Snorkel Trip to Turtle Bay in Curacao

[OhhLiveEeeUh]

Hello! I just recently got off an 8-night cruise to the Southern Caribbean on Allure of the Seas and I loved it! I did however want to write a review of the excursion we took in Curacao, mainly because when I booked it I couldn't find ANY info and would love to share my experience in case it helps future cruise goers to decide if it's for them! 

The excursion was titled, "Snorkel Trip to Turtle Bay" (CUL9) and described a lovely boat ride to Blue Bay Beach where we would "cool off with a fruit punch" and learn about (and see) sea turtles. This sounded awesome and I was excited to join. I might add there were many other snorkel trips that went elsewhere and advertised sea turtles, but I was late to book and this was the last trip left. It was about $130 pp.

When we arrived in the morning at port we promptly exited the boat and found our guide, after standing in line for a few moments we boarded a bus to take us to the boat at Blue Bay. The excursion start time was 9 and was only set for 3 hours and it seems we did a lot of sitting around. The tour guide on the bus was super nice and knowledgeable on the area, but for an 8:45 meet time we didn't make it to the boat (about 20 mins from the cruise terminal) until 9:50. From there we took a 10ish minute boat ride to the location. It was a lovely boat and we got to sit right up front on the netting taking in the sights of Curacao, but I feel like we didn't get much interaction with the tour guides. Maybe that was going on inside so I don't knock them if so.

From there we all jumped off and went on our merry way snorkeling around. There were two guides we could follow but they weren't saying or pointing out much. The area they took us to was very rocky, there were lots of fish (some of pretty colors) but not a turtle in sight. I completely understand the tour mentioned "turtle sightings not guaranteed" but the way the guides were talking afterwards, it seemed like it wasn't really a spot they even frequented. 

After 45 minutes (which felt like 10) they called us to head back to the boat. As we got on my boyfriend said, "are we heading somewhere else next?" The answer was no. That was it. We were done and on our way back to the cruise terminal. There were no sea turtles, no fruit punch, and not even any "food and drink available for purchase" as the description mentioned. We were thankfully given water bottles. 

I'm not saying it was terrible, it was a lovely trip and was fun to see fish but it felt for the money it was not worth it. I do think if RC is to continue this it should just be renamed as a snorkel boat trip, and potentially even lengthened even an hour to give more time in the water. I'm a big proponent of researching excursions before taking them and took a chance with this one and that is on me. I hope this info doesn't come off too negative nancy and instead helps others as they look for things to do in the beautiful island of Curacao. 

Have you taken this excursion? Would love to hear if you had a totally different experience! I will try to find some photos to post as well

Edited August 23, 2022 by OhhLiveEeeUh
fixing spelling error!

[AshleyDillo]

Thank you for posting your review. In the future I highly, highly recommend that if you have an experience that doesn't meet expectations that you provide feedback to the Shore Excursions desk while you are on the ship. They need to know if their vendors aren't performing well and that they are offering what is mentioned in the booking materials, especially with respect to not receiving advertised drinks.

[OhhLiveEeeUh]

10 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Thank you for posting your review. In the future I highly, highly recommend that if you have an experience that doesn't meet expectations that you provide feedback to the Shore Excursions desk while you are on the ship. They need to know if their vendors aren't performing well and that they are offering what is mentioned in the booking materials, especially with respect to not receiving advertised drinks.

Of course, thank you! I was hoping to include in the cruise survey as well but unfortunately came down with COVID right after our trip and was just getting around to doing it and apparently it's expired  I will look into if there is someone to email!

[Terri Smith Johnson]

On 8/22/2022 at 8:11 PM, OhhLiveEeeUh said:

Hello! I just recently got off an 8-night cruise to the Southern Caribbean on Allure of the Seas and I loved it! I did however want to write a review of the excursion we took in Curacao, mainly because when I booked it I couldn't find ANY info and would love to share my experience in case it helps future cruise goers to decide if it's for them! 

The excursion was titled, "Snorkel Trip to Turtle Bay" (CUL9) and described a lovely boat ride to Blue Bay Beach where we would "cool off with a fruit punch" and learn about (and see) sea turtles. This sounded awesome and I was excited to join. I might add there were many other snorkel trips that went elsewhere and advertised sea turtles, but I was late to book and this was the last trip left. It was about $130 pp.

When we arrived in the morning at port we promptly exited the boat and found our guide, after standing in line for a few moments we boarded a bus to take us to the boat at Blue Bay. The excursion start time was 9 and was only set for 3 hours and it seems we did a lot of sitting around. The tour guide on the bus was super nice and knowledgeable on the area, but for an 8:45 meet time we didn't make it to the boat (about 20 mins from the cruise terminal) until 9:50. From there we took a 10ish minute boat ride to the location. It was a lovely boat and we got to sit right up front on the netting taking in the sights of Curacao, but I feel like we didn't get much interaction with the tour guides. Maybe that was going on inside so I don't knock them if so.

From there we all jumped off and went on our merry way snorkeling around. There were two guides we could follow but they weren't saying or pointing out much. The area they took us to was very rocky, there were lots of fish (some of pretty colors) but not a turtle in sight. I completely understand the tour mentioned "turtle sightings not guaranteed" but the way the guides were talking afterwards, it seemed like it wasn't really a spot they even frequented. 

After 45 minutes (which felt like 10) they called us to head back to the boat. As we got on my boyfriend said, "are we heading somewhere else next?" The answer was no. That was it. We were done and on our way back to the cruise terminal. There were no sea turtles, no fruit punch, and not even any "food and drink available for purchase" as the description mentioned. We were thankfully given water bottles. 

I'm not saying it was terrible, it was a lovely trip and was fun to see fish but it felt for the money it was not worth it. I do think if RC is to continue this it should just be renamed as a snorkel boat trip, and potentially even lengthened even an hour to give more time in the water. I'm a big proponent of researching excursions before taking them and took a chance with this one and that is on me. I hope this info doesn't come off too negative nancy and instead helps others as they look for things to do in the beautiful island of Curacao. 

Have you taken this excursion? Would love to hear if you had a totally different experience! I will try to find some photos to post as well

Thanks so much for this review....Headed to Curacao in April 2024 and already looking at excursions.  This will be a new port for us!!

[Tjl145]

Our family of 4 went on the turtle bay snorkeling trip on March 30, 2023 - this was by far the worst snorkeling experience we have ever had.  
NO TURTLES, and even the group before us told us… NO TURTLES.  The random snorkeling spot they chose was near a beach where you literally could have swam to our location - meaning you didn’t need to be on a boat.  The most disturbing part of this tour - they made you snorkel with a guide.  You have zero freedom to explore (safely) on your own.  If you are a beginner -or  with small kids maybe this is fine - however reminder NO TURTLES.  
 

for the price - we found it very disappointing and the crew was unimpressive as it relates to customer service.  

[marieeklin]

Hi, there!  We recently took this shore excursion from RC’s Jewel of the Seas.  It was an OKAY trip!  Our tour guide, Gwen, was very friendly and answered any questions that we had.  We were a bit put off, though, in that they didn’t give a safety presentation before starting out. In addition, two people in our party were given faulty equipment-one person did not receive a mouth piece with their gear and the other person’s life vest deflated while in the water.  Also, it was hard to hear Gwen as she talked about the different fish that we were seeing in the water because we had a large group.  It might be helpful to have another person in the water to make the groups smaller? While they didn’t promise that we’d see any sea turtles, we didn’t.  

[LuvtoCruise]

Do NOT waste your money on this tour. You are actually snorkeling maybe 30 minutes on this 3 hour tour. First you wait at the ships pier for the transportation, then they drive you the long way(30 minutes plus )to a crappy little pier where you wait again for an old boat to arrive and unload the group before you. Once on the boat you cruise very slowly (10 minutes) to a spot you can see from the pier. Next you get this long lesson in boat safety and how to snorkel before you have to jump off the back platform of the old boat into the water. There is only a ladder, no hand rails or steps down. My daughter didn’t feel comfortable jumping so she didn’t get to snorkel. The snorkeling is a guided tour of a few corals and fish with your fellow snorkelers fins hitting you in the face because you are told to stay together. A total joke if you have ever really snorkeled before. After about 20-30 minutes you are told to get back in the boat to head back to the crappy pier where you will stand in the sun for 20 minutes waiting for your ride back. I didn’t see them wash any of the masks and there was another group waiting to get on right after us. Disgusting. They are trying to jam in as many 30 minute snorkel trips, selling them as 3 hours, as they possibly can. It’s a total ripoff. By the way, when the crappy van finally arrived to take us back to the port, they went the direct way and  it was only a five minute ride. Wish I had my day in Curaçao and my money back.