A day at the Baths vs. Dolphin Discovery

[Kay2397]

We are cruising on the Fantasy in April. We are doing the Eastern itinerary. Currently, I have a Day at the Baths booked for Our stop in Tortola. I'm rethinking it and wondering if my kids would enjoy the Dolphin excursion more. We will also be going to Magen's Bay the next day in St. Thomas. I'm wondering if two beach days back to back will be a lot. We will try the Stingray excursion at Castaway Cay. This is our first cruise and our girls will be 8&6. I would love some thoughts or suggestions. The cruise is a surprise so we can't get their opinions

 

[taishartrueblood]

Dolphin is a lot of fun..... and little girls love dolphins (adults loved the experience too!). I did it in Nassau and had a blast. I havnt done the baths yet, I will do them in 10 days, and I will give a review.


Overall, not having done the Baths yet, I would say go with the Dolphins. My (at the time) 7 and 5 year old nephews did it 2 years ago and they still talk about it.

 

[Kay2397]

Thanks has anyone done this excursion in Tortola.

 

[wanderlust7]

We went to the Baths as part of a land-based trip. If you're not going back to the Virgin Islands anytime soon, I would do the Baths. There are many places where you can do a dolphin encounter, but there is only one Baths. I don't really think of the Baths as a beach day since the rock formations are the main attraction, very unique and memorable.

Also, are your girls on the adventurous side? My 7 year old son is pretty timid about interacting with animals. I showed him videos of dolphin encounters and he didn't want to do it. Also showed him videos of stingrays encounters in Grand Cayman, which was a no go again. Then showed him the stingray encounter on Castaway (smaller stingrays, more controlled environment) and he said okay. Well...I went first and guess my hand wasn't flat enough so the stingray sucked in one of my fingers. It didn't hurt, but once he heard that, he didn't want to do it anymore. Sigh - well I enjoyed it enough for the both of us. Anyways, point being, only you know your kids and if they would enjoy a dolphin encounter.

 

[LexisAuntieLala]

We did the Dolphin Discovery in Tortola in December. It was just okay. It seemed a bit disorganized and wasn't really what we expected. (Water not really clear and lots of algae). I am not sure if that is the way it is everywhere though, but I think we will try again on our next cruise on a different island.

 

[Fingerlakes Mouse]

I've been enjoying this board for a year and decided to finally chime in! 2 weeks ago during our 1st Disney cruise (2/2/16) our family did the Dolphin Discovery in Tortola and had a great time! Prior to booking in December, I saw the price of the excursion through Disney and decided to check the Dolphin Discovery website. We were very surprised and pleased to book the Royal Swim package for much less via the website than booking through Disney (better package, $50+ less per person). The Royal swim included the normal kissing, target, shaking hands, etc., as well as a fin pull and foot push with 2 dolphins. Because we were the only group (5 of us) who purchased the package through the website, we were by ourselves, while others were in groups of 10+ with 1 dolphin. The photo prices are quite steep, however the money we saved covered the cost of CD of all our photos. We found it easy to catch a cab right off the pier for $5 per person each way. The cab driver even came back to pick us up when we were done and waited 45 minutes for us to finish up. Pros: Good cost for the package we had and easy transport to and from. Cons: Overpriced pictures and gift shop. Hints: Book the 10:00AM time frame and you will have plenty of time to explore Tortola afterwards. Wear water shoes as the platform you stand on hurts your feet! Also, observers are free, however over $30 if you book through Disney. Hope this helps...enjoy!!!

 

[jrabbit]

In January we went to the Baths through DCL. The excursion was from around 9am to around 3pm. Included lunch.

They picked us up at the ship. while everyone else left through the gangways to the pier, we exited the other side of the ship -- right onto the ferry / tender that took us to virgin gorda. Then a taxi ride to the baths. Then we were pretty much on our own - until 1pm when we were expected back up at the entrance for lunch and "shopping".

We went down to the Baths.... we looked at the little beach and decided to go to Devils Bay. To get there you go through the "caves".

Remember the Baths are made up of Giant boulders that are sitting on the ground and on top of each other. The "caves" are the gaps / cracks between the rocks. To make this trek you have to climb some rocks (there's a rope to help you), climb up/down some ladder like stairs, crawl through some gaps. Was actually a lot of fun. We got lost several times (wrong forks in the "road" - but lots of laughs). Finally a park guide showed up and said that if the water was over knee deep we were going the wrong way and that we needed to follow the arrows (yea right). The arrows were painted "a hundred years ago" and very faint, you knew that you were going the right way when you stumbled upon one )

We brought too much stuff - we had some bags with our towels, masks & snorkels and a dry clothes to change into on the way back ... well we used the towels .... Your kids would have no problem going through the caves .... they would probably leave you in the dust if you let them. I'm 6-2 and 250 lbs. I made it no problem. Had to crawl on hands and knees at one point. Oh yea, skip the flip flops, wear water shoes / athletic sandals. We took our time going through the caves and had about an hour in the water at Devils Bay.

And when our time was up at the beach. We just walked up the path to the "car park" and were at the facilities at the entrance to the Baths. Was an easy walk and less than 15 minutes.

Lunch and drink (water/coke products) were provided. Adult beverages available for purchase. Lunch was pretty good: Salad, Mac and Cheese, BBQ Chicken and Ribs, and some fish. I don't remember if there was something for dessert. Oh yea, they had Fried Plantains - those count as dessert

We had time to shop - but we don't. We actually found a few post cards. Then it was back onto the taxis to the harbor, back onto the ferry to Tortola. This time they dropped us of on the pier near land - to entice us to go shopping some more, but we chose to return to the ship.

Even with the rain when we first arrived at the Baths, it was a very fun day.

 

[redstick]

The Baths would win hands down in my book. We were just there last week on the Wonder. It was absolutely amazing. The whole family (kids are 8 and 11) agreed we want to come back and spend more time there. As others have stated, Dolphin Discovery is at many Caribbean ports (we did it in Cozumel 3 years ago), the Baths are unique. Check out youtube for some videos of the Baths. There are some tight and slippery spaces on the path through the caves to Devil's Bay, so if you don't like that, it might not be for you. Our kids felt like great adventurers finding their way through the caves and loved it.
We did the DCL excursion (tour to Virgin Gorda), because we had a very short time in port (left Tortola at 1;45pm). The next time we would do it on our own. The excursion was not coordinated well and we wasted at least an hour waiting for ferries and taxis.

 

[phinz]

You can swim with dolphins at many, many places in the world, but The Baths only exist in one place in the world. You decide which is more important.

 

[BlondeAlligator]

Will a 6yo be allowed/able to go to Baths? I think it sounds like a fun adventure but don't want to do something she can't manage.

 

[taishartrueblood]

Yes, she will have to do a little climbing but 6 year olds love that.