Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day

[mom+3girls]

Has anyone done Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day in Nassau? If so what was it like? Would you do it again?

 

[mickeys girl 52]

My family has gone on that excursion a couple of times. it is a beautiful island and we always enjoy ourselves. We plan on going again when we go on our June 8th trip.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Not a lot of sure bets in Nassau so this comes up a lot. The sea lion encounter we did there was amazing! But the island was perfect paradise and we loved the fresh fresh tenders and fresh conch fritters and beans and rice. Fresh made local island food. The sea lions and dolphins you can watch as much as you want but I recommend an encounter if you have never done it. That has one of the best dolphin swims I have seen around. For us, the sea lions were a blast. About 65% of the day's awesomeness was the sea lions and about 35% the island in general. Many great hammocks and floaties and security (not locals trying to sell you stuff) and a nice boat ride there and back. We loved it and plan to go back in May too. Still tempted to book another encounter but prob not since we will be paying for Disney and Sea World tix too!

 

[Saamh]

We did the Blue Lagoon beach day a couple of weeks ago and loved it. We would definitely do it again. The price included a buffet lunch (burgers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken) and 2 non-alcoholic drink vouchers per person. You can also buy additional items on the other side of the lunch area.

We met in one of the lounges and got our tickets and wristbands and then walked off the ship in a group to a waiting double decker catamaran and took about a 30 minute ride out to the private island. Despite 6 ships in port that day, it wasn't crowded at all. The staff was very friendly and since it was all staff or tourists, you don't need to worry about being hassled by vendors and we felt very safe.

 

[lorimay]

My husband and I just booked a quick 3 night on The Magic and we are trying this excursion. Looking forward to it.

Last year we did a 4 night out of Miami on The Wonder and tried Atlantis.
The weather was kind of overcast, but we didn't really find Atlantis to be so great.
So I hope we have a better beach day this year.

 

[robhawk]

Good news! We are doing this in February.
We have our in laws with us who are 80 years old but in pretty good shape.
Is it a long walk to the catamaran?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We had limited mobility in our family as well when we went, but mom did good. It is not really considered a catamaran (mom can't ride on most of those), its a Ferry (ala Magic Kingdom ferry etc) double decker. It is fairly easy to get off and on but there is a step. (The crew offer assistance.) The ride was not bumpy either, a requirement for my mom's previous injuries.

If you book this through DCL, the ferry picks you up right before the bright colored terminal FIESTA building pretty much under the WELCOME TO BAHAMAS sign. Its about a 5 min walk off the ship pier but it picks you up inside the cruise terminal. Be prepared for a longer way when they drop you off, however. Our drop offs have been in front of the straw market, but you can follow that side walk all the way back to the Fiesta terminal. You MUST have you ship card and likely ID as well to get back in to the cruise building. And then you have to walk back up the pier to get back to the ship.

EDIT:

Expect COLD WATER IN FEBRUARY

 

[jcoyne4781]

Has anyone done Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day in Nassau? If so what was it like? Would you do it again?

Would you happen to be sailing on the Wonder on Feb 26, 2014 from Miami, FL? We are currently booked to sail this cruise. I had originally booked the Blue Lagoon Beach Day as my boys are 4 and 18 months, but then cancelled it. I kept debating and reading over it back and forth. It seems as though it's just a private beach access with lunch provided. Didn't sound to be worth the $200 for our family of 4. I'm thinking we will just stay on the ship when it stops at Nassau and use that as a sea day as we don't have one on this trip.

 

[jcoyne4781]

Good news! We are doing this in February.
We have our in laws with us who are 80 years old but in pretty good shape.
Is it a long walk to the catamaran?

Are you sailing on Disney Wonder on Feb 26, 2014 out of Miami, FL?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Would you happen to be sailing on the Wonder on Feb 26, 2014 from Miami, FL? We are currently booked to sail this cruise. I had originally booked the Blue Lagoon Beach Day as my boys are 4 and 18 months, but then cancelled it. I kept debating and reading over it back and forth. It seems as though it's just a private beach access with lunch provided. Didn't sound to be worth the $200 for our family of 4. I'm thinking we will just stay on the ship when it stops at Nassau and use that as a sea day as we don't have one on this trip.

Is there an option not to have the lunch included? I think that the included lunch is just ok. We were happier buying ala carte. If there is a cheaper beach day access, than it might be worth it. And of course, if you add an animal encounter. Even if one or two of you did it, all the rest could go back and observe as a group.

Even if you dont have an animal encounter, the marine park is included in your beach fare. Think Sea World meets Paradise. Dolphins up close, sea lions and their babies. Its quite an unusual place.

 

[robhawk]

Is there an option not to have the lunch included? I think that the included lunch is just ok. We were happier buying ala carte. If there is a cheaper beach day access, than it might be worth it. And of course, if you add an animal encounter. Even if one or two of you did it, all the rest could go back and observe as a group.

Even if you dont have an animal encounter, the marine park is included in your beach fare. Think Sea World meets Paradise. Dolphins up close, sea lions and their babies. Its quite an unusual place.

Thanks for the reply! They should be just fine!
At our summer cottage, ocean water is usually in the 50's or low 60's so we are used to cold water!

 

[AniLee]

EDIT:

Expect COLD WATER IN FEBRUARY

How cold???

 

[gunka]

We were there in October and thought the water temps were perfect. But we are used to the Pacific Ocean and very cold water temps.

I would guess the water temps were in the high 70's.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

October...

Well Oct is in the height of Hurricane Season. And the water is heated up from summer. So asking about Feb (after all winter) really has nothing to do with Oct (after all summer).

But I think 70s sounds about right. We went in mid April and we had to count ONE TWO THREE GO for both Castaway and Nassau. Sis was smart and brought a wetsuit and all of us dummies for the encounter didnt'... (AND THEY OFFER THEM free. We were too 'tough'. I think we would have changed our minds after it was done...)

So anyway, has anyone priced out for 2014 the Dolphin PUSH and the Sea Lion Encounters? I think the sea lions were something like 110 or so this year? I won't be able to pull them up for another month. I'm planning though, so if anyone has the DCL prices on those, can you give a shout out?

Thanks!

 

[mom+3girls]

thanks for all the responses this really helps.

 

[tej917]

We are going to our first cruise on Jan 30th - on the Dream. Thinking of doing either the Dolphin encounter or Dolphin swim on Blue lagoon for my 11yr old daughter. Any preference/tips considering the water temperature may be on the cooler side?

 

[mom4fun]

October...

Well Oct is in the height of Hurricane Season. And the water is heated up from summer. So asking about Feb (after all winter) really has nothing to do with Oct (after all summer).

But I think 70s sounds about right. We went in mid April and we had to count ONE TWO THREE GO for both Castaway and Nassau. Sis was smart and brought a wetsuit and all of us dummies for the encounter didnt'... (AND THEY OFFER THEM free. We were too 'tough'. I think we would have changed our minds after it was done...)

So anyway, has anyone priced out for 2014 the Dolphin PUSH and the Sea Lion Encounters? I think the sea lions were something like 110 or so this year? I won't be able to pull them up for another month. I'm planning though, so if anyone has the DCL prices on those, can you give a shout out?

Thanks!

You can see them. Just go to cruises and.destinations, then go to port adventures, pick your port and you will see all excursions a long with there price.

 

[ashdquick]

We did the Dolphin Encounter when we went on our Norwegian Cruise in December of 2012. We did this with myself, my husband and my son who was 2 at the time. We enjoyed it very much. There is a nice little boat ride to get from the port to the Blue Lagoon Island but it is a fun ride. On the boat ride to Blue Lagoon Island there is beautiful scenery and gorgeous and huge mansions to check out (and dream that one of those mansions is mine). When we went it wasn't really that crowded either so it was very relaxing.

We also enjoyed the Dolphin Encounter very much. My son still talks about meeting Salvador the dolphin and getting to hug and kiss him. LOL! Such great memories.

We will be cruising with my mom and dad on our upcoming cruise in November on the Dream and I want to take them to Blue Lagoon Island so they can see what we experienced and loved.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

According to one of the Ferry staff, one of the huge mansions belongs to Tiger Woods and another one belongs to Beyonce. Did you see the big yachts too? I love the ride in the channel. I love everything about that day with the exception of climbing over painful rocks to get to the reef to snorkel. Otherwise, A++. So just an A.