Sugar beach break

[jjwells]

We are arriving via cruise next week.  I have booked an excursion through Spencer Ambrose for the Sugar Beach Break (a boat ride to sugar beach and spending the day on the beach).  We love to snorkel and this location seems amazing.  I have now read some reviews about maintenance issues with this company.  So far my communication with them has been very, very good.  I have also read a lot of positive reviews and understand that occasionally unpleasant experience will happen with every company.  Does anyone have a recent experience with this company?  I am hoping the mechanical difficulties have been resolved. 

[pghsteelerfan]

No recent experience, but we've toured with Spencer Ambrose twice now (May 2013 and again in Sep. 2015).  The Sugar Beach Break was the first one we did and the second was the Land, Sea, and Beach to see more of St. Lucia.  I have seen some of these recent reviews and I still plan on booking with them again next time we get back to St. Lucia (will be Sugar Beach Break again).  All I can say is both of his tours have been our all time favorites while on a cruise and we've really enjoyed Spencer and his whole crew.  We never felt like "just a tour group" with them.  But yes, things can/do happen, boats can have issues at times, just like our vehicles.  That said, I don't think that is the norm.  Each time we were on his tours, those boats have been clean and look to be very well taken care of.  They have more than one boat too.  When we've been picked up at the cruise center for our tours, he's had a least two and I believe there was a third the first time we toured with them. 

 

As for the snorkeling, Sugar Beach has been the best out of all the places we've snorkeled (I've heard Curacao, Bonnaire, Roatan,  & Belize have great snorkeling, but we've never had an opportunity to snorkel at any of them).  Even the coral at Sugar Beach...so colorful!  What I loved about the "beach break" is that there is PLENTY of time to snorkel and also just kick back and take in the beautiful scenery.  It was a nice, relaxing day and we never felt rushed. 

Edited March 21, 2019 by pghsteelerfan

[jjwells]

Thank you!  That makes me feel so much better.  Like I said, his communication thus far has been fantastic.  I look forward to a great excursion and being able to write a glowing review when we return.  Thanks again for your time!

[Atocha Shipwreck Gal]

14 hours ago, jjwells said:

Thank you!  That makes me feel so much better.  Like I said, his communication thus far has been fantastic.  I look forward to a great excursion and being able to write a glowing review when we return.  Thanks again for your time!

Just did this tour last November - perfect, Also went Nov 2017 and it was great. Am going to Sugar with Spencer & his daughter this November as well!  Excellent choice!

[BNL1213]

On 3/22/2019 at 7:01 PM, jjwells said:

Thank you!  That makes me feel so much better.  Like I said, his communication thus far has been fantastic.  I look forward to a great excursion and being able to write a glowing review when we return.  Thanks again for your time!

I am looking forward to your review.  We have the same booked for June!  Hope you enjoyed.

[Ruskincruiser]

On 3/22/2019 at 7:01 PM, jjwells said:

Thank you!  That makes me feel so much better.  Like I said, his communication thus far has been fantastic.  I look forward to a great excursion and being able to write a glowing review when we return.  Thanks again for your time!

My BF and I just did that excursion with Spencer a few days ago. It was a wonderful experience and I love snorkeling at Sugar Beach. Spencer himself piloted the boat we were on and he did have to stop briefly a few times to manually add oil to one of the engines but it did not negatively effect us in any way.  If I’m ever back in beautiful St. Lucia I wouldn’t hesitate to use him again. 

[mitsugirly]

By mechanical are you talking about the boats? We just went on our second tour with him the week before last and there were no problems. He runs a great operation and the snorkeling at Jalosie Beach is AMAZING!!! 

[aquidneck1]

Mitsugirly,  Can you tell us exactly what tour you went on.  I am not sure who you were responding to but I would like to hear more details. 

 

Thanks

 

[jjwells]

I should have posted this update sooner.  We went on the Beach Break Tour which included one stop...Sugar Beach.  It was exactly as described and a fabulous day.  Our main mission was to get a lot of time to snorkel at one location.  The snorkeling was fantastic- just like swimming through an aquarium.  We saw so many different forms of sea life and corals.  At the beginning of our trip we easily found the meeting location outside of the cruise terminal.  We paid the balance for our tour and did wait a bit until all passengers arrived.  Once everyone was there we walked back to the dock to wait for the boats.  It was raining a bit so it took a bit of time for the boats to arrive.  I felt that the tours were organized well and the boats were loaded according to number of people and which tour they were going on.  We got to Sugar beach and had no problem finding chairs (yes they are a bit worn, but Spencer's company has no control over that).  The boat we were on was in very good condition.  We had to staff members on board and they did an excellent job of providing history and answering any question asked.  The driver of the boat also did a great job of trying to keep the boat steady in the larger waves (it was a bit windy).  Yes, he dodged sometimes side-to-side, but this is to prevent the boat from rocking too much and getting out of control.  If you are prone to motion sickness you may want to take some meds before going out- you are in the ocean and there will be waves 🙂 The lunch provided was very good and throughout the day staff members were checking in to see if anything was needed.  I thought they were very attentive.  We also got back to the cruise terminal with about an hour or so to look around at the shops.  I had no fear of missing our boat.  I would book another tour with this company without hesitation.  It was a super experience and a great location.  Do your research and go in with appropriate expectations.  

[mitsugirly]

On 5/6/2019 at 8:35 PM, aquidneck1 said:

Mitsugirly,  Can you tell us exactly what tour you went on.  I am not sure who you were responding to but I would like to hear more details. 

 

Thanks

 

 

With Spencer Ambrose. 

 

We have done just the beach break tour to the pitons MY FULL REVIEW WITH TONS OF PICTURES CAN BE LOCATED HERE

It starts at post #672  The snorkeling there is just amazing!

 

And we just did the land/beach tour, which included a trip to the volcano mud baths and then on to the pitons. I'm currently working on that review and haven't made it to that portion yet. I have TONS of pictures thought that I will be posting from that day. 

 

It's an amazing tour and so much fun.