Rhino rider excursion in St. Maarten - Questions

[pittcrew]

Help!! Our window for booking excursions opens Saturday and I need info about this excursion from people that have done it.

1. How bumpy/choppy is the ride?
2. How fast do you have do go? Is there pressure to go a certain speed?

 

[BK2014]

My wife and I did the Rhino Rider excursion this past October (2014), and we both really enjoyed it. It did get more bumpy/choppy the faster you went. There are parts where the group is restricted in how fast you can go, and other parts where you are free to speed up. Our guides told us that we could spread out at the point where we were free to speed up, but for the most part, the group stayed in a line behind the guide in front. You are supposed to stay a certain distance behind the person(s) in front of you, so if you are in the front of the group, you will feel pressure from people behind you to go faster. I would simply suggest that if you prefer to go a little slower, just stay in the back of the group. There are two guides, one in front and one and back, and they did not pressure anyone to speed up.

I would certainly recommend this excursion, it is a lot of fun and gives you great views of the shoreline. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I know when we were researching this excursion we did not find a lot of info on the disboards about it.

 

[TgrFans]

I have another question - is there a place to lock up your valuables before actually going on the Rhino Rider excursion? (I'm thinking wallets..)

 

[pittcrew]

Each person/family is provided with a basket in which to put belongings that are held in the office.

We just did this excursion on May 12th and absolutely loved it. It was our first time riding any type of watercraft. Would definitely do it again. Our only regret was that we got so used to not carrying any money around on the ship, we forgot to bring any with us and were not able to purchase the pictures they took of us. ($15 for each photo)