Hello- wondering if anyone can give me any recommendations on any beach or snorkeling excursions for St. Kitts, Antigua, or St Thomas that you have done. Looking for a beautiful beach with good onsite bar/restaurant and also looking for a great snorkeling excursion (have an 8 and 10 year old, so would like something not too intense but with great views of tropical fish). I am considering SK49 Carambola Beach for St kitts; A22 Castaways Beach escape or A02 Stingray swim & snorkel for Antigua; and ST08 Doubloon Turtle cove sail & snorkel or ST43 day at Turtle cove and Honeymoon beach for St Thomas. Or did you just take a cab to a beach at any of these places? Any recommendation greatly appreciated!!
This is the one we did just last week (I assume it's the same - that was the name for it). We enjoyed it a lot. Basic plan was:
- Get off the ship pretty early on (we met at 7:30 on ship, and were off before 8), went to the marina right next to the pier
- Boarded a pirate-style ship (they split the Disney group in half. Our half rode Blackbeard's Revenge, the other half of the tour had the Bones). The tour description said it could have been a catamaran, but I'm glad we got the pirate ship.
- Rode about an hour to Turtle Cove where we anchored. Several other boats were there, also.
- Had about 1 hour to snorkel there. We saw turtles out in the water, then fish near the reef. It was kind of on our own, but the guide from the boat told us the general route to swim, and was with most of the group (we were behind, since one daughter had to return to the boat for new equipment, and the other was very slow to get going). The snorkeling here was good.
- Rode about an hour to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island. During this ride they let out some sails.
- At this beach, we had the option of snorkeling/swimming in to shore, or taking a "water taxi" to shore. They brought bags to shore in the water taxi.
- There was a buffet lunch on the beach, cooked at one of the food places. Ribs and chicken plus some sides (beans, macaroni salad, something else) for adults. Chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac&cheese for kids. There were a couple of bars/food stands where you could get other stuff, but unless you wanted alcohol, the lunch provided was plenty.
- We had much more than an hour (maybe 2?) at Honeymoon beach. You could swim and snorkel there. It was a nice beach, and there were picnic tables to sit at, several shady areas, etc. In the swimming area, there were a few fish and a turtle, but much less than at the earlier site (honestly, the snorkeling was better at Castaway Cay than at this location).
- Rode back about 30 minutes (?) to the marina. We were back around 2:00.
- During the rides on the ship, they offered soft drinks, water, and rum punch.
Overall we really liked the day. It was our daughters' first time snorkeling, so we were a little slow getting started, and then I was literally the last one back on the boat at Turtle Cove (a bit embarrassing - we had not heard the call to return, and had thought the others still snorkeling out there were from our boat, but they were from the other...).
As for your criteria: yes, the beach was nice. There was a bar on the beach. I wouldn't say there was a "restaurant", but lunch was included, and there were multiple stands that served food you could buy, if you wanted something different, and there were picnic tables you could sit at and restrooms available. The snorkeling was good (turtles were great, fish were OK when I was there, but not sure how much better it gets). On the fish, I think I was spoiled by having my first 2 experiences being what I think are 2 of the top snorkeling sites in the world (one in Hawaii, one in the Red Sea), and this was not up to those levels, but was still fine (got to see several fish and coral). I'd have liked a little more time at Turtle Cove, and less at Honeymoon Beach myself (we had 2 other beach days), but we still had a great time, and I'd recommend it. Plus, the kids got to help do stuff like raise and lower sails, and fire the onboard cannon on our boat, and some got pirate tattoos, which was fun (but not sure that is part of all excursions).
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or wait, I guess it’s actually Sat night since my day is the 24th- that’s a little better!
