St. Thomas Excursion-submarine

[zmanmj]

Anyone have info on the submarine excursion in St. Thomas? Is it worth the money?

 

[prymsu]

I have done the one owned by the same company in Grand Cayman. That one was worth it to my family to do. I have heard lots of good things about the one in St. Thomas, and i think this is something you could do on your own if you wanted to. If you have kids, it is less than what it would cost through the ship.

 

[TheWog]

The excursion was a lot of fun. I went with my DS6 while my DW stayed on board. We did it through the ship and it cost $75 for me and $50 for my son. You get off the ship and go to the end of the pier, we were tendered right over since we docked in the harbor that morning. The boat ride to the submarine at Buck Island is about 15 mins or so with Punch and water and the guide is funny and informative. You then hook up with the sub and climb down into it. If anyone is a little worried about confined spaces they shouldn't do this. We went down to about 80 feet, there is a counter that shows you how deep you are. We saw barracuda, sharks, turtles, lobster, parts of a shipwreck and lots of fish. If you take pictures should try and take them out the windows on the opposite side from you otherwise they turn out all blue. This same company owns the ones in GC as posted above, but they also do the screamin' eagle boat rides at St. Thomas which my son wants us to try next time. I do not know what it would cost if you did it privately through them. On the way back they bus you to the central part of Charlotte Amelie if you want with the obligatory souvenier store stop. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Zandy595]

Do you have to take the bus to Charlotte Amelie or can you go back to the ship after the submarine ride? How long does the shopping trip last, including the bus trip?

 

[TheWog]

Depends on where the ship is. If you are docked you don't need to return on the shuttle you can just board the ship, but we were anchored that day and the tenders only left from Charlotte Amalie. So we had to. They stopped for about 10 minutes or so in the shop and overall it was about 20 minutes from being back on land to the time we got to the tender area waiting to return. Disney has a big tent with their logo and some punch while you wait for the tender.

 

[zmanmj]

I did some checking online and if you book directly through the submarine company, it is more expensive than booking with Disney.

 

[TheWog]

If you book through DCL you also are secure in knowing they won't leave without you....

also I should have said relevant to the shopping that you can take as much time as you like as there are busses everywhere to take you to downtown and do more shopping there in the main area. Go to the blue tents as they have lots of bargains if you like.

 

[prymsu]

wow the price is different than what it was when we did this several years ago, because at that time it was cheaper to book on your own. thank you for the clarification.