Written by Kim
Barbados is one of our favorite islands. It’s pretty far south and east in the Caribbean so we don’t cruise here often but it’s always a treat. The people are lovely, the sea is so blue, there’s lots of turtles to see so we usually go snorkeling
Our friend, Dee, found a new catamaran tour for us to try, Silvermoon Catamaran. They got great reviews and we were hoping they were as good as Sail Calabasa we’ve done a few times. Gina from Sail Calabasa does a fantastic tour.
We docked at the port and I forgot how long the pier was. We were running a little late so jumped on the shuttle bus to get to the pickup point. At first we couldn’t find the tour but the guide came a few minutes later so all was good. We jumped in the van for the 5 minute ride to the dock
The catamaran was beautiful and very large for our group of 10. We were supposed to have a private tour but 2 couples needed to cancel so they added 4 other people with the 6 of us. One of the couples we didn’t know told us to thank our friends for cancelling because they were on the waitlist and happy to get the opportunity to go.
Our crew was fabulous. Kim, our captain, was expecting her 4th baby in July. She already has 3 boys, 25, 23, and 10 and will wecome another boy. We told her she’s nuts. Our mate, Chelsea, was a little new and literally learning the ropes from Fabian and Kim. Fabian was great – he did everything – cook, clean, raise the sails, snorkel and help us, feed the stingrays, etc.
Our first stop for snorkeling were a few shipwrecks just a short boat ride from the pier. We were there about 20 minutes. The currents were a bit strong so Alex and others snorkeled. I just swam a bit but mostly held on to the ladder so I didn’t drift too far from the boat.
Stop 2 was to see the turtles and stingrays and other fish of course. We saw a bunch of stingrays, turtles and fish. Fabian was diving down to feed them so they would come by us.
After our second snorkel stop we took a 20 minute sail to an area by a beach. It was beautiful. There wasn’t much to see there but we could swim while the crew prepared lunch for us. Lunch was delicious – fresh grilled tuna, barbecue chicken, rice & peas, baked pasta, fried plantains, salad & garlic bread. We were here about 2 hours
After a few hours at this stop we set sail back to the pier on a leisurely sail that took about an hour. Some took a nap while others of us enjoyed some rum sours, beers or other drinks with some dessert of homemade banana bread baked from bananas grown in Fabian’s yard.
In summary, Silvermoon Catamarans and Sail Calabasa offer a very similar tour. Both only take 10-12 passengers so you get a very personalized tour. They offer a home cooked lunch, snacks and drinks. They both have a ladder for easy access to the water and very attentive mates to help if you are nervous snorkeling. They will even pull you around on a buoy if you can’t swim. Silvermoon’s catamaran is a bit larger but I think the service (e.g. bringing drinks and anticipating your needs) is a bit better on Calabasa. I highly recommend both
I went up to walk on the treadmill when we got back on the ship. It was a great time to walk as the gym was empty. Our dinner was in Lawn Grill tonight. We enjoyed lots of laughs, some pizza and good steaks. I finally remembered to bring Dee & John along too.
The show was a Neil Diamond trivia singer, Robert Neary. I’m not a huge Neil Diamond fan but he was pretty good. For all my Wayne friends – he is playing the Shea Center at WPU on October 18 if you’re interested.
Our last port will be Antigua. Until then….
