Oh Tortola what to do?

[KGmomoftwins]

Hi all,

So we are headed out in August and I've had some time over the holiday to research what to do. It will be me, husband, DD's age 7. I contacted Aristocat Charters and they were awesome. It would be a Norman Island snorkel. I'm just a little nervous as it seems like a really long day and our girls have never been snorkeling or to the ocean for that matter yet. Plus I'm nervous about making it back to the boat on time.
I looked at the DCL page and they offer a Norman Island snorkel that is only 4 hours in length which would then give us time to look around the port or go back and enjoy the aquaduck. Any experience with either of these? My concern with the DCL one is we are newbies and last to book so it might be all taken. By that point I'm sure Aristocat would be too.. On a side note I wish they did Pirate night on a at sea day I'm worried if we are super busy all day we might not make it to the fireworks! Thanks for the help.

 

[LizGirl]

Unfortunately I don't have a great recommendation but wanted to chime into say that my kids, now 11 and 9, really had a hard time attempting to snorkel in the open water off Grand Cayman last year. It's intimidating and can be difficult to get on and off the boat with the natural wave motion. I think your intuition is correct (or at least mine aligns with yours!)

We recently did the Eastern and my kids did really well snorkeling from shore at Maegans Bay. I bought inflatable snorkel vests from Amazon that helped a lot. I wonder if Cane Garden or Smuggler's could offer a similar experience for your family. Then you can just take a taxi and have as long or as short of a day in the sun as you want.

We spent our Tortola day doing the DIY ferry over to see The Baths. We hiked down to the beach but did not do the trail. It was really busy. I hope to find an easier and quieter experience the next time we are lucky enough to get to BVI!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Unfortunately I don't have a great recommendation but wanted to chime into say that my kids, now 11 and 9, really had a hard time attempting to snorkel in the open water off Grand Cayman last year. It's intimidating and can be difficult to get on and off the boat with the natural wave motion. I think your intuition is correct (or at least mine aligns with yours!)

We recently did the Eastern and my kids did really well snorkeling from shore at Maegan's Bay. I bought inflatable snorkel vests from Amazon that helped a lot. I wonder if Cane Garden or Smuggler's could offer a similar experience for your family. Then you can just take a taxi and have as long or as short of a day in the sun as you want.

We spent our Tortola day doing the DIY ferry over to see The Baths. We hiked down to the beach but did not do the trail. It was really busy. I hope to find an easier and quieter experience the next time we are lucky enough to get to BVI!

Thank you! They are excellent swimmers as we have a pool but totally different in the ocean they have been begging to go snorkeling. My husband and I have been to ST. Thomas so I know where to go there to snorkel from shore on our own but really wanted to do something fun in Tortola. It stinks as a lot of the DCL Port adventures are for 8 and up.

 

[lklgoodman]

We leave for there in 38 days. We're doing a Disney excursion to one of the beaches on Beef Island. Our excursion is in the morning for only 4 hours so we plan on eating lunch when we get back to the ship and then riding the Aquaduck/taking it easy. Snorkeling can also be done at CC and would most likely be easier for your kids than doing it in open water. They have some really cool things to see in the snorkeling area at CC(sunken Mickey statutes), you do have to swim out pretty far to see them. When we cruised to Cozumel, we did a dolphin excursion followed by time at the beach, that was also our pirate night. My dd was 8 yrs old then. Usually she can stay up until midnight when we cruise, that night she was ready for bed before the pirate activities.

Also, if your girls end up liking the kids club, look for whichever night they have Pluto's pj party(it will be listed in the navigator). My dd loves it. They get a pillowcase to color and do lots of fun activities.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You really don't need to fear missing the boat. The charters know their stuff in that regard.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

We leave for there in 38 days. We're doing a Disney excursion to one of the beaches on Beef Island. Our excursion is in the morning for only 4 hours so we plan on eating lunch when we get back to the ship and then riding the Aquaduck/taking it easy. Snorkeling can also be done at CC and would most likely be easier for your kids than doing it in open water. They have some really cool things to see in the snorkeling area at CC(sunken Mickey statutes), you do have to swim out pretty far to see them. When we cruised to Cozumel, we did a dolphin excursion followed by time at the beach, that was also our pirate night. My dd was 8 yrs old then. Usually she can stay up until midnight when we cruise, that night she was ready for bed before the pirate activities.

Also, if your girls end up liking the kids club, look for whichever night they have Pluto's pj party(it will be listed in the navigator). My dd loves it. They get a pillowcase to color and do lots of fun activities.

Thank you so much! Great info they would love that pj party! I hope it goes awesome for your family! Would love a report when you get back! Was there a lot of availability for Port adventures to be booked? I'm worried that by the time we can book stuff everything will be taken.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thank you so much! Great info they would love that pj party! I hope it goes awesome for your family! Would love a report when you get back! Was there a lot of availability for Port adventures to be booked? I'm worried that by the time we can book stuff everything will be taken.

Port Adventures rarely sell out; I wouldn't worry. I agree with the pp that castaway cay is the way to go for first time snorkelers. The cost is much less than an excursions, they have flotation vests, there's no getting in and out of boats as you can just snorkel from the beach, and the water is usually pretty calm. A lot of nice sea-life to see as well; my husband saw a giant tortoise and a barracuda, for example. Also, it is low-stress if the kids don't like it. My husband tried and tried to teach my kids how to breathe through the snorkel and how to expel water if it gets in, but they couldn't get the hang of it and eventually gave up. But then they got to come back and hang out with mom and their litter brother splashing in the water and building sand castles and otherwise having a great time on CC while DH snorkeled. If we were on an excursion, they would just be stuck waiting if they didn't like it.

 

[lklgoodman]

Thank you so much! Great info they would love that pj party! I hope it goes awesome for your family! Would love a report when you get back! Was there a lot of availability for Port adventures to be booked? I'm worried that by the time we can book stuff everything will be taken.

The excursion actually still has availability for it. It's the Beach Express one, I'll let you know how it is. We are silver and booked it in Oct. There are still lots of port excursions that are still available for our cruise. I just checked yesterday. The Bath excursions and the Jost Von Dyke ones are sold out, but those are really popular, so I'm not surprised they are sold out. They were available when we booked.

 

[kylaura]

I'd go with the 4 hour to try it out. We just did the 4 hour Treasure Island snorkel and liked it. Daughter and hubby wouldn't snorkel, but they got in the water at the beach stop.

 

[mernin]

We are heading on the Eastern Cruise at the end of March...we are booked on Aristocats with our 11 & 6 year old girls. We plan to have the youngest in a life jacket to make it easier on her (they both have snorkelled before but not in the ocean) and we'll just take it easy if they don't want to do it all day. They also have stand up paddle boards so that is something fun they can do as well. I have no concerns about them getting us back in time. I'm pretty certain that everyone on the excursion is from our Cruise and they get excellent ratings. When I asked, they said they would be back in plenty of time before the ship departing. I'm very excited for our day with them.

 

[MASrules]

We were in Tortola last week, and did the exact tour you are describing with Aristocat. We stopped 3 different places for snorkeling. The first two were definitely fun/easy swims, with the second stop in particular easy swim. Many people just tooled around on the paddleboards and kids were just swimming. The third stop around the Indians was great for snorkeling, but was a more difficult swim in slightly deeper water (most kids did not snorkel here). There were only around 25-30 people on the boat and there was plenty of room. The day was wonderful. I feel your kids would love this. As a value I thought it was superior to the Disney excursion. The included beverages were plentiful for both alcohol and soda. Most people on our charter were from the other ship in port, so we had to be back by 2 so there was no problem on time. The guides were VERY aware of the time the guests needed to be back, and got us home very easy. The meeting place was a very short walk from the ship and fairly easy to find. Finally there was a puppy on board! The provided lunch was simple and just OK, but on the cruise we did not need a full lunch. Use the provided sunscreen more than you think!

We were without our kids, but many times we told ourselves they would love it. The other kids on the charter seemed to be having fun.

Hope this helped. Let me know if you have any

 

[girafkiraf]

We just did a similar snorkeling/swimming/sailboat daytrip from Puerto Rico with my kids who are almost 5 year old twins. The kids loved it! They wore life jackets the whole time. At the open water snorkeling spot they tried out the snorkeling stuff but preferred to just swim with us. It was their first time snorkeling, but they already loved the ocean.

Earlier in the trip we were on a cruise that stopped on Tortola, and from there we did the Jost Von Dyke beach day. It was really beautiful and fun, but too short (only the 4 hour one was offered the day we were there).

 

[KGmomoftwins]

We were in Tortola last week, and did the exact tour you are describing with Aristocat. We stopped 3 different places for snorkeling. The first two were definitely fun/easy swims, with the second stop in particular easy swim. Many people just tooled around on the paddleboards and kids were just swimming. The third stop around the Indians was great for snorkeling, but was a more difficult swim in slightly deeper water (most kids did not snorkel here). There were only around 25-30 people on the boat and there was plenty of room. The day was wonderful. I feel your kids would love this. As a value I thought it was superior to the Disney excursion. The included beverages were plentiful for both alcohol and soda. Most people on our charter were from the other ship in port, so we had to be back by 2 so there was no problem on time. The guides were VERY aware of the time the guests needed to be back, and got us home very easy. The meeting place was a very short walk from the ship and fairly easy to find. Finally there was a puppy on board! The provided lunch was simple and just OK, but on the cruise we did not need a full lunch. Use the provided sunscreen more than you think!

We were without our kids, but many times we told ourselves they would love it. The other kids on the charter seemed to be having fun.

Hope this helped. Let me know if you have any

This was awesome and so helpful! My husband really wants to do this one. I was worried when they emailed me back they said we would leave at 9:30 and get back at 4:30 seemed to be cutting it close. Can I ask how close to departure did you book? Thanks again!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

I'd go with the 4 hour to try it out. We just did the 4 hour Treasure Island snorkel and liked it. Daughter and hubby wouldn't snorkel, but they got in the water at the beach stop.

This one looks so ideal part beach/ snorkel 4 hours but sadly our girls are only 7 DCL says 8 and up