Patauche

[kathanderik]

Hi,

 

I wanted to give a quick review on Patauche. My husband and I spent our half day in Tortola with them and we had a fantastic time! We were there the first week of December. It was the best day of the cruise. We usually try to avoid ship's excursions because I hate to be part of the herd. I really wanted to go to the Baths but our time in port was short ( 7 am-2 pm). I looked at taking the local ferry but I did not think that wAs going to give us enough time at the Baths. I found them after doing a web search. I emailed Julie and she got back to me a day later. The cost of the half day was 80 dollars per a person, including drinks ( water, soda, beer, rum punch) . I had asked her to arranged a cab driver to meet us. The only hitch to the day was the cabbie did not show. There were a lot of cabs available at the cruise terminal and we were soon on our way. The dock is about 20 minutes away. When we arrived , we were greeted by Julie and soon we were on our way. We have our own equipment, but they have snorkleing equipment available if you dont. Erik and I were the only people who booked that day- so we had the boat to ourselves! there was a crew of three! The yatch had room for about 16-20 people. It takes about an hour to sail over to Virgin Gourda. We sat up front and got soaked- it was a blast! Water gets a little rough when you get to the open channel beteween the islands. The Captain came over frequently to check on how we were doing and pointed out the sites. We anchored about 100 feet off shore. I took a life belt to swim in, my husband didn't ( I'm a strong swimmer, I just like the secruity of it). We had our own private guide in. The snorkeling was FANTASTIC!!!! The water is so clear. The granite boulders under the water are amazing. We saw tons of fish, several sting rays, healthy coral. the snorkeling rivals St John, though our guide did tell us that sometime the water is a bit more murky. I highly recomend snorkling in. When we got to the beach our guide gave us a tour though several fo the paths. theBaths are so awesome- definally worth the trip to see them. I can see why they are listed in the book " 1000 places to see before you die" He saw we were good swimmers so after the tour he left us alone . We had about an hour on the beach to ourselves and to snorkle from the shore before we swan back to the boat. Ther were very aware of the fact our ship was leaving at 2 and got us back at 12:30, where we had our cabbie waiting for us. On the way back, we hung out back with the crew and had a few beers. We tipped them well, we were treated so well. I highly recommend Patouche, I'm sorry I did not get a chance to write this up sooner. Their web site is www.patouche.com

[jmlh]

Thanks so much for your great review of Patouche. We have booked with them for March and to date have had excellent customer service. Julie even called me to confirm details. Really looking forward to this tour!!:)

[kathanderik]

you'll have a great time

[jennat]

A question please. Did you say you only had an hour to explore and sit on the beach? was that enough time, and where does the other 3 hours go? How much for the transportation over and back?

Thanks

PS We are in port on wed. Am I reading her website right that they only do this 1/2 Bath excursion on Tues?

[Pyrate13]

As I wrote in your other thread, contact Julie and she will work with you to fulfill your needs. ;)

[kathanderik]

I think the cab ride was 20 bucks each way for the 2 of us. We took off about 830. Sail over took abour 50 minutes each way ( so much fun). We had a guide who snorkled in with us - it was amazing so we snorkled for a while, and then he lead us through one of the paths and gave us a tour and some history ( The Baths got thier name because the slave ships used to stop and bathe the slaves after the journey across the Alantic). We had an hour to ourselves after the tour. I hope that gives you a better idea of the bay. Way back we had some beers and hung out with the crew. It was expensive, but I thought it was well worth the cost- hte ship's tour was also expensive and you were one of 50, we were lucky and it was just the 2 of us.