My Island Tours by Javin—excellent excursion!

[FirstAnthem]

We were recently in St Kitts and took this excursion. It was me, my husband and two kids, ages 14 and 12. It was the best excursion out of all we have taken so far! Such a wonderful day—a rainforest hike, climbing on lava rocks by the ocean, a drive through the island, learning so many island facts, a wonderful lunch provided, followed by great snorkeling and some time at the beach. A little bit of everything. And Javin’s pet monkey was on the tour with us and was so hilarious—a really unique and fun part of the excursion! Never thought we’d have a monkey sitting on our shoulders! Many wonderful family memories made that day. I highly recommend it for your stop in beautiful St Kitts! (Javin also takes pictures of you the whole day and puts them on his website for you for free. We have so many awesome family photos from our great day.) 

[flcruising89]

On 3/6/2019 at 9:37 PM, FirstAnthem said:

We were recently in St Kitts and took this excursion. It was me, my husband and two kids, ages 14 and 12. It was the best excursion out of all we have taken so far! Such a wonderful day—a rainforest hike, climbing on lava rocks by the ocean, a drive through the island, learning so many island facts, a wonderful lunch provided, followed by great snorkeling and some time at the beach. A little bit of everything. And Javin’s pet monkey was on the tour with us and was so hilarious—a really unique and fun part of the excursion! Never thought we’d have a monkey sitting on our shoulders! Many wonderful family memories made that day. I highly recommend it for your stop in beautiful St Kitts! (Javin also takes pictures of you the whole day and puts them on his website for you for free. We have so many awesome family photos from our great day.) 

Hi! I have a few questions if you don't mind:

Were you able to swim in the tide pools of the lava rocks?

Was there a lot to see in the snorkel area you went to?

At the beach time, were you able to snorkel there too and if so, was there anything to see? 

How long was the rainforest hike and was that part interesting?

Thank you for your help!

 

[FirstAnthem]

24 minutes ago, flcruising89 said:

Hi! I have a few questions if you don't mind:

Were you able to swim in the tide pools of the lava rocks?

Was there a lot to see in the snorkel area you went to?

At the beach time, were you able to snorkel there too and if so, was there anything to see? 

How long was the rainforest hike and was that part interesting?

Thank you for your help!

 

Hello! Here’s my answers:

No, you couldn’t swim in the tide pools at the lava rocks. 

When we snorkeled, we saw a lot of huge starfish, and different colored fish around the shipwreck, which was really cool to see. 

For the beach time we just went in the water and hung out on the sand and took it all in. So I’m not sure if there was snorkeling there. I think it was Cockleshell beach, so maybe google “snorkeling at cockleshell beach” and see if anything on trip advisor or cruise critic comes up. 

The rainforest hike was probably an hour or so. That part was so interesting! It was my son’s favorite part of the day. Javin gives you so much information, and quizzes you on plants and things—it’s fun. We saw wild monkeys too which was cool. And the best part? No one else is there. It’s not a touristy spot. Javin created the trail himself, dug steps and made railings out of bamboo. No one else goes there. So it was just our group of 9. So fun and so beautiful and peaceful. 

[flcruising89]

5 hours ago, FirstAnthem said:

Hello! Here’s my answers:

No, you couldn’t swim in the tide pools at the lava rocks. 

When we snorkeled, we saw a lot of huge starfish, and different colored fish around the shipwreck, which was really cool to see. 

For the beach time we just went in the water and hung out on the sand and took it all in. So I’m not sure if there was snorkeling there. I think it was Cockleshell beach, so maybe google “snorkeling at cockleshell beach” and see if anything on trip advisor or cruise critic comes up. 

The rainforest hike was probably an hour or so. That part was so interesting! It was my son’s favorite part of the day. Javin gives you so much information, and quizzes you on plants and things—it’s fun. We saw wild monkeys too which was cool. And the best part? No one else is there. It’s not a touristy spot. Javin created the trail himself, dug steps and made railings out of bamboo. No one else goes there. So it was just our group of 9. So fun and so beautiful and peaceful. 

Thank you for all of the information!

[EeyoreRN]

Did you drive up to that lookout point in all the famous photos of St. Kitts, where you can see the ocean and the sea?

[FirstAnthem]

18 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

Did you drive up to that lookout point in all the famous photos of St. Kitts, where you can see the ocean and the sea?

Yes! I believe it’s called Timothy Hill, or something like that.  We stopped to take photos. It was beautiful! 

[Westbank is bestbank]

On 3/6/2019 at 8:37 PM, FirstAnthem said:

We were recently in St Kitts and took this excursion. It was me, my husband and two kids, ages 14 and 12. It was the best excursion out of all we have taken so far! Such a wonderful day—a rainforest hike, climbing on lava rocks by the ocean, a drive through the island, learning so many island facts, a wonderful lunch provided, followed by great snorkeling and some time at the beach. A little bit of everything. And Javin’s pet monkey was on the tour with us and was so hilarious—a really unique and fun part of the excursion! Never thought we’d have a monkey sitting on our shoulders! Many wonderful family memories made that day. I highly recommend it for your stop in beautiful St Kitts! (Javin also takes pictures of you the whole day and puts them on his website for you for free. We have so many awesome family photos from our great day.) 

How much time did you spend at the beach?

[FirstAnthem]

8 hours ago, Westbank is bestbank said:

How much time did you spend at the beach?

We spent about an hour at the beach. If you do not want to snorkel, then you can spend that whole time at the beach. Javin gives you the choice. One lady in our group did not want to snorkel, so he dropped her off at the beach first, then took us to snorkel. When we went back for her, we spent about an hour there before heading back to the port. 

[2wheelin]

Did this tour a year ago and it was great. Don’t remember stopping at a beach except the rocky area where we snorkeled. My husband does not snorkel so he babysat the monkey and fed it a bottle. Javin supplies good food and drink too.

[jossur0166]

Sounds like so much fun!! How do I book this excursion?

[FirstAnthem]

19 minutes ago, jossur0166 said:

Sounds like so much fun!! How do I book this excursion?

You can book through his website. Just google My Island Tours by Javin and you should find it easily. Have fun! 

[jossur0166]

2 minutes ago, FirstAnthem said:

You can book through his website. Just google My Island Tours by Javin and you should find it easily. Have fun! 

That's great, i'll look into it! Thanks :)

[LStepp84]

We are booked with Javin in May. My only concern about this excursion is the snorkeling with my young son. He has been practicing in a pool but has never snorkeled in open water. Does the water drop off fast or if need be can  me or my husband stay back with him in a more shallow area? If my son doesn't last long snorkeling is there much of a beach at the snorkeling site? 

[FirstAnthem]

20 minutes ago, LStepp84 said:

We are booked with Javin in May. My only concern about this excursion is the snorkeling with my young son. He has been practicing in a pool but has never snorkeled in open water. Does the water drop off fast or if need be can  me or my husband stay back with him in a more shallow area? If my son doesn't last long snorkeling is there much of a beach at the snorkeling site? 

I don’t recall the water dropping off fast. I’m sure one of you could stay in shallower water with him, yes. There isn’t a sandy beach at the snorkeling site—it’s all rocks. 

[gratamama]

I emailed them 5-6 days ago, still no response, so I guess I will try resending.....

We are looking at the full day tour for our fam, which includes a 14 yo boy and a 4.5 yo boy. For those of you who've done that tour, you think my younger guy can take it?

[LStepp84]

1 hour ago, gratamama said:

I emailed them 5-6 days ago, still no response, so I guess I will try resending.....

We are looking at the full day tour for our fam, which includes a 14 yo boy and a 4.5 yo boy. For those of you who've done that tour, you think my younger guy can take it?

I had to email twice before I got a response. It typically takes them a few days. 

 

Also, our son is 4.5 as well and they said he would be fine. 

[EeyoreRN]

2 hours ago, gratamama said:

I emailed them 5-6 days ago, still no response, so I guess I will try resending.....

We are looking at the full day tour for our fam, which includes a 14 yo boy and a 4.5 yo boy. For those of you who've done that tour, you think my younger guy can take it?

Make sure you typed the e-mail correctly. I left out an s so they had never received my e-mail.  I waited a week because I had heard they were slow to respond.  Once I had it right it took 2-3 days.

[FirstAnthem]

2 hours ago, gratamama said:

I emailed them 5-6 days ago, still no response, so I guess I will try resending.....

We are looking at the full day tour for our fam, which includes a 14 yo boy and a 4.5 yo boy. For those of you who've done that tour, you think my younger guy can take it?

Yes I think your 4.5 year old would be just fine. All kids are different, but knowing my kids at that age, they would be fine. 

[gratamama]

BTW, I did have the wrong email address (duh!!! and Thanks!!!)
We're all set - looking forward to this!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We did this tour several years ago--one of my favorite tours ever.

 

One of my favorite parts was the lunch provided--lots of island foods, like pasties, fruits, sweet rolls, etc., served out of the back of a van.  

 

 

[miamijoe.rm]

We signed up for Javis' tour in June. It starts at 9AM and they mentioned about St. Kitts time might be different than Ship Time. Would that be true for a June tour and would that mean an 8AM ship time start or 10AM ship time start to equal 9AM St. Kitts local time? Just don't want to miss it. I think our RCI boat gets in to port at 8AM (which I assume is "Ship Time").

Thanks!

[LStepp84]

2 minutes ago, miamijoe.rm said:

We signed up for Javis' tour in June. It starts at 9AM and they mentioned about St. Kitts time might be different than Ship Time. Would that be true for a June tour and would that mean an 8AM ship time start or 10AM ship time start to equal 9AM St. Kitts local time? Just don't want to miss it. I think our RCI boat gets in to port at 8AM (which I assume is "Ship Time").

Thanks!

 

I used this site to figure out if there would be a time difference! https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20190601T160000 . Just input the city your ship is departing from and St. Kitts. For our date their will be no difference in ship time and island time. 

[miamijoe.rm]

2 minutes ago, LStepp84 said:

 

I used this site to figure out if there would be a time difference! https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20190601T160000 . Just input the city your ship is departing from and St. Kitts. For our date their will be no difference in ship time and island time. 

Yes that is great. Miami/Ship time and St. Kitts look to be on the same time in June. Looking forward to the tour. Thank you everyone for the recommendation. I'm sure the kids will love Peaches! My wife is already used to living with a monkey (me) :-).

[LStepp84]

For those of you who have done a tour with Javin, did you tip him in addition to the fee he charges for the tour? 

[mitsugirly]

We just did this tour 2 weeks ago. Just know the rainforest portion is pretty long and very strenuous climbing and so on. 

 

Also, the snorkeling tour was quite the swim out and maybe the water was a little rougher than normal but it was a strenuous swim as well. He took Peaches his monkey snorkeling with us as well. My daughter has the same monkey (green verbet) and it was interesting to see Peaches swimming and diving in the water (our Myla doesn't even like water) LOL

 

To OP, HA! I almost forgot about them taking pictures of us. I'll have to go look at ours. Do you just download them or something? Are they free?