We saw so much beauty while sailing the waters around St.Thomas. The view you get from the water is truly magnificent. Our sailing tour took us from the St.Thomas harbor to Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge, a 45 minute sail away. We were splashed by waves the entire way!
Turtle Cove Sail & Snorkel is the tour we booked while aboard the Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruises. The tour was offered through Doubloon Pirate Ship, also known as Cool Boats USVI. Their pirate ship is just one of many boats they operate. We found ourselves on board the Dancing Dolphin Catamaran with about 40 other people and had an incredibly awesome time!
This is the Doubloon pirate ship
We knew the front of the boat would rock the most (aka the fun spot), so we found ourselves a comfortable seat near the front alongside the friends we were traveling with. It wasn’t long before we realized that the front of the boat was also the wettest! We were constantly splashed, so much in fact, that Curtis needed to relocate for fear of ruining his non-waterproof camera. I, on the other hand, remained seated and was delighted by the constant shower of sea water. If you ever find yourself on this boat, remember, the port side (right side) gets splashed the most!
Once in Turtle Cove and dressed in full snorkel gear (provided by the tour), we jumped in the water to splash around. Immediately we saw a sting ray and a turtle. Closer to shore we saw lots of fish, both big and small. Honestly, we didn’t see a lot of sea life but we weren’t looking either. Apparently it’s way more fun to take underwater pictures of each other.
I decided to go back and check out the turtle again, everyone else had apparently lost interest in it just sitting on the bottom. We were in a turtle sanctuary and there were many other active turtles for them to chase around anyway. I floated above the stationary turtle and he immediately started swimming up! I was super excited, I was finally going to see a giant turtle up close without hordes of other tourists around! Then some kid swam out in front of me and proceeded to follow the turtle! Not cool kid, not cool.
Before we knew it, it was time to get back on the boat and go back to St.Thomas. The ride back was much more tame, no splashing at all. We were served a light snack of cheese and crackers as well as a beverage (alcohol or non-alcohol were options).
The crew aboard the Dancing Dolphin were amazing, very friendly and funny. I think one of them said they actually went to clown school? No idea if that’s true or not, but I can definitely see it being possible. We highly recommend Cool Boats for your next tour in St.Thomas, USVI. Very professional and safe.
Jill is the founder, writer, photographer and travel agent at Chasing Adventure Travel. An adventure travel blog that has morphed into a travel agency, specializing in Active and Adventurous Travels.
Jill has traveled worldwide and spent almost 2 years traveling continuously with her husband. She has traveled to resorts, crossed an ocean on a cruise ship, motorcycled multiple times around Europe and experienced self-guided long term travel.
~ Dreamer, doer and energetic go-getter. Curiosity has inspired adventurous world travel. Imagination is everything ~
*Chasing Adventure Travel is in affiliation with Nexion Canada.
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6 Comments
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This looks likes like such a fun shore excursion. We’ve also only been to ST Thomas through cruises but this tour is way cooler than what we’ve done. What a great experience to be that close to the turtle. I love your underwater shots.
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Author
It was a surprisingly good tour. We normally go off and do our own thing, but decided to spend the day with friends all doing the same excursion. It was worth it for sure!
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There is so many stunning places in the world that I haven’t even heard of! This one is one of them. Great shots!
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Author
St.Thomas is beautiful! Hopefully you get to see it someday 🙂
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Ahhh… I’ve been living in St Thomas since January. How long was your visit? It would have been nice to meet up with you two!
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Author
St.Thomas was beautiful! We were only there for the day. It was a stop on our cruise ship. We would have loved to meet up!
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