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Grand Turk or Aruba for a lazy no excursion day?


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My 14yo daughter and I are going on an 8 day cruise that stops in Grand Turk, La Romana, Aruba and Bonaire. We have excursions picked out for La Romana and Bonaire. For the other two, we would like one day to be a snorkel excursion day and the other to be a shopping/beach/no plans day. Both Grand Turk and Aruba look like they have great snorkeling opportunities, but which one do you all think would be a good port to meander of the boat and wander around?

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I haven't been to Aruba yet, but was at Grand Turk last September.

 

We walked the beach down to Jack's Shack and had a nice quiet day (at least much quieter than near the ship).  We enjoyed the snorkeling right from the beach, but Grand Turk also has the wall which I've read good things about (although more for diving than snorkeling.

 

Jack's does have some dogs (both their own and some local strays).  They will interact or leave you alone - my daughter would want left alone but my son would probably enjoy interacting.  They have a small shop that you might find some souvenirs.  They also have a bar (fairly easy to sidestep, but there are some potentially offensive drink names on the menu) and some grilled/fried food options, which are high priced - but so are most of your other options in port.  We didn't have any food, but the ginger beer in their dark & stormy was pretty good.

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On 2/12/2019 at 11:36 AM, pacruise804 said:

I haven't been to Aruba yet, but was at Grand Turk last September.

 

We walked the beach down to Jack's Shack and had a nice quiet day (at least much quieter than near the ship).  We enjoyed the snorkeling right from the beach, but Grand Turk also has the wall which I've read good things about (although more for diving than snorkeling.

 

Jack's does have some dogs (both their own and some local strays).  They will interact or leave you alone - my daughter would want left alone but my son would probably enjoy interacting.  They have a small shop that you might find some souvenirs.  They also have a bar (fairly easy to sidestep, but there are some potentially offensive drink names on the menu) and some grilled/fried food options, which are high priced - but so are most of your other options in port.  We didn't have any food, but the ginger beer in their dark & stormy was pretty good.

Thanks for the advice! Grand Turk sounds like a great place for a lazy beach day. I have heard great things about Jack’s and since my daughter goes to school in the French Quarter New Orleans, she has been ignoring inappropriate drink names since she learned how to read, so no worries there 😂

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