For a video review of our experience with Barefoot Sailing, click here.
On our October 2008 Sky cruise we stopped in Freeport and Nassau. We did a Sail & Snorkel Cruise with Sand Dollar Cruises in Freeport on a catamaran. We opted for snorkeling again in Nassau, but this time aboard a sailboat. We booked the All Day Island Cruise with Barefoot Sailing Cruises.
Our day in Nassau was rather gloomy with gray skies and choppy seas, but the rain held off for most of the day. Once at the dock we met up with our captain and mate and after handing over our shoes (they take Barefoot Sailing seriously) we boarded our vessel for the day, Riding High, a sailboat along with a dozen others. It was a full boat.
Due to the weather the Captain changed the itinerary for the day to give us the best day possible given the conditions. He was able to find us a reef area to snorkel that was protected form the wind. We enjoyed our time snorkeling and saw 3 stingrays, two lionfish, a sea cucumber, a starfish and an eel. Not bad.
The boat was anchored off the shore in the area in the two pictures below. We swam towards the shore and then followed the shore line down a ways snorkeling. It was a little work to get to the reef, but it was nice to be in this protected area where the water was calm.
Lunch was provided on the boat. While we were snorkeling the Captain and First Mate prepared the food. Obviously some of the work was done ahead of time, but they fired up the grill on the boat and threw down some delicious food. It really was an amazing lunch with BBQ chicken, ribs, beans, etc. After lunch those that wanted headed back for more snorkeling. Scot and I were the last ones back to the boat at the end of the day trying to get every last second in the water that we could.
We really enjoyed the day in Nassau with Barefoot Sailing, but we have to say we enjoyed our morning with Captain Tony of Sand Dollar Cruises in Freeport even more. Why?
1. Well, we really liked the catamaran. It was much roomier. She was a beautiful boat.
2. The weather was better which was an unfair advantage, but truthfully factored into our enjoyment.
3. The reef in Nassau was good, but the reef in Freeport was incredible. We saw more fish there than we did snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
4. Captain Tony was a stand up guy to take us out even though we were his only customers that morning. The folks at Barefoot Sailing told us he was crazy and he lost money doing that. I’m sure that is true, but what Tony gained was two loyal supporters who have been singing his praises ever since.
I love your site in particular the sections that teaches us the readers how to Save! I too had a sailing trip in the Bahamas earlier this year and was fortunate to have tons of sunshine, which was great because I got some diving in. I found the Bahamas.com website run by the government there to be quite useful in planning out my trip.
My fiancee and I booked an excursion through Shore Trips.com with this company as part of our vacation. The day of the cruise, Randy (the “Captain”) was over 30 minutes late to the pick up location. My fiancee went to find a pay phone to call them. When “Randy” showed up, he did not apologize and insisted that I give him a description of my fiancee so that he could go find him. The weather that day was cold and really windy. The water was so choppy that the cruise line that my fiancee and I were traveling with canceled all water activities, but BareFoot sailing did not. We were rushed onto the “yacht” which is NOTHING MORE THAN A SAILBOAT! It smelled like mold and mildew. “Randy” did not interact with anyone on the sailboat except for his crew (his brother in law and another person). Once we got to the snorkeling site, his EXACT words were, “You have 1 hour from now to snorkel, no from when you get in the water, so you need to get in”. The excursion is advertised as a 4 hour excursion, but we received less than 3.5 hours by their own admission, but refuse to refund any money. When I complained to Shore Trips, I was sent a response detailing what occurred on the sailboat from someone who was not on the boat.
ShoreTrips.com had told us that they had a previous business relationship with BareFoot Sailing , but that BareFoot Sailing had decided to do their own marketing and didn’t need ShoreTrips.com’s help any longer.. This changed at the end of last year (2009) when BareFoot Sailing decided to build a marketing relationship with them again. So it’s clear that ShoreTrips.com is going to side with BareFoot Sailing regardless of what unsatisfied customers are telling them because ShoreTrips.com does not want to lose BareFoot Sailing as a customer.
To save unwanted headaches and aggravation, please book with a company that is 100% dedicated to customer satisfaction and not just money.