Tortola - Dolphin Discovery and Snorkeling?

[ebseckar]

We will be sailing on the Zuiderdam next year. Our ship will be in Tortola from noon until 10pm. We have two questions:

 

1) If we dock at noon, can we make a 2pm dolphin swim (1:30 check-in) or should we play it safe and reserve a 4pm slot? (We would be booking on our own since HAL does not offer the dolphin swim package we want.)

 

2) If we also want to do some snorkeling that day, what would you suggest? We're assuming we don't have enough time to take a boat trip (because of the Dolphin Discovery stop) so we were thinking about snorkeling from one of the beaches on Tortola. We've read good reviews of Brewer's Bay for snorkeling. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for your help.

[RuthC]

If it's the same swim I did in Tortola in March then you have plenty of time.

I, too, arrived at 12:00 noon and had a 2:00 PM swim, with the 1:30 arrival. I was ready to leave the ship when it was cleared. It's a short drive over. I'm betting we were there by 1:00; I know we were there in time to watch an entire prior group do their thing.

Oh, and I LOVED it!

(If you have something to wear on your feet while in the water---bring it. Some of the platform has a pad, but some does not; neither do the stairs. On bare feet it hurts.)

[ebseckar]

RuthC --

 

Thank you for your post. I appreciate the information you provided.

[Sunshine91]

On Tortola John & I just wanted a beach day. We decided on Cane Garden Bay & were thrilled with our choice. The taxi ride up & over the mountain is like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - hang on!!

 

The island is beautiful. CGB is really a pretty beach with lots of places to rent chairs, beach bars (shacks), gentle waves, boats docked in the bay. There's plenty of shade or sun, whatever's your preference. Family-type beach - all ages. Europeans & Americans. It was truly one of the highlights. We did see some folks with their snorkels, but thought - what kind of little fishies could they possibly be looking at, just in the gentle surf? We liked watching the pelicans dive for their lunch.

 

Don't want to scare you off CGB, just wanted to let you know what that one is like. If you want a beach day, go there.

 

One the way over the mountain, we did see BB. Looked awfully pretty, too. For more info, try the Tortola bulletin board under "Destinations." I don't think that one's real active so it may take a couple of days to get a reply.

 

I picked up the brochure for the dolphin swim. Looks like a lot of fun. Do you need the phone # or website?