We did the banana boat at Castaway Cay during our 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise last September.....for me...it was the most terrifying thing I have ever done....you will NEVER EVER catch me anywhere near a banana boat again. I have never been so scared in my life...I actually kissed the beach when we arrived back on shore.
It was no more rough than tubing behind a power boat. If that isn't for you, don't go.
Our group 8 yo to 51 yo all had a very nice time. I'd suggest swim goggles because the ocean spray will get you in the face. Other than that, it was really fun! Only about a 15 minute ride as I recall.
Funny one. Mom (60+) said, "I read about the Banana Boat and was thinking of booking it". Obviously she didn't read much about it because Mom is a person who never gets her hair mussed and wouldn't step outside for mail without makeup and I've only seen her in sneakers twice in my lifetime. I explained the banana boat to her. Her look was priceless. She didn't go.
I know everyone has a different experience, but I have to say I love the banana boat ride!
Not being very adventerous, it was something my kids really wanted to do. At the time, they were 12, 10, and 9.
It had been a long time since I laughed that hard. I still giggle of the visual of my 9 year old son hopping up and down on that boat. We had such a blast. It's one of my favorite cruise memories.
We loved the banana boat. It didn't go fast enough to be really scary though (at least for us). It was fast but not super fast. It was so great hanging on while it was hitting the waves! Only one peson fell off and had to climb back on. I would say go for it-its great fun!
Both before and after we did this, I was puzzled at the varying posts on this. DS13 & DD15 were almost bored on it... very slow and no risk of falling off.
I really think that the operators vary in daring and speed... might explain the varying reports.
When we did the banana boat last September our ride was about 20 minutes and they were going so fast that you couldn't see anything for the sal water spraying up at you....everyone on our banana boat was screaming for them to slow down and the only time they did was when 2 of us (me included) fell into the midle of the banana boat and they had to slow down so we could get back seated....oh and they stopped one other time so we could "rest" our hands.....we had seen people on the banana boat before and it looked like fun so that was why we did it....I never realized that we would get an operator that liked to "torture" us....I will say that now I can look back and laugh....but I was still shaking an hour after our ride.
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