Can you share your experiences?! Eastern Carib. excursion recommendations? Tortola, St. Thomas and...

[nswift]

Cruising 7 days on the Fantasy with stops in St. Thomas and Tortola in Apr/May. Was hoping for recommendations, or cautionary tales, from others. I don't care for bus rides as tours and would be more interested I water, beach, snorkel, adventure excursions like zip lining or parasailing. Not sure if you could do St. John's excursions while in St. Thomas...

Please, let me know your best, or worst, experiences!

Thank you in advance!

 

[TJ95]

Recently did the same cruise on Fantasy- depends on whether your goal is to spend the day sitting at the beach or do something a little different. We greatly enjoyed the St John's eco-hike tour through DCL. Boat picked us up right at the pier, docked at St Johns (no having to drive across St Thomas to get to the ferry and worry about timing, etc). Good tour guide with interesting information about St John's flora/fauna over to Solomon Beach, which was small and amazing for about 1.5 hours at the beach, and my teenager had a chance when we returned to finish up the Junior Ranger badge with the National Park service personnel before we boarded the boat back to the DCL dock. It's a sneaker kind of hike, not hiking boots- not strenuous, but definitely interesting enough and a fun time at a small secluded beautiful beach.

 

[teacher31]

We did the eco tour as well and it was awful. A lot of it was due to guests not being corralled, but we were unable to hear a thing our guides were saying due to them speaking to a small group before the rest arrived, then moved on. The incisive rate guests blocked the path and made it so people could not pass. The beach was nice. I was looking forward to seeing the building in the image. We walked straight past it and nothing was mentioned. Very disappointed, but I learned a lot. Next time, I will be vocal and tell rude guests they are impacting others. I think because of the lollygaggers we were unable to visit the building I wanted to see.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What are your ages? Any kids? There are some serious constraints for under-8s

 

[WDWAurora]

We did that cruise in August. Myself, husband, and two sons (12 & 10). We did the half day tour of the baths in Tortola. No complaints. In Dr Thomas, we did the kayak, hike, and snorkel tour. It was a lot of fun.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

We’ve been a few times on this itinerary, and have always enjoyed going to Jost Van Dyke while in Tortola

 

[Sam207]

We loved our all day excursion to the baths in Virgin Gorda. Please check out a few YouTube videos of the area and bring snorkeling gear. Just beautiful.

 

[tntstults]

I watched a video on the Baths and it looked like the trip back up to the top from the baths was shorter than the trip down. Is it possible to just go down backwards and through the baths backwards?

 

[Sam207]

The excursion does not go backward although we saw non Disney people do that. The order is 1) swimming/snorkeling at Devil's bay (way better snorkeling vs Castaway- bring your own stuff), 2) a tour through the Baths w/ lines and crowds (get good water shoes or Keens), 3) a short break on Bath Beach, 4) hike up for lunch, 5) some- like us- went back down to Bath Beach for a swim. Lunch was 1:30 but suggest you show up early to beat the crowds. Also, if possible, be in the front of the bath portion which will give more time on bath beach before lunch- lots of waiting while less athletic people climbed through the Baths.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We did a great private tour on St. Thomas with Webb at https://www.stthomasadventures.com/