January Shore Excursions in W. Caribbean

[SherriLynn]

We are planning to travel on the Carnival Conquest over New Year's (Dec 31, 2006 - January 7, 2007) stopping in Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. This will be our first cruise, and I am reading that the air temperature is usually around 77/78 and the water temp in the low 80's. Do most people consider that too cold to swim? We are interested in more 'adventurous' type shore excursions like Stingray City or Snuba, but we don't want to waste money and have a bad time if it will be too cold. On the other hand, I don't want to miss a fun opportunity if it is not considered too cold or if excursion companies offer wetsuits. Any advice on the weather, or other fun non-water shore excursions, or the one-day all-inclusive resort excursions would be helpful and very much appreciated.

[mollroddot]

I'm going to same ports same date but diffrent ship. In Montego Bay we booked with infobarrettadventures.com. I talked with some one on a diffrent chat line, they said they went in January and wasnt cold. One did say in dense jungle it got a little cool on a tubing trip latter in day in jungle when sun was getting low. If you are from a clod area 75 will seem hot.

[penny3333]

Like mollroddot stated, if you are from a cold climate, it will not be too cold. I wear a wet suit even when the water is in the upper 80s. Plus a diving hat. It really does help. Don't miss out on some great snorkeling. Stingray City is awesome and there are a couple of wrecks near where you tender in Grand Cayman that are great as well. Montego Bay, an all-inclusive or a tour of the island would be a good idea. Whatever you decide in Jamaica, it would be a wise choice to make sure you are with a group. Jamaica is a beautiful and fun island, but it is a very poor island. Just use good common sense as you would in any major city. In Cozumel we did a swim with the dolphins in Chankanaab Park that was totally awesome. I know the park is back, but not sure about the dolphins. There have been a lot of posts about Paradise Beach being a good choice there. You could also check out the ruins at Tulhum and Xel-ha is a wonderful place for water sports. Enjoy your cruise!!

[Antoniodkm]

We are going to do the Conquest during New Year's, my family is counting the days left to be there...

Do you know something about Sunset Beach All-inclusive at Montego?.. do we need to make reservations?, is it open to the public?

[penny3333]

When I went to Montego Bay, I took a land excursion through the ship. I probably should have done the all inclusive, but it was an interesting tour. I've read some good reviews on Sunset Beach. SanDee seemed to enjoy it. Best wishes and have a great cruise!!

[BJC123]

It definitely won't be too cool in the water. We went on Conquest this past January, and the water for the Stingray tour was great. A little choppy, but not cool at all - we are from Houston. Now the weather in Montego, was too hot! We didn't do a water tour and sure wished we had ... we had sweat pouring and that was too gross trying to shop later with wet sweaty clothes! We used Captain Marvin's for the stingray tour and it was fantastic.