ABC Islands Excursions for Difficult Couple ;)

[sakigemcam]

Hi there - We're excited about this cruise to the ABCs plus Grand Cayman. I've been to some of these islands on land trips but this is the first time in a long time. We're actually delightful people but this is why we're difficult: 🤣

• I'd like to snorkel at one of the stops but am really a fairly novice snorkeler, so guidance/instruction would be great - I've snorkeled on my own offshore and that's it. I'd love to learn more. 
• I'm also not comfortable on long rides on small boats - I get seasick and although I wear the miraculous patch on cruises, haven't yet tested on small boats, so a shorter ride than longer would be great to start with.
• Husband says he won't snorkel so he'd need to enjoy the boat experience - he's not that hard to please  but won't want to feel left out if he's not snorkeling.
• Definitely not looking for a party boat but refreshments are welcome!
• Also prefer no young kids (we've raised ours, thank you, older teens are cool)
• For another excursion, an uncrowded beach paradise would be great 🌴 (with at least some bathrooms)
• We usually do beaches but if there are key cultural sites to visit - like, very important to see - we'd like to know that 
• We don't care about shopping unless it's something truly unique (i.e., special spices come to mind)
• Are there any outstanding resort for a day options on any of the ABCs? We're also doing Grand Cayman.

Excited to plan this and appreciate your help! Posting on the BC threads too. 

Thank you!

[canadianbear]

For Bonaire I can recommend Woodwind.  They have a beautiful catamaran and divide the Snorkellers into their levels.  Being a novice they are excellent at helping you.  Very safety conscious.  We booked them privately and they are very good at responding to emails.  

 

In Curacao we’ve used Irie Tours-all west beaches.  Stops at various spots for some beach time and the highlight was swimming with the turtles-I only wore my snorkel & prescription mask for that as it wasn’t deep.  

[cruiseapril]

In Curacao we went to the Blue Bay Resort.  It has  a good website online.

[TTEllis]

Curacao do a day pass at The Santa Barbara Golf and Beach Resort through Resorts for a Day, you wont regret it. 

[WisCruiser2]

I second Woodwind for an excellent snorkeling trip! We went with them 3 years ago and going again in February. If I remember correctly, there were one or two out of our group of 20 who chose not to snorkel, just stayed on the boat. They do the snorkeling off Klein Bonaire, several miles from the main island but within the bay, so no worries about a long boat ride.

[canadianbear]

13 minutes ago, WisCruiser2 said:

I second Woodwind for an excellent snorkeling trip! We went with them 3 years ago and going again in February. If I remember correctly, there were one or two out of our group of 20 who chose not to snorkel, just stayed on the boat. They do the snorkeling off Klein Bonaire, several miles from the main island but within the bay, so no worries about a long boat ride.

We also had a couple who did not snorkel-just enjoyed the ride and lunch.  They are very safety conscious and even have prescription masks!

[piggiepuff]

In Curacao, we did a resort for a day at Renaissance Resort & Casino, which is right there in the mall just off the ship.  It was cheap.  Their beach is actually on the second story and it's a pool area made to look like a beach.  It was actually really cool.  They had a regular non-salt-water pool, too.  If you Google it, you can see some pics.  It was not very busy, so we had the water to ourselves most of the time.