Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Eli's EcoTour, the BEST excursion you'll find

Miss Vickie

By Miss Vickie,
in Antigua

Recommended Posts

Miss Vickie

Miss Vickie

Posted
Posted

Back in 2002, on our second visit to Antigua, we booked an all-day excursion with Eli Fuller, through http://www.adventureantigua.com. Little did we know when we booked that excursion, that this would become our all-time favorite excursion. In 9 cruises, all over the Caribbean, we have not found an equal. We've done Eli's tour 3 times now, and usually try tp plan our cruises to include Antigua, so we can see Eli again.

 

Eli grew up in Antigua, the grandson of America's vice-consul to Antigua during WWII. His grandfather liked it there so much he decided to stay to raise his family and opened Antigua's first beach hotel. Eli's tour is an all-day adventure aboard his boat, Adventure Antigua. He and his friends, who are his assistants on the tour, take you to places they used to explore growing up. You go snorkeling, go to Bird Island, have a great home-made lunch on a "deserted beach," and get the special treat of going to Hell's Gate, a limestone formation in the Caribbean with caves and tidepools, where you can do some rock-climbing and caving to get to the top. You can be as active as you want to be - some people choose to spend the day lounging on the boat, enjoying Eli's company, and have as good a time as those of us who go snorkeling, hiking and climbing. You get a great tour of Antigua's off-shore islands, mangroves, and shoreline. Throughout the day Eli talks about Antigua's history, ecology and political situation. He and his friends are very knowledgable. Plus, he's an all-around great guy. His new boat is comfortable, fast, has plenty of shade (if that's what you want), and has a head. He takes about 25 people max, so it's an un-crowded, personal adventure. When I say the lunch is home-made, it truly is. He has a neighbor who prepares it fresh each morning - tossed salad, pasta salad, barbecued chicken, fried plantains, and carrot cake. Beverages throughout the day include tamarin juice, guava juice, coke, water, and the all important rum punch, some of the best you'll ever have!

 

Eli makes sure to accomodate particular schedule needs, tailoring the day to the ships' port times. On our first tour with him, one of our friends indicated that she wanted some time to shop in the pier-side shops at the end of the day, so he made sure to have us back a little early. On our last time with him, some people got the pick up time wrong, and missed us. After he dropped us off with one of his crew-mates for our Bird Island hike, he went back for them so they could enjoy the rest of the day with us.

 

I truly can't say enough about Eli or his excursion. Since we've known him, his business has grown phenomenally. In fact the first boat we went out on, the Isis, could accomodate only about 12 people; the new boat is a result of the increased demand for his trip. I can say, having experienced both, that the growth in his business is totally due to the great excursion he provides, and is in no way diminished by the slightly larger number of people accomodated on the new boat.

 

If you have any other questions, please email me (jlmolner @ core. com) - take out the spaces to e-mail. And look no further for the best way to spend your day in Antigua!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
amarco

amarco

Posted
Posted

We are signed up to take the Eli Tour in January and are really looking forward to it. Every post has been a positive one. I have a question, what type of shoes do you recommend wearing on the tour? Tennis shoes? Do your shoes get really wet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Miss Vickie

Miss Vickie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Both of you are going to LOVE Eli's tour.

 

Amarco, I wear sports sandals - flip flops can be hard to climb in, and you'll need something on your feet, that you don't mind getting a little wet. The sports sandals are firmly attached for navigating Hell's Gate and Bird Island. Tennis shoes wouldn't work for Hell's Gate - you have to swim a short distance from the boat, and I'm not sure that there's a dry enough place to put them on there. Plus, you have to wade to the beach at lunch time. Water shoes would work, too.

 

Lovecruises, Does your six year old swim? If so, he/she will have a blast. They might have a little difficulty at Hell's Gate. I'm a short (under 5' adult), and there's a place there that's a stretch for me. On the other hand, there's the option of snorkeling in that location instead of climbing, so there's something to do. I think your child would really enjoy the day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Miss Vickie

Miss Vickie

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Texed, I'm going to have to make sure my husband sees your reply - he wasn't so sure about a 6 yr old. Our's is nearly 19, so the issue of what he can and can't do (sports-wise) rarely comes up!

 

Lovecruises, sounds like your son will have his choice, and doesn't need to miss out on Hells Gate.

 

Moai, we've been on the tour with non-swimming adults. They hang on the boat and have as good a time as we do, just in a different way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
aloveforwander

aloveforwander

Posted
Posted

:p I am so glad to hear your son enjoyed this trip. Sounds like we will do this- as our son is quite the adventurer- and I am sure he will enjoy. As long as we are safe- which is key- I am sure we will have a ball...

 

Thanks again for the re-assurance. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Texed Holiday Sharing Rare

Texed

Posted
Posted

Lovecruises,

You are very welcome. And, do not worry. We felt safe all the time. We would never put Sean (our 5 yo) in a dangerous situation. This was our 3rd time with Eli, and his whole crew is great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wench

wench

Posted
Posted

i have looked at eli's tour in antigua and am very interested. the only problem is that i can't find the prices for his tours. they have the way to set up a tour but no prices on line that i could find. can anyone help me with this. it will be myself and my new husband. the last time we went we went on the rainforest tour and that was nice but now we want to do something different. i need to put this into our budget. so if you can help about the prices please contact me at wench1010@aol.com. thanks again for all your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CruisingFan

CruisingFan

Posted
Posted

Moai and other non swimmers,

 

I too am not a very good swimmer. I wrote to Eli's Tour to ask them how much swimming was involved and this is their reply:

 

"If you are not into swimming then thats fine with us. You can always just relax on the boat most of the tour is also done on the boat. Yes anyone wanting to go to hells gate will have to swim. There are lots of life vests on board that you can wear if you decide to go to Hells Gate. We have also have 2 very good crew memebers on board who can help you swim over. The swim will last about 5 mins because we anchor about 20ft from the island. The water will be about 8ft deep if that.. it tends to vary but nothing more then 12ft in general throughout the tour wherver we snorkel."

 

Hope this helps :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
agmike73

agmike73

Posted
Posted

I was on Eli's tour two weeks ago. The swim from the boat to the beach at Hells gate is just a short one and there are life jackets. The hardest thing is walking the last 20 feet or so because of the coral bottom. One of the guys on the boat helped get through it. My handicapped daughter made it with a life jacket, no problem. You need something better than flip flops, but not much more. The climb through the cave to the top is short and interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
danblinn

danblinn

Posted
Posted

I went on the 3/04 trip that Texed organized, and can vouch for how good that trip is.

 

Hi, Texed. I hope that your family is all doing well.

 

I logged on to do some planning for the Disney cruise that my family is taking next month. One of our stops is St. Thomas. I remember that you had chartered a catamaran for that day, and we would like to do the same. What outfitter would you recommend? Many thanks

 

Dan from CT

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Texed Holiday Sharing Rare

Texed

Posted
Posted

Dan,

Good to hear from you, and I am glad you enjoyed Eli's Tour as much as we do. We are going with him for the 4th time in November.

In St. Thomas, we did not take a catamaran, we chartered a 6 passenger sail boat. We booked: http://www.sailwinifred.com We had a very nice day. Had great snorkeling, and swam with a turtle for about 45 minutes. If you go to the St. Thomas/St. John "Ports of Call", they have some other boats that are nice also.

Good Luck,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...