Tortola Excursion to the Baths- Plus Sized & Young Children ( a mini review)

[pyropoodle]

On 11/6/2023 at 5:59 PM, AmgEms2020 said:

My partner and I are looking at possibly doing an excursion through NCL that doesn't go to the Baths, and goes to just Virgin Gorda but NCL says there is a weight restriction. was there a WR when you booked, or did you disregard? I hope this doesn't sound rude or insightful, but I am over the weight restriction by 25 ish lbs. i'm 5'5 and xl-2x on a good day but not more than a 3x. and I would love to go on this. lol.

 

Love your post and descriptions! makes me want to go even more!

sorry i'm a few months late responding to this, i just missed the notification.  i do not recall if there was a restriction or not, i do know that i sometimes disregard them if it is something i am fairly confident that i CAN do, or if it does not involve torturing animals or breaking ladders with my large behind, lol.   i wouldn't go on anything where they weigh you. i know some of the waterslides had a scale on the ship i was on, (or i was told they did) so NO WAY am i doing that,lol.   i'm 5/6 and i'm a 2xl on most days, and i was fine on this particular excursion.   if there was a weight limit, they did not weigh me for this.  (i was weighed years ago for an excusion in PR for a Segue tour and i missed that cut off at the time by 1 pound and they would not let me ride, so now i am HYPER aware of things that i'm gonna be weighed for, i steer all the way clear.   

Edited January 17 by pyropoodle

[LAMurphy1967]

Great review! I have booked this excursion for our May cruise, I am afraid of heights, but it sounds like I'll be okay.

I'm a little concerned about my friend though, she is claustrophobic. I had read somewhere that there is a go around if you are unable to go thru the caves?  I am hoping so, or she's going to be mortified!

[blue_water]

1 hour ago, LAMurphy1967 said:

Great review! I have booked this excursion for our May cruise, I am afraid of heights, but it sounds like I'll be okay.

I'm a little concerned about my friend though, she is claustrophobic. I had read somewhere that there is a go around if you are unable to go thru the caves?  I am hoping so, or she's going to be mortified!

She can go back up the path and take the other path down and meet you in Devil’s Bay…

[G-Luvs2cruise]

Great review! I am glad I found it. I too am plus size but am active. I did see the weight limit as well and wondered why there was one. Sounds like this will not be an issue for me and my husband. But I am curious about how tight some of the spaces are and how crowded it is. Are some spots real congested and tight. I tend to get claustrophobic but it depends on the situation.  TIA. 

[pyropoodle]

i don't recall any really claustrophobic parts, there are boulders everywhere and unless you are afraid they will fall on top of you, it's all outdoors.  if it is a worry at all though, i wouldn't pay to do it.  i don't think it would be worth walking down the other path and meeting at the beach. the boulders were what made it fun.

 

i'm 5'6'' and a size 22  / xxl, and over 300lbs since i am CONFESSING TO STRANGERS , hahaha. i'm a big girl! but i'm active, which helped with the climbing.

other than one spot where i had to sit on my butt and shuffle through, there wasn't anything too tight or too small for me to squeeze through.  i had on shorts over my swim suit and i recommend doing that. there were a couple of times i scooted on my keester because i cannot crawl on my knees. but i did just fine doing that. 

 

i don't think i would have been able to do it without my husband. he went ahead of me so he could be there if i slipped or to catch my backpack or whatever.  i would not have wanted to do this alone, but if you have someone travelling with you, who can "go first" and just be there, i think that will go a long way toward making you feel comfortable and safe. 

Edited January 29 by pyropoodle

[COcruise]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:47 AM, pyropoodle said:

I am posting this here because when i was researching visiting the Baths on my recent cruise, i saw almost NOTHING about being plus sized, so on the off chance any plus sized people (or people with young kids) want to take this excursion, here is my mini review.

 

We took this excursion through NCL in February 2023. it was AMAZING

 

i have a 5 1/2 year old girl/ 8 1/2 year old boy and they really really loved this excursion. so if you have kids around those ages, you will be totally fine!

the NCL documents said the youngest age allowed was a 2 year old.  i would personally not advise taking a 2 year old on this excursion and honestly a late 4 year old/ early 5 year old might be questionable if they are the type of children that need to be carried everywhere.  there is no way to have any kind of a stroller at all. even if you are one of those 'put a papoose on your back' people, i would not recommend.  there were several times where we had to take our back packs off and kind of toss them ahead of us to be able to squeeze through, so take that as you will.  otherwise...5 years was the sweet spot for us as my Adventure Adverse daughter had a blast.

 

So me: i am the plus sized one- female, 5'6" and size 2 -3xl depending on the day and meal most recently eaten 🙂

i am also a person who is active, i walk a lot (live in NYC), i work out and in general walking/ mini hiking is no problem for me. i might be a little bit slower than others, but i'm not sedentary. if i were a sedentary person, this excursion might have been more difficult.

 

The adventure (after making it to the location) begins by a gingerly walk down a path that seemed to take about 10/ 15 minutes.  it is steep in places, there are rocks, it is dirt, so not a paved path.  it ends up on a beach where you can see the giant boulders off to one side. we spent about 15-20 minutes here just frolicking in the water.  I used this time to take an ibuprophen.....cause i figured i'd be sore and stiff by the end of the day.   for me, this was a great decision!   

 

i had read some reviews where people said to take a waterproof backpack with you.  i had one, so i took it and my husband took a regular backpack.  we put our really nice camera in the waterproof backpack. if we would not have taken the super expensive camera, we would NOT have needed a special waterproof backpack.  it was nice to have a backpack as opposed to a beach bag because you are able to really use your hands to hold to the sides of rocks as you shimmy through some spots. i felt bad for people who were constantly hoisting beach bags from one side to the other.  they were cumbersome.  so i do suggest taking at least one back pack if you need to carry things.   we are a family of 4 and we opted to take just one beach towel, which worked out really well.  

 

there were people who chose to do this excursion in flip flops/ sandals and while they made it to the other side, there were some shoes falling off of people and being retrieved.  my kids wore regular water shoes, my husband wore water sandals that are closed toed and strap around the back. i personally wore my Avia Water Tennis shoes and they were perfect for me since they have the support similar to a regular tennis shoe and allowed me some traction. i wore them the whole time, from hike and right into the water later,  i highly recommend.

 

the kids wore their regular bathing suits, my husband wore trunks and a t-shirt, i wore a swim suit with shorts over them and tossed my cover up in my backpack for after the excursion.  i was very comfortable without my swimsuit butt hanging out. and the shorts kept me protected the one time i had to sit down on my butt, shuffle through a small space and down a steepish drop off (about 3 feet). was really glad i had shorts on. 

 

anywho, after some time on the beach, the trek through the baths begins. it wasn't fast paced and there were a few times the line clogged up the path, so you had to wait for a little bit before you could keep going.

 

3 areas of concern for a plus sized person (even a person with small kids in 2 of them)

1.  there was an area where i was not able to crouch down low enough (thank you bad knees) to get through, so i ended up sitting on my butt and scooching through the opening. on the other side, there was a little bit of a biiig step (mini leap). i kind of slid down the rock (id say my feet were probably 1 &1/2 feet from the ground at the top of the slide, so it wasn't a big drop, just something to think about.

 

2.  there was an area of narrow stairs that you (everyone) was forced to take going down SIDEWAYS, one step at a time.  the step was probably 8-9 across and only the width of your foot, so you could not go down face first.  it was fine though. i made my husband go first, then the kids so he could catch them if they slipped, then i went.  we had zero issues, but again, just to be aware.

 

3. just off of the narrow sideways stairs, there was one large boulder, there was a rope tied from one side to the other side, so you held onto that rope and walked at an angle across the top of the boulder (like maybe a boulder laying at a 45 degree angle, i'm not good at math, but it was at an angle).  on the other side of the boulder, the rope made a turn and you just held on to that rope and mini repelled down the face of that rock.  again, it was not straight down, .like real repelling, just at an angle.  i was able to manage it ( i had both hands since i had my back pack , not a beach bag) so it was not a problem. my shoes were able to grip a little bit of the rock as well, so i didn't slip.   i'd say the rock was maybe 10-12 feet tall

 

those were the 3 worst places while inside the boulder maze and they really were not bad at all. my fear of "will i be able to fit through this" was worse than the real thing, so hopefully this mini review helped a little bit and put some minds at ease.

 

after the jaunt thrrough the baths, (time is meaningless, maybe an hour???).  we spent some time on the other side of the maze at the beach.  it was lovely.  we rinsed off the sweat and floated around.   like i said, we just had the two backpacks and one towel.  my husband isn't really an ocean person, he rinsed off and dried off first, then the rest of us did the same.  before hiking back up the trail, we were able to rinse the sand off of our feet at a little rinsing station at the base of the trail

 

now comes the hike back up.   it took another 10-15 minutes to hike back to the top (on a different trail than we hiked down on)  so keep in mind that there is still some strenuous walking if you are not a person who walks a lot.   you can take at your own pace, i was surprised that i didn't even stop to rest.     it is not paved, but is wider than the path down (or seemed to be) and there are a couple of times you use a little rock as a step but no biggie. 

 

there was a lady on our tour that had just had some kind of knee surgery.  she was slow and uncomfortable and probably should not have been on this excursion, but even she was able to complete it (some of the other people on the tour helped her through some of the rough spots- kindness of strangers)

 

once back at the top, we headed over to the little makeshift tent for a well deserved rum punch (the kids had their own non alcoholic punch) , then it was back to the open air trucks for the ride back to the ferry, then ferry back to tortola.     remember that ibuprophen i took at the start of the day??? great decision.  after activity, i'm fine, but after sitting around in a truck/ ferry, i usually get very stiff....not this time.  if that is you, take an ibuprophen or something similar.  i was pain freeee for the rest of the day. 

 

all in all, it was an amazing day. memories were made, fun was had.  if you have never visited the Baths, but you are on the fence about it, you should do it.  the boulders were breathtaking and the trip was worth it. 

 

thanks for reading and happy to answer any questions if you have any. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you SO much for this review. Do you think it is possible with a kiddo on your back or front/side carrier? We are super active and have an almost 1.5 year old on our upcoming cruise. We really want to do this but I can't find anyone that's done it with a young kiddo. 

[pyropoodle]

3 hours ago, COcruise said:

Thank you SO much for this review. Do you think it is possible with a kiddo on your back or front/side carrier? We are super active and have an almost 1.5 year old on our upcoming cruise. We really want to do this but I can't find anyone that's done it with a young kiddo. 

i think the first thing you should do if you are on an excursion is check for the minimum required age. i belive the min age for the NCL we took was 2 years.

 

if you are good with carrying baby the entire time and if they are easy to remove from your person so you can maybe slide them back and forth, have someone help you shimmy and watch for bumped heads, you'd prob be fine.  it sounds exhausting to me though.  i don't like to carry things, lol, which is why i was so happy i had a back pack and not a beach bag, so i had hands freeeee.   

 

but if you have a contraption that would make hands free pretty easy and could also be just as easily removed for ease of passing the baby, i'm sure you would be fine. but do check to make sure of the min age of any tour you take.   

 

alternately, if you can bare being away from them, many ships have the day care open so parents can go off and enjoy and leave baby on the ship.  i am not one of those parents that can leave them, but that might be another option if you really wanna go.