shore excursion? what is best?

[momdoc]

We are doing the 7 night eastern Caribbean and want any suggestions for excursions at St. Thomas and St. Marten. Also would like advice for Castaway Cay. Any "must do's" that are recommended? We all love to snorkel and one person in our party loves to parasail. Thanks!

 

[mickybean0816]

On St. Maarten, my mom and I did the French Riviera Beach Rendezvous (Orient Bay, French side). They bus you over to the French side of the island, to Orient Bay (which, unfortunately, people are allowed to walk around naked). The beach is beautiful however. You're provided with a complimentary drink and lunch and your own beach chair (and umbrella if you wish). This is more of a laid-back excursion...but if you wish for relaxation, this one's great!

On St. Thomas, we did the Water Island Mountain Bike Adventure, which I LOVED! I'm more into the active excursions...and on this one, I felt like I was on my own adventure to explore the island! They take you over on a water ferry to Water Island, giving a brief history lesson on the way over. Once you get there, they bus you to the top of a mountain, where they then fit you for your helmet and mountain bike and you're off! MOST of it it down-hill, but if you like a bit of a challenge, there are a few up-hills. After the bike ride (about an hour or so), you can choose to relax at Honeymoon Beach (or continue on for lots more up-hill stuff). We chose the very secluded beach which was beautiful.

At Castaway Cay, we chose not to do any excursions. There are plenty of water toys to rent (tubes, mats, paddle boats, etc). Plus you can rent bikes, you can parasail, or you can do the banana boat ride (which I've heard is great fun!). Whatever you choose to do, relaxing is the key at Castaway Cay since it will be your last day.

Hope this at least gives you an idea of what we did..and helps you choose your excursions!=)

Mickybean0816

 

[peter pans family]

We chose to do our own excursions and not the packages offered by the cruiseline. On St Martin we rented a jeep for $60.00 and hit Mullet beach GORGEOUS and Orient Beach which was pretty neat but more commercialized and crowded. We then had the flexibility of driving where we wanted to shop/eat/tour etc. without the time restraints the tours put on us. Also it was definitely cheaper as there was four of us and the rental car was the only big expense.

St Thomas we used an open air taxi to get around they are plentiful and reliable. We snorkeled at Coki Beach and the fish were beautiful and abundant. We went to Magen's beach which was beautiful and then ended up in the shopping area before returning to the boat. Again it was a wonderful day.

Castaway Cay we did the banana boats which were fun and the adult beach was great. I found the rest of the beaches rather congested and we were disappointed in the snorkeling. I suspect it was so crowded that the fish did not want to anywhere near us! The only negative I found at Castaway Cay was that $25.00 to rent the snorkeling equipment was excesssive. Other than that another faboulus day was had by all!

 

[DisneyKids]

We did the Chamgane Catamaran excursion from St. Thomas to Honeymoon Beach (St. Johns). It was great. It was a little more $$ than the others but lasted 6 hours (most are around 4 hours)which meant more time to play. And, there was no rush with the extra time. The catamaran (Dancing Dolphin - http://www.thedancingdolphin.com/), crew, beach, food, drinks, ... were great. Worth a look.