St. Thomas and Tortola excursions

[Balbar]

We are on the Jan 8 sailing that goes to St. Thomas and Tortola. I researched and booked excursions through Disney on both islands. However, both of those were canceled today. I am unable to book any other Disney excursions for my party of five - no availability. So, can anyone give suggestions for excursions that we can do on our own. My party consists of three older teens, a middle age mom, and a very adventurous grandmother. We were going ziplining and snorkeling, but now would be happy with something easy and perhaps close to the port. We are super disappointed about the cancelations, and would like to find something fun - but I am a little uneasy about doing things on our own. Thanks for help and suggestions!

 

[rhinodadz]

On Tortola I recommend checking out Kuralu Catamaran Charters for snorkelling. Great experience and within walking distance from the pier. We've gone out with them on past cruises and are booked with them on the 12/26 cruise.

 

[mzspaz]

We are on the Jan 8 sailing that goes to St. Thomas and Tortola. I researched and booked excursions through Disney on both islands. However, both of those were canceled today. I am unable to book any other Disney excursions for my party of five - no availability. So, can anyone give suggestions for excursions that we can do on our own. My party consists of three older teens, a middle age mom, and a very adventurous grandmother. We were going ziplining and snorkeling, but now would be happy with something easy and perhaps close to the port. We are super disappointed about the cancelations, and would like to find something fun - but I am a little uneasy about doing things on our own. Thanks for help and suggestions!

We are on the Jan 22 sailing and many of the St Thomas excursions were canceled. I have been browsing independent companies because I wasn't exactly thrilled with the offerings through DCL. As a last resort, we were just going to go to Coral World and do the Sky Ride on our own. But I will be keeping an eye on this thread to see what suggestions you may get.

I am kind of half hoping that they cancel St Thomas in favor of St Maarten or San Juan. There is a Bacardi Distillery tour in San Juan that looks fun!

 

[MomOTwins]

I’m afraid I don’t have helpful info, but if you din’t mind, could you share what excursions were cancelled? Our booking day for our March cruise is coming up and that would be helpful to know.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

On Tortola, you can book independent snorkeling with a company like Aristocat. They're running, and they are easy to work with.

Why not just book the zipline on St. Thomas on your own? It's not a bad cab ride and you aren't a carseat family who needs to worry about island taxis being what they are: http://www.ziplinestthomas.com/booking.html

Otherwise, these guys are incredible to work with: https://viecotours.com/st-thomas/

 

[MsSimone]

Our excursion for St Thomas was also cancelled so we are just going to take a taxi to Magens Beach. There's no room for our party of 3 on the DCL excursion there, but we'll spend half as much to do it on our own.

 

[Balbar]

I’m afraid I don’t have helpful info, but if you din’t mind, could you share what excursions were cancelled? Our booking day for our March cruise is coming up and that would be helpful to know.

Ziplining on Tortola
Canopy Tour Zipline and Scenic Drive (TT46)


Trunk Bay on St. Thomas:
St. John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel Tour (ST01)

 

[MsSimone]

Our excursions were also to St Johns. I asked DCL and they said the vendor was not offering the tour at this time.

 

[nancipants]

On our trip to Tortola, we did the Baths on our own. Not super adventurous, but climbing through the rocks was fun and the beach is beautiful. There's a lot of helpful info on this board about how to get there and schedules (but they might be different due to Covid).

 

[Colo17]

Mangrove kayak/snorkel in St Thomas? If you were docking at Crown Bay there I would suggest the ferry over to Water Island, but logistics is tougher from where most ships dock.

 

[cmarsh31]

Ugg, we have that Zipline booked for Feb. I would be happy with San Juan too. We really enjoyed on NCL.

 

[insureman]

We are on the Jan 8 sailing that goes to St. Thomas and Tortola. I researched and booked excursions through Disney on both islands. However, both of those were canceled today. I am unable to book any other Disney excursions for my party of five - no availability. So, can anyone give suggestions for excursions that we can do on our own. My party consists of three older teens, a middle age mom, and a very adventurous grandmother. We were going ziplining and snorkeling, but now would be happy with something easy and perhaps close to the port. We are super disappointed about the cancelations, and would like to find something fun - but I am a little uneasy about doing things on our own. Thanks for help and suggestions!

If you don't mind driving on the left in St Thomas we have rented a jeep quite a few times at a pretty reasonable price near the Havensight cruise ship dock at Budget rental. You can reserve online.

 

[MomOTwins]

Ziplining on Tortola
Canopy Tour Zipline and Scenic Drive (TT46)


Trunk Bay on St. Thomas:
St. John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel Tour (ST01)

Our excursions were also to St Johns. I asked DCL and they said the vendor was not offering the tour at this time.

Thank you, sorry that happened to you both. I do appreciate the heads up as I was looking at snorkels and know now to avoid st john.

 

[Kwami]

On our trip to Tortola, we did the Baths on our own. Not super adventurous, but climbing through the rocks was fun and the beach is beautiful. There's a lot of helpful info on this board about how to get there and schedules (but they might be different due to Covid).

Could you share some info about this? I'm considering doing the Baths on our own in February since DCL's excursions are all sold out. I understand that there's a ferry over to Virgin Gorda, but what about transportation from there? Are the taxis safe, honest, and reliable? Do they take you back to the ferry port, too? Is there some other transportation?

Any other advice about what to bring, what to do, etc?

 

[Keyser]

Could you share some info about this? I'm considering doing the Baths on our own in February since DCL's excursions are all sold out. I understand that there's a ferry over to Virgin Gorda, but what about transportation from there? Are the taxis safe, honest, and reliable? Do they take you back to the ferry port, too? Is there some other transportation?

Any other advice about what to bring, what to do, etc?

I did a summary a few years ago - I don't know how current it is (especially regarding specific times), but it might give a sense of how doing that works.

Here's the link:
Summary: Touring The Baths (Tortola) on Your Own | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

 

[Take The Stairs]

We are on the Jan 8 sailing that goes to St. Thomas and Tortola. I researched and booked excursions through Disney on both islands. However, both of those were canceled today. I am unable to book any other Disney excursions for my party of five - no availability. So, can anyone give suggestions for excursions that we can do on our own. My party consists of three older teens, a middle age mom, and a very adventurous grandmother. We were going ziplining and snorkeling, but now would be happy with something easy and perhaps close to the port. We are super disappointed about the cancelations, and would like to find something fun - but I am a little uneasy about doing things on our own. Thanks for help and suggestions!
[/QUOTE

 

[nancipants]

Could you share some info about this? I'm considering doing the Baths on our own in February since DCL's excursions are all sold out. I understand that there's a ferry over to Virgin Gorda, but what about transportation from there? Are the taxis safe, honest, and reliable? Do they take you back to the ferry port, too? Is there some other transportation?

Any other advice about what to bring, what to do, etc?

@Keyser's summary was extremely thorough. For another perspective:

We walked to the ferry terminal from the ship. It was about 10 minutes walking briskly. I asked someone at the port which way to go and they pointed us the right way.

We also did the Speedy's ferry, so they transported us to the Baths as well. The truck from the ferry to the Baths was very bumpy and you definitely want to remind any young kids to hold on tight. But I didn't feel unsafe.

Once we were done at the Baths, we took the same Speedy's transportation to the ferry terminal.

The biggest issue is timing, but even with that, it was a great day.

 

[Kwami]

@Keyser, @nancipants: Thanks! That's all very helpful!

Are there facilities for changing clothes? The summary mentioned bathrooms, but not if they were spacious and clean enough to change in. I guess there are no showers other than the foot washers?

 

[nancipants]

@Keyser, @nancipants: Thanks! That's all very helpful!

Are there facilities for changing clothes? The summary mentioned bathrooms, but not if they were spacious and clean enough to change in. I guess there are no showers other than the foot washers?

The bathrooms were kind of gross when I was there, but I had to pee, so I went, lol. I wouldn't count on changing there. I only remember the feet washers.

 

[Jack15129]

We are on the Jan 8 sailing that goes to St. Thomas and Tortola. I researched and booked excursions through Disney on both islands. However, both of those were canceled today. I am unable to book any other Disney excursions for my party of five - no availability. So, can anyone give suggestions for excursions that we can do on our own. My party consists of three older teens, a middle age mom, and a very adventurous grandmother. We were going ziplining and snorkeling, but now would be happy with something easy and perhaps close to the port. We are super disappointed about the cancelations, and would like to find something fun - but I am a little uneasy about doing things on our own. Thanks for help and suggestions!

Hi. How did you find out the zip line excursion was cancelled? Did Disney notify you?
I ask because we are on the Jan 22 sailing and had the zip line tour booked through DCL. Because of your post, I checked our itinerary and find the zip line tour was removed for our plans, yet the DCL listing though the DCL app shows sold out (not cancelled).

I’m paying attn to this thread for sure as now we are looking for an alternative activity to do on Tortola.

Hope you find something fun to do!