Barbados Travel Forum

Hope someone can help me out here. Cruising the Caribbean in Jan and have a frim idea of which places of interest I want to visit in Barbados. However none of the organised trips either arranged by the cruise line or agencies in Barbados meet my needs. So the query is would I be able to hire a taxi once off the liner, specify where I want to go, agree a price and expect the driver to either wait for me at each destination or pick up at a specified time (paying at the end of the day,of course !!) ??? More to the point, how much would this cost approximately, assuming 6 hours or thereabouts? All advice gratefully received. Thanks, in anticipation. Paul

Yes you can, as soon as you exit the terminal there will be dozens of taxis waiting. I don't know what the going daily rate is nowadays. You could try and bargain, ask a few different taxi drivers first before accepting a price, etc. We did the exact same thing while there on a cruise about 10- 12 years ago and I don't remember what we paid but it was MUCH cheaper than the shore excursions the ship was selling!

I saw you asked the same question for St Thomas. Most of the taxis there are mass people movers- they take 15- 20 people at the same time to different destinations on the island. They are more geared up to move 1000's of people at a time than in Barbados. Although the beaches are very pretty (Megan's beach, for example) the price over is per person and roundtrip is something like $20 p/person.

Hi there....

I did ALOT of research for my December cruise stop in Barbados. I sent emails to 12 tour guides to ask for a price to go "beach hopping" for the day.

I was properly horrified at the prices that I was getting- here are a couple of examples:

* $50 per hour
* $375 for 8 individuals or less for 6 hours

A fellow by tyhe name of CAMERON REID from www.scenicbarbados.com quoted me $150 for 6 hours. You might want to check him out. As there are only 4 of us, we decided against him.

We're headed 1/2 mile from cruise port to "BRANDON/BRIGHTON BEACH" and WEISER'S Restaurant Lounge,

We've been advised to WALK OUT of the terminal to hire a cab. Should be 3 bucks per person each way.

(Just another 1/2 mile to Carlisle Bay and the Boat Yard....but it sounds like it's a madhouse)

Good luck. I'll do a trip report upon my return...

I'm new here and not up-to-date on posting guidelines....have you looked at a popular cruising website that critics keep busy?

One thing that I failed to mention.

Before you LEAVE the cruise terminal, you'll find (hopefully) a tourism office with free maps and advise...including taxi fares that you can expect to pay.

Thanks Nanette. Like yourself I was surprised at the taxi rates in Barbados but take your points regarding searching around at the terminal. Contacted Cameron Reid who replied promptly but seems his minimum is $125 and $150 if there are more than two persons. Means I'll have to find another couple who want the same itinerary as us ...might be difficult. We only want to visit three places but with travel & browsing time this might add up to 4-5 hours and at $30 an hour (even $50 as you stated) that's too pricey. Wondered if we could take a taxi to one venue and then pick up another to move on from there.. might be a better option. Planning Gun Hill Station, Orchid World (how far apart are these two?? walking distance ??) then Sunbury plantation and finally Brighton Beach, though our ship departs at 4pm so might not be worth visiting there. Anyway. Thanks again. All advice and info gratefully received Paul x