Baths at Virgin Gorda

[SleepyDeb]

I’ve booked a DCL excursion to the Baths. After reading advice on here I watched a YouTube video on the excursion. I’m convined now the I can’t do it with my knees. One was replaced in 2019 and the other is scheduled for surgery in April.

My husband still wants to go. His knees are fine. I thought I could walk to the first beach which did seem so much a hike as a walk. A walk I can do. Then I’d relax on the beach until he came back. Is there any reason that wouldn’t work?

thanks.

 

[natandscott]

My husband and I were in a similar situation. He had both of his knees recently done and was very much recovering. He decided to stay at the beach where we would finish up. It was a short walk along a path. For reference, hubby was 53 at the time. He got a little antsy waiting for us so he decided to go through the caves starting at the end point. He did not have a problem at all and wished he had come with us. You never have to get down on your knees.... there is one point that you have to bend over and crouch a bit.

 

[Cheburashka]

Could you do one of the private tours where you sail and then swim up the beach, instead of hiking through the cave?

 

[Chemist]

Your plan won't work because the Baths are a loop. They won't come back to you.
You can walk down to the first beach, and when the others leave to walk through the rocks to the second beach you can walk back up to the top to meet the group when they come back.

 

[WDWAurora]

There is a way to walk around the baths, it just may be more walking, less bending.

 

[SleepyDeb]

My husband and I were in a similar situation. He had both of his knees recently done and was very much recovering. He decided to stay at the beach where we would finish up. It was a short walk along a path. For reference, hubby was 53 at the time. He got a little antsy waiting for us so he decided to go through the caves starting at the end point. He did not have a problem at all and wished he had come with us. You never have to get down on your knees.... there is one point that you have to bend over and crouch a bit.

My problems (in addition to getting on my knees) are steps up or down any larger than normal stair ways. The video sure looked like there are lots of those. Am I incorrect?

 

[SleepyDeb]

Could you do one of the private tours where you sail and then swim up the beach, instead of hiking through the cave?

I was trying to find one of those. Do you know a vendor?

 

[Cheburashka]

I was trying to find one of those. Do you know a vendor?

No, sorry. I've only read about it from past trip reports because I contemplated doing it once. Keep looking and you'll find one.

 

[kmedina]

I'm pretty sure the beach you get released from after the caves is different from the one you enter the caves from. The second beach is an 8-minute walk from the gift shop/lunch spot. I'm not sure how long of a walk the first beach is from there. That said, you could probably walk from the first beach to the second beach to meet your husband, bypassing the caves.

There is only one point in the caves where I had to sit to traverse, which could affect the knees. My sons and husband were able to do it standing, because they are in better shape. Everywhere else is a lot easier than it looks. I was so nervous I wasn't going to be able to do it that I almost canceled. I wanted my family to have the experience, so I am glad we did not cancel. You could always attempt the caves, making sure you are at the end of the pack (not to hold anyone up and make it easy to back out and turn around if you need to). There is time on the second beach baked in, so you would have time to back out and find your way to the gift shop if needed.

If you do attempt it, just do as I did and have your husband carry everything. This way, you focus on getting yourself through the caves.

 

[kmedina]

My problems (in addition to getting on my knees) are steps up or down any larger than normal stair ways. The video sure looked like there are lots of those. Am I incorrect?

There are (ladder) steps to go down, which you take sideways. They are spaced out pretty regularly. It's only slightly harder than going down regular steps and that's mostly because of the angle. You do these 2-3 times and there aren't very many each time. Unless steps really bother you, there aren't enough of these to prevent you from trying.

 

[tntstults]

Do you think it'd be ok to wear crocs to do the Baths? Thanks

 

[CapnCrunch]

Do you think it'd be ok to wear crocs to do the Baths? Thanks

I've been contemplating purchasing Crocs LiteRide pacers for this excursion.

 

[tntstults]

We booked the Tour of the Baths so I know we won't have as much time or lunch. My 13 year old may have issues with the tight areas as we go through the giant rocks. I've read that on the tour you hike down a path. Then stop at a beach for a bit, then go onto the baths rocks and then to another beach. I know this is a guided tour but will it be possible for us to just skip the first beach and do the giant rocks on our own so that we aren't waiting in a big line and then just enjoy the beach on the other side?

 

[Disturbia]

I saw this video and it seems to require quite a bit of maneuvering in tight/slippery spaces.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[kmedina]

Do you think it'd be ok to wear crocs to do the Baths? Thanks

One of our tour guides was wearing Crocs, lol. Pretty sure he had them in sport mode. A lot of people who were on our tour had on flip flops. I personally bought water/hiking shoes for my family, which made it easier. The family directly in front of us all removed their shoes and did it barefoot. You'll be fine no matter how you go. Everyone else seemed to be.

 

[kmedina]

We booked the Tour of the Baths so I know we won't have as much time or lunch. My 13 year old may have issues with the tight areas as we go through the giant rocks. I've read that on the tour you hike down a path. Then stop at a beach for a bit, then go onto the baths rocks and then to another beach. I know this is a guided tour but will it be possible for us to just skip the first beach and do the giant rocks on our own so that we aren't waiting in a big line and then just enjoy the beach on the other side?

If you know the way, you could do this. The guides are not with you the whole time. Theoretically, you could leave before the group and just meet them at the pickup location. When you get there, the guides will talk to you and give everyone a chance to use the restroom before they head out with the group. You could skip the talk and just go (if you know where to go). Since the line to use the ladies room was long and I was at the back of it, the guides did not wait for us anyway. We had to catch up. Thankfully, my husband knew where to go, because my sense of direction is terrible. I would get lost if I tried to do it on my own.

 

[i18mulan]

My problems (in addition to getting on my knees) are steps up or down any larger than normal stair ways. The video sure looked like there are lots of those. Am I incorrect?

This is how the steps look like for reference

 

[SleepyDeb]

Just got off the Fantasy. i was not able to do this tour in any way.

I had given up on going through the boulders long before we sailed because of my bad knees. (One was relatively recently replaced, the other needs to be.) Tour guide pointed the way to the long, hard hike, which my husnand did. Then he pointed the way to the short easy walk. That’s the way I went. Knees could not handle the uneven rocks. I was crying half way down over frustration and decided to turn around. Tour guide ran into me and was very kind and walked me back up. Waited for my husband at the restaurant at the top.

Hubby says flip flops would be very dangerous on this tour. Water shoes all the way.

Food looked good at the restaurant, but they put out a buffet for the cruise lunch. The buffet food was awful.

 

[2boysmommy]

I was trying to find one of those. Do you know a vendor?

We used Aristocat Charters for our snorkel and Baths adventure. It was 2016 and I can't tell if they still do the Baths piece based on their website. It worked out great for us as you swim into the beach rather than down the stairs - my mom was coming off a knee replacement as well and was not comfortable with stairs at that point. They even let her sit on a SUP and paddled her in so she didn't have to swim or deal with coming out of the waves. The Baths itself was fine - there were a couple of places she needed help getting on or off a rock but overall it was great.