Questions on Eli's tour

[waterbugohio]

Just wondered if someone who has done Eli's tour can give me some suggestions as to which tour to do. I keep reading great reviews about Eli's tours, but when I visit the websit, I notice that there are two tours:

"Eco tour" and "Extreme Circumnav"

 

which one has anyone done?? The Extreme seems to be about the same idea as the eco tour, except on a faster boat that seems to go farther around the island. I think there is about a $50 difference in price and wondered if the Extreme is worth the difference??

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[waterbugohio]

Can't believe no one has done this tour?? I thought i read alot of great reviews on it??

[marshabear]

we signed up for the xtreme tour...it is a speed boat, and takes you to swim with stingrays...i don't think the other tour does that...it stops at 5 different places...and goes completely around the island...

 

the other tour looks nice too but we already have a catamaran booked for Barbados and have a "need for speed!!" :)

 

did you check out their website-it will tell you all about their tours....

 

 

Marsha

[waterbugohio]

I guess I was looking for more details. Was hoping someone that has done it would explain more which they liked and why.

[hubofhockey]

I guess I was looking for more details. Was hoping someone that has done it would explain more which they liked and why.

 

You might want to try the search function on this forum. Before I booked Eli's (we booked the Eco Tour as we have an 8 year old and a 10 year old), I searched this forum and found many posts detailing both of Eli's excursions. You may be better off spending a couple minutes doing the search rather than waiting for people to answer your thread. Not everyone who has taken Eli's tours check the boards every week.

 

Did you look at this one?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=568154

 

There are others out there too.

[Mrs Booboo]

We did the Xtreme Circumnav tour last week (April 11th) and it was one of the best excursions we have done in 10 years of cruising!! There were only 22 people on the excursion. I don't really think the two tours are that similar. We went around the whole island:

 

1) A tour around the north sound, including seeing Hell's Gate.

2) Stingray City - here you swim with the rays and there is also some pretty good reef snorkeling.

3) Green Island - lunch stop. BBQ chicken, pasta salad, fried plantains, banana bread and drinks. Also about 1/2 hour to swim or walk the beach, or just relax.

4) A drive around Nelson's Dockyard.

5) Snorkel at the Pillars of Hercules.

6) Rendezvous Beach - an absolutely beautiful beach where we enjoyed some rum punch.

 

One thing to consider is that it is really fast a large portion of the time. The ride from Stingray City to the lunch stop was a little bumpy.

 

The guides were awesome! As you went around the island, they would tell you what you were seeing, some history of the island, etc. Our guides were Captain JD, Ross, and Serge. I think both JD and Ross grew up on the island, so they were very knowledgable. Everything was very professional - email correspondence before the trip, and they picked us up on time and returned us at the promised time.

 

So I would highly recommend this excursion; we felt it was worth every penny!

[suzski]

Thanks for the info MrsBooBoo (love that name!) We'll be doing the Xtreme Circumnav on our cruise in early July and are really looking forward to it!

[nolaAlive]

Both are great and about the only things in common are Hell's Gate and what is served for lunch.

[SANDYJABS]

I researched the 2 by doing the search and found that I would probably enjoy the extreme one better but as other posts said that it is a bumpy ride I have decided for the Eco tour in fear that the speed boat might jar my back (bad back + getting old=:( )

Both tours have very good reviews it just depends on what u are looking for.

[tlpeters]

I just did the Eco tour on April 8th and while I can't comment on the Xtreme tour I can say that the Eco tour was one of the best excursions I've ever done. The guides were great and it was a really fun, laid back day. I really enjoyed climbing Hell's Gate, lunch was delicious, we did a nice nature hike and also had a stop for snorkeling and then rum punch on the way back. We had a fantastic day and this is one tour that I'd book again in a heart beat.

[Miss Vickie]

We've done both, and loved them both. They don't have hells gate in common - that's only done on the Eco Tour.

 

The EcoTour focuses on the North Sound, and has snorkeling on Cade's Reef, hells gate, bird island, a tour of the mangroves and off shore islands, and focuses on ecology, history, etc. Terrific lunch on bird island.

 

The Xtreme includes sting ray city, green island (where you have the same great lunch, a circumnav around the island, a water-based tour of English Harbor, snorkeling at the Pillars of Hercules, a stop at a secluded beach, lots of interesting info as you go around the island.

 

They're both the terrific tours, and I do think the Xtreme is worth the money. Really, you can't go wrong either way.

[nolaAlive]

Based on post 6 they saw Hell's Gate.

[Miss Vickie]

Based on post 6 they saw Hell's Gate.

 

You see it as you go past it. You don't get to stpp there and climb it, as you do on the EcoTour. We've done the Eco 4 times, and the Xtreme once. We've only done the Xtreme once, because that's been our only opportunity, but we'd gladly do it again!

[waterbugohio]

JL, thanks for the info. This is what I was asking. I think we will just go with the Eco tour as climbing Hells gate sounded really neat.

 

Ljb, sorry I didn't use the search forum. Everytime I try to use it, it is down. I was just relying on the nice people like JL, Mrs BooBoo, and tlpeters to help me out. Thanks guys

[tlpeters]

Hell's Gate was lots of fun and a little (but not overly) challenging. We had some people in our group who were a little older and slower than some of the others and they were able to do it. I highly recommend it.

[hubofhockey]

JL, thanks for the info. This is what I was asking. I think we will just go with the Eco tour as climbing Hells gate sounded really neat.

 

Ljb, sorry I didn't use the search forum. Everytime I try to use it, it is down. I was just relying on the nice people like JL, Mrs BooBoo, and tlpeters to help me out. Thanks guys

 

No need to apologize. I was just trying to help out. The search function is great when it's working and it's the best way to navigate the ports of call boards. To me, these boards are more informative, although less used, than the cruiseline specific boards. I am doing Eli's based on using the search function here and reading about the company, the activities, etc. I also e-mailed the company and Nell is great about answering specific questions too. I am looking forward to the Eco Tour in two weeks and I feel pretty comfortable doing it based on what I have read here as well as the communication with the company.

[RoofingPrincess]

If you go to the pictures link in my signature, and look at the "Mustard of the Seas" album, there are pictures from the Eco Tour in there. I really enjoyed it. I chose not to climb to the top of Hell's Gate, just got in the water and swam around a bit, had a friend take my picture sitting at the base of it, then paddled back out to the boat.

The guys doing the tour are extremely personable and are more than willing to give "Snorkel 101" lessons while at Bird Island. Their commentary as we went along made me think that I was being shown the sights by a friend: "We used to jump off that cliff when we were kids - our mothers would've killed us if they knew!"

Oh, and by the way, while we were at Bird Island, a large catamaran pulled up, packed with so many people that it was not possible for everyone to sit down. We were told that it was a ship-sponsored excursion. In contrast, our boat had plenty of room for everyone in the party, with a pretty good balance of sunny spots and shady spots.

[tlpeters]

I almost forgot about the ship sponsored catamaran we saw. Yikes, that looked kind of horrifying. I'm amazed at just how many people the ships will cram on one of those. It was like going to the circus and seeing all of the clowns pile out of the car.

[lovetocruise99]

Here are some photos taken while on Eli's Eco Tour including Hell's Gate. Hell's Gate is bigger than it appears in the photo. We really thought it was neat and worth going to see.

 

http://familytravelfun.com/antiguapicture.html

[waterbugohio]

OK, so what do we bring along?? I assume to make sure everything is waterproof. Do we leave the good camera behind and just do the disposable waterproof one. Everyone's photos look so good, can't believe they are all from throw away cameras??

 

What about dry clothes, is this needed or do you just stay in your suit all day??

 

Water shoes needed to climb??

 

How much money?? is there shopping or anything else money is needed for?

 

Do you bring your own snorkel gear or do you rent??

[hubofhockey]

OK, so what do we bring along?? I assume to make sure everything is waterproof. Do we leave the good camera behind and just do the disposable waterproof one. Everyone's photos look so good, can't believe they are all from throw away cameras??

 

What about dry clothes, is this needed or do you just stay in your suit all day??

 

Water shoes needed to climb??

 

How much money?? is there shopping or anything else money is needed for?

 

Do you bring your own snorkel gear or do you rent??

 

I am doing the Eco Tour next week. Here's what I understand. They have snorkel gear if you need. I am bringing enough cash to pay them the balance owed for my tour. They drop us off near the pier at the end of the tour. I'm bringing extra cash to spend for shops near the pier.

 

There is some hiking and I am bringing the rubber bottomed water shoes for that. We'll be bringing along towels and sunscreen as well. As for the camera, we are leaving our good one back on the ship and taking the disposable waterproof one on the tour. I agree with you that it's hard to believe the quality of the photos you see online is taken by $12 disposable cameras.

[tlpeters]

OK, so what do we bring along?? I assume to make sure everything is waterproof. Do we leave the good camera behind and just do the disposable waterproof one. Everyone's photos look so good, can't believe they are all from throw away cameras??

 

What about dry clothes, is this needed or do you just stay in your suit all day??

 

Water shoes needed to climb??

 

How much money?? is there shopping or anything else money is needed for?

 

Do you bring your own snorkel gear or do you rent??

 

We brought our fancy DSLR, unless the boat capsizes your camera shouldn't get too wet. We did get the ocassional sea spray while moving but other than that it wasn't too bad. However, if you want to bring a camera with you when you swim to Hell's Gate you'll obviously want to bring something that's waterproof.

 

I wore my suit under a cotton dress coverup for the day and brought along a towel.

 

You must have water shoes to climb, flip flops won't work as the surface is extremely uneven and the rocks are a bit sharp. If you don't have any they should be able to provide them for you.

 

You'll need enough money to pay your balance. I think there might have been someone selling some little trinkets at one of the stops but there really wasn't any shopping. The crew does sell some Hell's Gate t-shirts, 15 dollars I think. We brought enough to pay the balance and then a bit to tip because the crew was awesome.

 

We brought our own snorkel gear but they have plenty on the boat and also have some float belts you can use which I found comforting on the swim from the boat to Hell's Gate because I'm not the strongest of swimmers.

[waterbugohio]

Hey guys, thanks for all the info. I have 2 good digital cameras, one better than the other. I may bring the lesser of the 2, plus the disposable.

 

Thanks for the info on the shoes also. This is something I need to be looking for the next couple of months.

 

As for the money, we will just bring along enough to cover tour and tips.

[kjacruiser]

Friends did this tour about 4 years ago and had a Great Time...I'm Happy to see they are still doing tours. Now how do I contact them.....

[erniesband]

http://www.adventureantigua.com - describes both of their power boat tours (Eco and Xtreme Circumnav), and provides links to contact them. When are you going? Eli's starting a sail boat adventure, located at a different website, but won't be starting those for another month or so.

 

Jodi