Thread: St Kitts: TURTLE BEACH - Report

Ship's Excursion - $42 pp - prox 4 1/2 hours (Ours was scheduled from 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Since we didn't have to be back to the ship until 5:30, our driver said he'd return for us at about 4:15.)

This excursion had its GOOD and Not-So-Good Points!

Our airconditioned mini-tour-bus had roomy comfortable padded seats. While the scenic drive was VERY mountainious with its share of hair-pen turns, the roads were paved and well maintained for the most part. Our driver was not a bit shy about speeding. Some on our bus were actually terrified! Compared to many others we've taken in the Caribbean, it was a Sunday School Picnic!

The nice little restaurant/bar had a LARGE covered deck with wooden tables and chairs which offered a GREAT view of the ocean and boatdock. Wish we'd stayed there the entire time!!!

The beach area was disappointing! It was quite small and VERY crowded ... even more so in the limited shade of trees -- packed like sardines! DIRTY AS WELL -- both with seaweed and man-made rubbish! Beach chairs which had seen better days were on a "first come, first serve" basic. Many pesty vendors who didn't take a polite "NO" for an answer only made it worse ....

Entering the water was a challenge for many! Take Water Shoes! It was rocky and uneven with a small but deceptive initial drop-off into a strong current. The ocean floor was a mix of sand and rocks ... about 3/4 was covered with clumps of matted seaweed.

Many wild monkeys were swinging freely in the trees! Some were semi-tame. We'd never seen so many monkeys "in the wild" at such a close range before!

A really HUGE (like the size of a pool table) filthy brown HOG startled most of us when it wandered up from the creek! He seemed friendly enough ... let everyone take his picture ... then, slowly wandered back down into the nasty shallow creek directly behind us.

After that ... we decided to spend the rest of our time on the restaurant deck!

This was NOT one of the best shore excursions we've ever taken BUT we still had a good day! Seeing the wild monkeys was a fasinating experience ... the restaurant/bar deck was enjoyable ... and THE BEER WAS COLD!

Thanks LuLu for another wonderul report.

Should we get back to St Kitts on a future cruise we will definitely not take a tour to Turtle Beach.

Yep I think I'd pass there!!!
I believe that hogs enjoy eatting Po-ta-toes!!

Thanks for the honest report!! It's great to let folks know about the not so great tours too!

Marking that one off my list for next month. Did you hear any feedback about any of the other St. Kitts excursions?

Originally Posted by skyview851

Marking that one off my list for next month. Did you hear any feedback about any of the other St. Kitts excursions?

Our favorite, which we've done several times, is GREAT: The sailaway to Nevis! The review is right here on the board ... scroll or click below:

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/caribbean/16704-st-kitts-nevis-sailaway-also-called-fantasea-report.html

There's also a ferry people can take "on their own" to Nevis. I honestly tried because of this board and because I often help my TA recommend shore excursions in the Caribbean ... but, never got anything back other than ... "It was OK..." Didn't want to push the issue. Still, would love to hear from anyone would has done this.

Bottom Line: We LOVED the Sailaway to Nevis and will certainly do it again on our next cruise stop in St.Kitts!

Thanks Lulu,

We are doing St Kitts, St Lucia, Tortola and St Martin in December and were considering Turtle Beach. Won't do that now.

Any suggestions beside the catamaran to Nevis? Want to see a little of the island but mostly just want to relax, beach it and snorkel. Any good snorkel spots that you are aware of??

Thanks,
Lynn

Originally Posted by lnew1gd1

Thanks Lulu,

We are doing St Kitts, St Lucia, Tortola and St Martin in December and were considering Turtle Beach. Won't do that now.

Any suggestions beside the catamaran to Nevis? Want to see a little of the island but mostly just want to relax, beach it and snorkel. Any good snorkel spots that you are aware of??

Thanks,
Lynn

Lynn, please don't let my review keep you from giving Turtle Beach a try! As you know, a bit of growth in the water is attractive to fish. Getting to Turtle Beach does allows you to see St. Kitts.

Since you don't want to go to Nevis, my only other suggestion is to ask one of your bar servers and/or waiters where they go when in St. Kitts on their day off. This has always works well for us when we want to do something via Taxi On-Our-Own! They KNOW where to go!

Originally Posted by LuLu

Lynn, please don't let my review keep you from giving Turtle Beach a try! As you know, a bit of growth in the water is attractive to fish. Getting to Turtle Beach does allows you to see St. Kitts.

Since you don't want to go to Nevis, my only other suggestion is to ask one of your bar servers and/or waiters where they go when in St. Kitts on their day off. This has always works well for us when we want to do something via Taxi On-Our-Own! They KNOW where to go!

Oh, your review wasn't the only one that made me decide. I spoke to a few people since I read your review and they all said the same thing.

Love the idea about asking the cruise staff where they go! Awesome idea!! Thanks.

Still doing some research but have a better idea of what not to do now.

Lulu,

I am pretty sure now that we will be doing the catamaran. Looked at everything (I swear--everything) there is to do and although seeing the moneys at turtle beach would be cool ---that Fan-Ta-Sea excursion looks better and better to me.

Thanks for all the info!