Suggestions for excursions on our own for 7 day Eastern?

[***tink386]

We are a family of four (me, DH, DS(12) & DD(9) who will be cruising on the Eastern in April. I think we will be doing our own thing at the ports. Does anyone have any suggestions? We all love the beach and love to swim or snorkel. If we have time, we might also want to check out the local town. Any help would be appreciated. Also, if you have any estimated costs, that would be great too! Thanks!!

 

[NCRedding]

I would recommend contacting Coki Dive and see about a snorkel or beginning scuba class. The beach at Coki is beautiful, and it is right next to Coral World--this is on St Thomas.

For St Marten, we went to the butterfly farm, not any of the beaches. .

 

[depomas]

There are many family beaches easy to get to by taxi in St. Thomas or St. Maartan. We went to Megan's Bay in St. Thomas on our own, and a taxi was 6$ per person, and there were plenting waiting to take you back. THis was one of the best things we did, unplanned, unrushed, and the kids loved this beach. I find the prices on the beach excursions very pricey, especially with 4 or more in your family!! We ordered room service sandwiches and cookies and packed them in our soft sided cooler and away we went.....

Also if you are docking, the ship docks at Havensight Malls, and it is a great place to shop and walk around..

 

[mickeyb63]

We are going on the Eastern Magic cruise April 29th. The research I have done shows that Coki beach is a good spot for kids because it is shallow and there is an abundance of fish to see. I would be interested in others opinions as well.

 

[aprilgail2]

We are going on the Eastern Magic cruise April 29th. The research I have done shows that Coki beach is a good spot for kids because it is shallow and there is an abundance of fish to see. I would be interested in others opinions as well.

We are going on the Eastern Magic on April 30th 2005....you must be sailing in 2006 right?
I snorkled at Coki beach some years ago when we stayed for a week in St. Thomas...it was very nice snorkling there, just be sure not to leave any belongings unattended on the beach. We are goin to Megans Bay this time though since I will have my 5 year old with me and the waves at Coki beach would be a bit much for her to play in.

 

[mickeyboat]

An easy excursion on your own in St. Maarten is Great Bay Beach. Take the water taxi ($5 per adult for all day). The beach is close to town, so you can get some shopping in if you want. There are beach chairs to rent, a water trampoline and jet ski rentals.

We did St. John on our own. The trip there isn't quite as easy as to Great Bay Beach, but it was worth it. Trunk Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and there is some nice snorkeling there.

Denae

 

[***tink386]

thanks for the help! How do you get to Trunk Bay?

 

[mickeyboat]

Trunk Bay is on St. John so you will have to take a taxi on St. Thomas to Red Hook landing (about 20 minutes). Then take a ferry to St. John (About 20 minutes). Once on St. John you can take a taxi to Trunk Bay (about 10 minutes).

There is also a ferry which leaves from downtown Charlotte Amalie (near where the ship docks) and goes to St. John. This ferry takes about 45 minutes on rough seas.

If you choose to do this, be very alert about the time and leave yourself plenty of wiggle room to get back to the ship on time. There is often quite a bit of traffic on St. Thomas when there are a lot of ships in port.

Denae

 

[cleophus12]

If you decide to visit Coki Beach, pack a few dog biscuits in a baggie to take with you. They also sell them on the beach. Hold a biscuit in your hand and wade out into the water and the fish will swarm around you. Watch your fingers though. . .some of the fish are greedy! Be sure to have an underwater camera with you. The photos we took that day are some of the best underwater fish pictures we have ever taken.

If your family is more adventurous, Sapphire Beach is a good place to rent jet skis. The water there can be choppy for swimming and snorkeling, but it is a lovely beach. It is also not quite as far away as Coki Beach.

 

[mobetsy]

The Coki Beach Dive Club is fabulous! http://www.cokidive.com/

They do intro scuba dives for both adults and kids (8+) at a moderate price; my ds9 adored this last March. They will pick you up at the ship and take you to the beach. While you are there, you'll have use of mask, snorkel, and fins, plus these neat boogie boards that have a window in them so you can totally relax floating around and looking down at the fish (loads of them). For the first part of the morning it was very uncrowded, so we were practically the only folks in the water; I even saw a couple of notoriously shy squid. They have footlockers right by their trailer/shop in which you can keep your valuables, lunch, etc; leaving all that stuff out on the beach unsupervised would not be a good idea. At some appropriate time in the morning, they gather the folks doing the dive for a land orientation, and then they take you out. They are very, very nice...and they didn't laugh when my friend and I decided to do the kids' dive rather than the adult one! We packed a lunch by ordering room service sandwiches and cookies the night before; since you are right by Coral World, there is a snack bar of some sort in there. Around 2:30 we got a taxi van back to the ship; there are loads of them right at the beach, and it was about $7-8/person.

 

[Popovich]

We just came back from the 11/27 Eastern. My DH, DD 8, DS 6 and I went on the Doubloon Sail and Snorkel. It was fantastic and truly one of the best memories we have of our trip .

The crew engaged the kids and the adults (the bannana benders after snorkeling helped!) and it was a blast . Everyone "walked the plank" to jump in and they provided all the equipment for those who did not bring their own. We had our own equipment but ended up using their fins.

They had a guide go out with us and she picked up different sea animals, pointed out turtles, coral and stingray and when the kids got tired of snorkeling, they urged Greg and I to stay out for the whole time and they entertained the kids on board the boat with games. It was so much fun. The crew really seemed like they were having as much fun as we were. This was a big difference from the demeanor we experienced from our other excursion and city taxi tour in St. Marten. On St. Marten we did our own beach trip (I think to Dawn Beach) and that part was great.

On the way back the captain let each of the kids steer the boat (we went around in circles for awhile!) and we have great pictures. DS Matt was small enough that his feet were on the bottom of the wheel and his hands on top and as the captain rotated the wheel, all you could see were Matt's feet as he did a 360 along with the boat. Our DD met a friend on the excursion and the kids really felt they were pirates . Everyone even got tatoos!

We will go on the Eastern again and will book the Doubloon for sure!

 

[***tink386]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Does anyone know how to get to Megan's Bay in St. Thomas. Or do you just find a taxi and hop in and they take you right there? Also, are there any chairs to rent or snorkel equipment there? :thewave:

 

[mommasita]

Hi, for Megan's Bay, we just took a taxi right when we docked. The DCL rep told us which ones to take. There were chairs to rent, sorry not sure about the rest. The taxi was 6$, and there were plenty waiting to take us back after....

Enjoy

 

[cleophus12]

Just a tip--a Megan's Bay Day would be a good time to order those sandwiches from room service the night before and pack a picnic lunch. There are plenty of tables all around. There is a snack bar, but the food is not great and quite expensive. The drinks, however,--namely the bushwhackers--are quite tasty. Pack plenty of bottled water. There is also a good ice cream place right before the entrance to MB, although I can't remember the name of it. It's a beautiful place. Enjoy!

 

[PiperG]

An easy excursion on your own in St. Maarten is Great Bay Beach. Take the water taxi ($5 per adult for all day). The beach is close to town, so you can get some shopping in if you want. There are beach chairs to rent, a water trampoline and jet ski rentals.

Denae

Ditto! We did Great Bay Beach this January and I think it was our favorite day. It was so great to leave the ship whenever we wanted and head over on the water taxi. DS8 is not much of a swimmer, so we walked to the right (away from the trampoline) after getting off the water taxi. We rented two chairs & two umbrellas for the day (DH will have to remind me how much it cost, not much). The cost included use of the restaurant bathroom (very clean) and Miguel took our orders for drinks and food and then delivered them to our beach chairs. Paradise

We enjoyed making sand castles, playing in the water and hunting for shells. We were told we could take shells back with us, so we had a bucketfull. The water was warm and it was fun watching the ships, jet skis, water taxis etc.

The Queen Mary was tendered in St. Maartern that day. It was cool to see her in port!

 

[dgaston]

About food on St. Thomas (Maagen's Bay). When we called room service they reminded us there was a huge fine for bringing food on shore, both for the individual and the ship. We just bought food at Coral World and Coki Beach. That wasn't at all true for St. Martin, where we carried out sandwiches and bottles of water.

 

[Aisling]

About food on St. Thomas (Maagen's Bay). When we called room service they reminded us there was a huge fine for bringing food on shore, both for the individual and the ship. We just bought food at Coral World and Coki Beach. That wasn't at all true for St. Martin, where we carried out sandwiches and bottles of water.

Does that mean it's ok to take food off the ship at St. Maarten port but not St. Thomas?? I wonder why.