Caroline Gentry

We went for the sea kayak and turtle snorkel, expected to be taken along some scenic beaches and coves as promised. But they only take you about a mile from the ship, dump you outside a rum factory on the beach, and then you kayak along the factory, past the Malibu factory, towards the port again, with a view of the industrial waste site, breathing in disgusting fumes. Then you get back on the boat and are taken… back in front of the rum factory again! Where they feed the turtles on dead fish, not part of their usual diet. The only reason the turtles go there is because they feed them there. The only reason we could think why they didn’t take us further to a nice spot is because they want to save money on gas - kayaking back to the port and then getting a boat back to the factory was just stupid and really annoying. There was a big group of us and the turtles swam right underneath us to get the food so it was a bit like a scramble - we were expected to see them in their natural habitat. We have swum with sharks before and the tour guide then was careful to point out that they never feed the sharks as it disrupts their natural way of life and they become too dependent on humans. I think this practice of feeding the turtles should be stopped - I would rather risk not seeing them.

Then for the final part of the trip we were taken to an adjacent beach - on the site of an abandoned hotel, still right next to the factory and within view of the ship. Talking to people at dinner that night who knew Barbados, they said we had been totally ripped off and missed some lovely beaches along the West coast, where the advert for the trip said we would be taken. We complained and were reimbursed 20%, but this did not make up for the fact we missed out on seeing the real Barbados. This trip is definitely not worth the $79 per person! One positive note was the rum punch, which was really lovely and you could have as much as you liked.

In the afternoon we managed to get a taxi to the nearest beach to the port, which was OK, but we returned to the ship feeling very deflated and this was not a great start to the vacation. My parents did the best of Barbados tour to see some gardens and a sheep farm - they said it was OK, but the gardens were not that impressive.

Check out the shore excursions available in Barbados.
Barbados Shore Excursions

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