Ship excurion to Runaway vs. on our own at Jolly?

[elkdude]

:confused:

 

We are wrestling with just taking a taxi down to Jolly Beach vs. a ship excurion to Runaway Beach? Those who have experienced ship excurions to Runaway ... is it really crowded? Beach does not have to be deserted for us to enjoy it; just would rather not have wall-to-wall chairs.

 

Any input is welcome!

 

Thanks ...

[aaatrm]

I'm curious about this too. We have a party of 9, with ages ranging from 8 to 72. We're looking for a nice beach, some water sports activities for the kids, food, drink, and clean bathrooms. I'm just not sure if we should just stick with the ship's excursion (Runaway) or try to navagate 9 of us on our own to Jolly.

Any thoughts?

[RN7997]

I wish someone would answer this. I would like to know too.

[mea718]

We went on ship excursion to Runaway and it was fairly crowded. People sitting close enough we heard more than we wanted of their conversations. But what we disliked more was the same vendors approaching us over and over again. Don't mind someone trying to make a living, but I said 'No', not 'Maybe later'! The beach was nice though. This year we are doing it on our own and going over to Jolly.

[suech]

We went to Dickinson bay last year, taxi cost US$10 or 12 each way from dock. The taxi driver took us to Sneaky Pete's bar. Very quiet end of beach but also watersports available a little further down. We are going to try Runaway bay this year. For the money aspect, probabley be alot cheaper with taxi than ship excursion, unless it had lunch, watersports etc. included ? Runaway even closer than Dickinson, can't comment on Jolly Beach, only read others reviews. But would be easy enough to get taxi there and back, and the bus service suppose to be pretty good too.

[rtarter]

The nice thing about Jolly is that it is a very long and wide beach. It would only get overcrowded if every single person from the cruise ships came. There are also all kinds of jet ski, sail boat, restaurant, etc. My house is on Jolly Beach, so I have seen the busiest days there and I've never felt like I had too much traffic in front of my place. Most people stay in front of the restaurant which is about 500ft from my house. The beach is huge, so if crowding is an issue for someone, I would say Jolly would be a good choice. There is also Darkwood beach that is about 1km further. Downside....taxi is probably a few dollars more per person than going to Runaway Bay or Dickenson Bay.

[ship99]

The nice thing about Jolly is that it is a very long and wide beach. It would only get overcrowded if every single person from the cruise ships came. There are also all kinds of jet ski, sail boat, restaurant, etc. My house is on Jolly Beach, so I have seen the busiest days there and I've never felt like I had too much traffic in front of my place. Most people stay in front of the restaurant which is about 500ft from my house. The beach is huge, so if crowding is an issue for someone, I would say Jolly would be a good choice. There is also Darkwood beach that is about 1km further. Downside....taxi is probably a few dollars more per person than going to Runaway Bay or Dickenson Bay.

 

 

rtarter, do you know if there are horseback riding tours available at the beaches, or do I need to book through cruiseline?

[Macy2]

The nice thing about Jolly is that it is a very long and wide beach. It would only get overcrowded if every single person from the cruise ships came. There are also all kinds of jet ski, sail boat, restaurant, etc. My house is on Jolly Beach, so I have seen the busiest days there and I've never felt like I had too much traffic in front of my place. Most people stay in front of the restaurant which is about 500ft from my house. The beach is huge, so if crowding is an issue for someone, I would say Jolly would be a good choice. There is also Darkwood beach that is about 1km further. Downside....taxi is probably a few dollars more per person than going to Runaway Bay or Dickenson Bay.

 

Can you please tell me the name of this restaurant? I posted another thread asking about places to go (food, bathrooms, chairs, etc) at Jolly without doing the resort's day pass but have not had any answers as of yet. We are only in port until 2 pm, so the resort's pass would not worth it for us. Thanks in advance

[Tak8]

Is there any kneeboarding available at Jolly Beach. My teenage son really enjoyed this on Aruba.

[cruisecookie]

The nice thing about Jolly is that it is a very long and wide beach. It would only get overcrowded if every single person from the cruise ships came. There are also all kinds of jet ski, sail boat, restaurant, etc. My house is on Jolly Beach, so I have seen the busiest days there and I've never felt like I had too much traffic in front of my place. Most people stay in front of the restaurant which is about 500ft from my house. The beach is huge, so if crowding is an issue for someone, I would say Jolly would be a good choice. There is also Darkwood beach that is about 1km further. Downside....taxi is probably a few dollars more per person than going to Runaway Bay or Dickenson Bay.

 

I assume you are referring to Castaways restaurant. Did it reopen? I heard that it was closed and scheduled to reopen at the end of October 2009.