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St. John's, Antigua

Antigua: We booked the EcoTour with Eli. It was not as good as everyone online had led us to believe. I guess we were spoiled from previous excursions and I am not into large groups. There were 25 people on the boat with 3 crew. At times we were told lengthy stories that were no doubt embellished by Tony that made me disengage. The highlights were going to Hell's Gate and Pigeon Island. What fun places to explore with spectacular views. Overall it wasn't bad and was definitely better than the packed boat we saw the ship excursion take off on. It is relatively good. Good if you are used to cattle call excursions, but only so-so if you are used to booking private guides and services on your own.

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Tortola: What a day! We started by renting scooters close to the dock for $20/hour or $60/day although he quickly changed his price to $45/day after we chose the $20/hr route. We rode through the city and into the hills to take pictures of the ship in port. Later that afternoon, we had booked a half-day catamaran sail with Patouche that ended up being only 6 passengers and 4 crew. It was so nice having all that space to spread out and relax, we love booking privately and avoiding some of the cattle call excursions. What a great time having Jess (a Marine Biologist) showing us things while snorkeling. Everyone was very friendly and we had a great time.

Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados: We booked a Scuba dive and it was by far the highlight of our excursions. For $80/person, The Dive Shop Barbados provided transportation to and from the ship and 2 dives of 45 min. each. We dove over a reef that provides a habitat for sea turtles. The reef had great coral and a variety of fish species. The second dive to a sunken ship near another reef was also great. Gabby was a great guide and made us very comfortable even though it had been 15 years since our last dive.

Samana, Dominican Republic

Samana: Booked Enrico Rosa to serve as tour guide. Excellent choice as he spoke 4 languages and was very congenial. He ended up taking us to the parada that we had researched in the first place, La Manzana, the parade of Antonia Martin. The men walked to the El Limon waterfall and the girls rode horses. TAKE A HORSE!! If they had not given me rubber boots, my shoes would have been ruined by the mud and manure on the trail. The hike is up and down hills and valleys over rocky, muddy terrain. Everyone has to descend a steep rock staircase to get to the bottom of the falls. The meal that Maria prepared for us upon our return was local food and was DELICIOUS. What a pleasure getting to experience their culture. (This parada had excellent modern bathroom facilities) We continued up to Las Terranes Beach and had it pretty much to ourselves.

Castries, St. Lucia

St. Lucia: We booked Herod Tours and were given a tour by our driver Dickson. Herod worked with us on a price over the internet that was VERY reasonable and guaranteed we would get a private, personal tour. Another example of finding a better deal if you just do the research. Everyone talks about Cosol, but we were concerned about being a large group packed into a van, which seemed to be the case. We saw the Cosol group several time wearing their colored dots to indicate which van they belonged on. Our driver Dickson took the 4 of us in a 10 passenger van along a similar route, but we decided where we wanted to go and how long we wanted to stay. We stopped a couple of times just because we saw something that interested us and we wanted to explore a little more. Dickson did a fantastic job of showing off this beautiful island. Herod met up with us a couple of times to make sure we were being taken care of and were seeing everything we wanted to see. Book with Herod not Cosol.