One of the passengers was a bit woozie towards the end, maybe the rum punch heh? Not sure if it was a bit of miscommunication with my DW or the Banks beer, but I left a few personal items on board and had to cab back to the boat to pick them up. Taxi driver chuckled when we pulled up and Nick was holding my dry bag in one hand and two ice-cold Banks in the other. Not inferring it was a Booze Cruise, just that Nick and Calypso crew made sure you left satisfied. If you are on the fence about doing a Catamaran trip in Barbados, I say go for it!

[TwinMom7]

Glad to hear this. We are sailing with Nick in June. Calabazza was full, and Gina recommended Nick. ;)

[mpace58]

Book your own. Most likely will be less expensive and will be only a handful of people with you vs 25-30 with a ships tour. We are booked with Calabaza for April and have only heard excellent things. We went with somebody else last time we were there, but only because Calabaza was already booked.

 

Calabaza all the way. Booked with them in 2012. Returning this November and booked Gina and her crew the day AFTER I booked the cruise to guarantee my spot. Thats how good they are. Don't hesitate to book. She only has 12 person per cat and sells out fast.

 

Definately #1 for a reason.

Sailed with Calabaza last year and have her booked again for January. THE BEST excursion we have done in Caribbean! You will not be disappointed. The crew is awesome, the food is all home made by Gina and it was great.

[Noblarneyimirish]

Hands down go with Cliff Sharker. We just did a tour with him and it was the highlight of our trip. He only takes 12 people and he gets you to the turtles first. We had the turtles to ourselves for almost an hour before any other tours arrived. After an hour lots of tours showed up. He's the turtle whisper. Super cool guy! http://www.cliffsharker.com/en/mobile

Edited March 21, 2015 by Noblarneyimirish

[allentownahoy]

Hands down go with Cliff Sharker. We just did a tour with him and it was the highlight of our trip. He only takes 12 people and he gets you to the turtles first. We had the turtles to ourselves for almost an hour before any other tours arrived. After an hour lots of tours showed up. He's the turtle whisper. Super cool guy! http://www.cliffsharker.com/en/mobile

 

I am a solo. It looks like you have to book this as a group, or am I wrong?

[Noblarneyimirish]

No you can book solo. :)

But he will only do the tour if he has a full tour. I think 10 or 12 is full for him. If you contact him he will put you on a list for that day and he will keep you informed with other people that are booking. He's a super cool guy!

[allentownahoy]

No you can book solo. :)

But he will only do the tour if he has a full tour. I think 10 or 12 is full for him. If you contact him he will put you on a list for that day and he will keep you informed with other people that are booking. He's a super cool guy!

 

Thanks for the reply.

[Rookie-Cruisers]

We went with Calabaza two weeks ago and it was excellent. There were only twelve on board, the boat is incredible, the food is excellent and the crew makes the difference. As far as getting to the sea turtles, we were the only boat there on our trip. She was very organized when we dealt with her. We booked it, she responded to our questions, the taxi driver picked us up in the designated spot in the terminal on time and took us back.

 

My wife was initially nervous about not booking through Royal Caribbean but our two best excursions (Woodwind in Bonaire and Calabaza in Barbados) were both booked on our own.