Coral World ?

[ScrapHappyMama]

Can anyone who has been to Coral World give me their impressions? I have a 6 y/o ds and a 3 y/o dd, do you think they would enjoy it, or is it not worth the trip? How difficult is it for a party of five (my mom is traveling with us) to get a cab from the pier and back, and what is the approximate cost??

Thanks for your help,
Linda

 

[QueenTrident]

It was just DH, DD3 and me. Although most others disagree, I think it's just not worth it. The cost of admission was very expensive - it cost about $45 or $49 for the 3 of us. The aquariums were dirty. The hands on section was a joke. I felt back for the sharks. There was nothing about it that impressed us. Even DD was bored after looking at the fish for the first few minutes. It was really run down and seemed like a tourist trap - high prices for food and a forced walk through the gift shop.

Getting to Coral World was also a pain. We waited 45 minutes in a cab for it to be full - almost everyone was going to downtown and the cab to Coral World is on the same "line" as St. John or Sapphire Bay. That cost $7 per person. The cab driver would not let DD3 sit on my lap. I'm kind of glad she didn't since it really wouldn't have been safe for her to do it. It's tight quarters in the cab and the sides are open.

We had planned to go to Coki Beach, but becasue we waited so long for a cab, it threw off our timetable. If we went to Coki Beach, we probably wouldn't have had time to shop. So, we took another cab back to downtown (again, $7 per person), but at least this was an air-conditioned minivan that we had to ourselves! Much better.

Getting from downtown back to the ship cost $3 per person.

I wouldn't recommend Coral World at all.

 

[NCRedding]

My DD (9) and I really enjoyed Coral World and Coki Beach on our 1/02 trip. The website (coralworldvi.com) has entrance price at $18 for adult; $9 for kids with a discount coupon ($3 off adult; $1 for kids). We thought the location was beautiful and the underwater aquarium was very neat. There were iguana running throughout the park which were quite exotic. They had exhibitions of diving, and feeding that were very educational. The whole grounds were larger than I expected with the bird area, etc. I thought it was well-worth what we paid. We also enjoyed using the bathroom and shower facilities after our time on Coki, which was absolutely wonderful. We waited around 10 minutes for our taxi to fill up before going over. Coming back, we got the a/c van which was great (it had seatbelts) and had no wait. The driver stopped midway back to the ship to allow us time to take pictures. Taxi ran $7 each way per person (although this is negotiable). I thought it was a great day for the family. We don't shop much, so we weren't worried about getting back to the downtown area. I would highly recommend it.

 

[Mojomanny]

Plenty of Coral World Pics in my St. Thomas GAllery

http://community.webshots.com/user/mojomanny


Also check out my my trip report which discusses Coral World:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=516133

 

[berly1657]

We did Coral World on our 2/7 Eastern. We felt it was expensive for the 4, husband DS 8 and DD 5. We spent maybe an hour inside the small park??? Then went to Coki beach - I wasn't impressed with that either there was a strong current and a big drop off - my daughter had to stay on shore. We had been at Orient beach the day before which was just beautiful.

If you don't have the opportunity to see an aquarium - you may enjoy it, but I hear that Maegans Bay (I think that's on St. T ...it's been a long day) is what you need to do on St T.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[tvguy]

EVERYTHING is on the expensive side on St. Thomas.
We did the 12-27-03 Eastern on the Magic, and took our kids to Coral World, they were 12 and 16 at the time. Wife and I went to Coral world on a previous cruise, pre-kids, so 16+ years ago, and we liked it then, and our kids seemed to like it .
It isn't as nice as say Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we've been to several times, but in the perspective of EVERYTHING is expensive in St. Thomas, I have no regrets about going.
But we got a package deal through the ship that included transportation, and Island Tour, and shopping stop.
I don't think I'd do it on my own, only with transporation included. So, for your age kids, I'd say it's a good trip.
Skyway is fun too, but at $15 per person, expensive, but great view of the harbor and ships from the top. But, if you take the Coral World/Island Tour, you'll get a similar view from the other side of the bay,and save $15 per person.

 

[QueenTrident]

If you don't have the opportunity to see an aquarium

I guess this was the problem for me. There was no way Coral World could ever compare to Sea World, Living Seas, Mystic Seaport and the Camden Aquarium - all places I've been too several times. Heck, I think the aquarium on the boardwalk in NJ beats Coral World's aquarium. But, if you haven't experienced an aquarium before, it may be something you like.