Noreen Chin

We all left together to get on the tender to Labadee. We got to Labadee around 11:45 and went to sign up for the Wave Runner Tour – we’re signed up for the 12:45 tour. Meanwhile, everything I read/heard was that the wave runner tour gets booked up early and we should sign up in advance if we wanted to do it. We had no problem at all just signing up today. We walked over to the beach area and tipped the guy $4 for bringing the four chairs over for us.

The water was pretty clear and cold. It is beautiful and peaceful on Labadee. We swam for a little while. The lunch barbecue was from 11:30 – 2 so with our 12:45 Wave runner tour we would miss lunch (we just ate breakfast so I was OK with it). The guys wanted to stop by the barbecue and grab a rib or two on the way back towards the wave runners. Rob ran ahead since it was just about 12:45. Since we got there a few minutes late, we couldn’t go and they moved us to the 1:45 tour. Poor Rob volunteered to go back to the other side to get our towels since we left them there thinking we would head back to the beach after the wave runner tour. With the 1:45 tour, we would not have time since the last tender back to the ship is 3:15. So we stayed on the side of the island with the wave runners and hung out and swam here.

At 1:45 we went over to the wave runner desk. They were running late for this tour. We saw an instructional video then walked out to the dock.  In our group was a bunch of young guys who did not want to follow instructions. They screamed out to get the early spots so we ended up being #9 (Rob and Terri) and #10 (us). You are supposed to follow in the wake of the wave runner ahead of you – but a decent distance back. We started off and the annoying group of guys that didn’t want to follow instructions were just going off wherever they wanted. There was another couple in the #8 spot also trying to follow instructions. They had to stop our tour several times to give the annoying guys a warning but they were allowed to continue on with the group.

The tour operators tried to re-arrange and put the three couples in the front of the pack but Paul preferred to stay in the back. This time we were totally separated from the group since the annoying guys were going all different directions and the guide that was the back up kept having to chase them. We had no clue which way to go and were adrift in the middle of the water. Eventually one of the guides found us and directed us back. Finally, we were headed back. It was already 3:25 and the last tender was scheduled for 3:15. Labadee must be on Island Time since there was a huge line to get on the tender back once we got there.

The wave runner tour was a fun experience; however, it would have been more enjoyable had the annoying guys not been part of our group. From other reviews I’ve read, I understand that you usually stop in different points with the guides and they point things out to you. Our poor guides had to spend the whole time chaperoning the annoying ones who couldn’t follow instructions.

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