2 questions...
1. Which are the must do tours..???
(so far, we are planning on zipline, swim with dolphins, Catamaran Cruise, and Floyd's Pelican Bar)
2. Cheaper to book the tours online, or when you get to the hotel.?
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2 questions...
1. Which are the must do tours..???
(so far, we are planning on zipline, swim with dolphins, Catamaran Cruise, and Floyd's Pelican Bar)
2. Cheaper to book the tours online, or when you get to the hotel.?
Mayfield falls, Catamaran cruise is included.
Beware of "sand gravity".... you may decide to never leave the beach!
You don't really tell us which of the wonderful Couples Resorts you'll be visiting. If you are staying at either of the Negril resorts, I'd highly recommend either of the two (relatively) local falls tours... either YSFalls or Mayfield Falls, neither of which is included in your vacation package. You'll have to book these with one of the local tour operators online, or at your resort's tour desk.
The Sunset Catamaran Cruise is very popular from either resort, and is included as part of your package. Book early during your stay. I'd also recommend you take in a snorkel tour (or two). The town of Negril is fairly closeby to either resort, and its worth your time to find your way into town. Try a visit to Rick's Cafe, or to any of the shops, bars, or restaurants along the Worl Famous 7-Mile Beach.
If golf is your thing, Negril Hills is nearby as well, and greens fees (not rentals, cart or mandatory caddy) are included.
As others have said, beware sand gravity if you want to take in some of the local flavor of Negril.
In 1992 we went to Dolphin Cove and were not happy with our experience(those poor dolphins). Very expensive and very touristy. I`m just sayin.
Honestly in my opinion the best tour is a walk up and down 7-mile beach experiencing all the things around you.
I'm not discounting Mark's experience, but we were at Dolphin Cove in 2009, and we had a really good time. It is "touristy," but it wasn't crowded when we went, and we felt the facilities were more than adequate: perhaps not as state-of-the-art as an American facility might be, but it certainly didn't seem inhumane in the least. It's not cheap, but they do run specials, and it's quite a bit cheaper than similar attractions in America. We had a ball!
One thing that most newbies don't realize is that the Couples porperties are NOT hotels. They are tropical resorts with a ton of activities included for free. There is a reason that they are so expensice (compared to a hotel) and that is that you never need to leave the resort. You paid for it, you might as well enjoy it. I think a good rule of thumb is no more than 8 hours a week off resort propert (not counting the cat cruise, which is included).
The resort itself is the best "tour" available, and unless you're staying for 2 weeks or more, you never need to leave it!
RomelloSobe - You don't say which resort you are going to, but Floyd's Pelican Bar is a 2 hour drive from CN or CSA and that is too much time away from the resort for just the bar. You could consider including other attractions in that area like the Black River Safari, YS Fals and/or the Appleton Rum tour. If you're going to CTI or CSS, Floyds will be a 4-5 hour drive each way!
Pelican bar...is a total must
We did the Black River Safari/YS Falls/Applteton Estate tour and it was all-day, about $90/pp and totally worth it. If you did something like that, it will be the only excursion you would need to take and is still too much time and driving for some people. Pelican Bar would be cool and is close to Black River, and you might be able to fit YS in, but you would probably not do Appleton.
The Cat Cruise is a must, but it's an excursion that's included and leaves right from the beach. You can do that more than once if you like. Always one of our favorite parts of the trip.
There is a small zipline at YS, but a bettter jungle canopy zipline tour at the Montpelier Outpost thru Chukka. It's an hour and a half drive or so, each way, and the zipline lasts about 2 hours. Again, if you choose that, it will probably be the only off-site excursion you would take in a week.
I would never spend my money to swim with the dolphins or support that practice, but I try not to get too opinionated on the MB, so I'll leave it at that. As an avid scuba diver, I would rather see them in the wild or not at all.
This is a lot of stuff to try and plan for one trip. The Cat Cruise will definitely happen and requires no reservation prior to your arrival at the resort, but the other tours you should wait to book when you get there. We have stayed at different places in the Caribbean where you have/want to have 2-4 off-site excursions, but at Couples, this is far from the case. We are thinking about doing the zipline this Nov, but going to wait til we get there, because once you're there, it's hard to justify leaving. We also dive almost every day, since that's included too!
My favorite tour is the one from the airport to the resort. Takes an 1 1/2 hours, but the scenery is fantastic and the anticipation is totally awesome. My least favorite tour is from the resort back to the airport.:)
Thanks for the info dank120..
my gf has been wanting to do zipline for a while now, so we will definitely checkout the jungle canopy zipline tour at the Montpelier Outpost thru Chukka..!