The tour company was very helpful on the phone telling us about the excursion and where to park. They gave us reef-safe sunscreen to put on before we boarded the boat. We were really looking forward to the adventure.
What should have been a great family experience for us, turned into a disappointment. The best part was seeing flying fish and a double rainbow on the way back.
My husband took the snorkel class and they fitted him out with gear and floatation equipment since he barely knows how to swim-- it was fantastic that they helped him so much. The fish he saw were mostly grey or black and white, not the colorful ones we were expecting.
On the other hand, some of the staff didn’t seem knowledgeable about helping with little kids. My granddaughter is five and they suggested she use an inner-tube but she was too small and kept slipping through it. She ended up just wearing her own swim vest. We didn’t even know they had kick-boards with viewing windows that she could use until we saw someone else using one.
My daughter and I need snorkel masks with a prescription adjustment in them but they didn’t have any strong enough so we had to wear our prescription swim goggles instead. We wore flotation belts and tried using a viewing box but it was a real strain trying to hold on to it in the choppy waves. It was difficult to see anything in the dark water when we were bobbing up and down trying to hold on to a child as well. It didn’t feel that safe and I didn’t see anyone that was life guarding. Eventually we just went back in the boat and sat around in our wet bathing suits just to get out of the rain. Word of advice, be sure to bring extra towels and your own snacks since they only provide spicy chips and pineapple.
We tried changing in the bathroom when the boat got underway but it wasn’t that easy and they only have 2 bathrooms. My daughter got sick in there and they just made her clean it up herself even though she was feeling awful. You would think they would have some standard procedure for dealing with that.
Most of the crew was pleasant and maybe if the weather had been sunny and the water calm we would have enjoyed ourselves more.