Freeport kayak tour recommendations?

[surfer143]

Hi. My family and I are cruising in Nov with a stop in Freeport. We really want to do the kayak tour but everything I have read on the boards says not to book it with the cruise line. Just wondering if anyone out there has done this excursion or could recommend a company?:)

[kdh123]

I just got back from my cruise to the Bahamas this past Sunday. I book the kayaking from the cruiseline. I tried to book from a company but they said they couldn't due to me coming off the cruise. The cruiseline wasn't that much more and you get a lunch with it. Plus you can know it is safe and you will get back to the boat on time, never know something could happen like the van getting a flat. This is the 1st time I book with the cruiseline. I usually go out on my own. I would do this tour again. There was 9 of us and we all said this was our favorite part of the cruise. As soon as we got off the boat there was a lady there to assist you making sure you got to the right bus. There was signs stating Kayaking tour. We got on a bus full of people, air conditioning bus of course. The driver talk about the island and pointed out interesting things. He took us all to one spot where they divide you up and put you on a small van. The ride didn't take long. The van than took us to the starting point to kayak. Our tour consist of 12 people which count the tour guide, so the groups are small. They have 2 people to each kayak. It was so beautiful going through the mangroves. The water isn't deep and you can see all kind of tropical fish. At the end of trip you get out and walk down a trail very very short distance to a beautiful beach where you have lunch and than you can swim. We swam for an hour . He did ask our group if we wanted to stay longer but we wanted to get back and shop. After swim we all gather and walked a trail and he showed us the different plants/flowers. We went over a long bridge that went over the mangroves, we feed the fish and seen lots more different tropical fish there. At end of trail our air conditioning van was waiting on us.

Tips: take sunscreen. The guide had ice cold water for the trip but you can still bring your own if you want. There wasn't any bugs bitting so NO need to bring bug spray. He does give you a dry bag to put your stuff in for the kayak incase you turn over but none of us turn over. I brought a small backpack with a couple of towels and my sunscreen. We all wore our flipflops. The walking wasn't hard. Pretty much flat land, trails.

Can't go wrong on this tour. I would do it again. Highly recommended.

[surfer143]

Thanks so much! I'm so excited to hear from someone who has done this tour! We will probably book through Carnival since I have my inlaws with me and they like to stick with cruise rules...

It sounds wonderful. I can't wait!

[vah]

My husband and I also did a kayak tour in Freeport thru Carnival last week, it was the Kayak Eco Adventure, thru the mangroves, it is about 2 and one quarter mile paddle, not always easy, in some places the mangroves were very overgrown and paddling was hard. We also had beach time and a light lunch, while we were there, at the beach we saw a barracuda in the water and a large sting ray. Afterwards we took a walk across the bridge, but we didnt go to the van, we did a tour of the caves in the park. We also saw where they filmed some of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3. That was at the beginning of the tour.

[kdh123]

My husband and I also did a kayak tour in Freeport thru Carnival last week, it was the Kayak Eco Adventure, thru the mangroves, it is about 2 and one quarter mile paddle, not always easy, in some places the mangroves were very overgrown and paddling was hard. We also had beach time and a light lunch, while we were there, at the beach we saw a barracuda in the water and a large sting ray. Afterwards we took a walk across the bridge, but we didnt go to the van, we did a tour of the caves in the park. We also saw where they filmed some of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3. That was at the beginning of the tour.

 

Hey we went at the same time. It was the Kayak Echo Adventure tour also. Just different tour guides I guess. You must of been the group that came after us. Sam was our tour guide.

We realize after we got back to the ship we was suppose to go to the caves but didn't, too late than. I hope we didn't miss anything. I guess the caves were down the other trail we passed. Please tell me they were no big deal. I guess maybe we ran out of time or he forgot, don't know.

We seen the Pirates of the Carribean too. Kids thought that was neat.

[gottago2mexico]

There is only one kayaking company in Freeport. The one that you see on your cruise excursion list is the only one. Booking outside the ship is cheaper, but they will usually just refer you back to the ship when they find out you're a cruise passenger - they don't want to jeapordize their contract with the cruise lines.

[vah]

The caves were very small and interesting, but you really didnt miss that much, it was just two small caves that the Lucayan Indians lived in and were buried in.