Ocean Village Cruises Organised Excursions

"That's a lovely fish - look it's the one swimming!" Everyone laughed at the woman's comment - of course, all the fish were swimming. No wonder, however, she got excited, as there really wasn't much activity in the water. We were on a "Glass Bottom Boat" excursion that stopped about 200 yards away from the beach at Bonaire. The two "guides" spoke to each other in Papamiento for the majority of the one hour trip. We did get a free plastic cup of orange squash or Pepsi Cola plus the loan of a postcard showing a variety of fish. I took lots of photos but they were mainly of the other passengers as they stared futilely through the smeared glass in the middle of the boat. Perhaps it was because it was the last trip of the day and our guides were tired but I felt that at £20 each it was a lot to pay for something we could have seen from the edge of the beach. If you take a similar cruise around Caribbean islands wait till you reach Dominica and then just look into the water as you walk off the ship - you'll see an amazing variety of brightly coloured fish all eager to be admired for free!

In sharp contrast our excursion on Isla Margarita to La Restinga National Park was fantastic. The guide, Daniel, could not possibly have been more informative, entertaining or caring. The day was action packed with a tour of plants and animals in a reserve, exploration of a maze, many samples of drinks and fruit, souvenir shopping opportunities, photo stops, a visit to a marine museum, a fast speedboat trip across a lagoon then a gentle exploration of mangroves before zooming back across the lagoon. A magical fun-packed day - and only a couple of pounds more than for staring for an hour through dirty glass on Bonaire.

We sampled five other "Action Ashore" excursions on our Ocean Village cruise. Most were bus tours with photo stops but another excursion that stands out was the rainforest hike to Middleham Falls on Dominica. The guide was good but more athletic than most of the group who were older and not so used to climbing slippery rocks and scrambling over tree roots in pouring rain at break neck speed. The rum punch was a delicious when we finally collapsed! It's a trip that no one will ever forget.

The majority of the excursions are around three hours. Many people choose to arrange their own trips using local transport thus making full use of the time the cruise ship is moored at each island. It seems a shame that the excursions are so short as there were many places we would have liked to linger longer. Everything is done with one eye on your watch so that you are not the one keeping everyone waiting on the coach. If you don't go on any other trip, however, I hope you will get the opportunity to join Daniel to explore La Restinga National Park, Isla Margarita.