Looking for a fun and adventurous excursion in St. Kitts? We took a St. Kitts Dune Buggy tour that our family thought was so fun! This post will be a review with our experience and photos of our Dune Buggy cruise excursion in Basseterre St. Kitts.
When looking for a fun family-friendly excursion in St. Kitts during our Royal Caribbean cruise, we found Sunny Blue Rentals. We had already had a water excursion planned during this cruise with our Catamaran tour in St. Thomas, so we wanted something a little different that our kids, 9 and 7 at the time, could participate in as well. Sunny Blue Rentals had Dune Buggies that could accommodate either 2 or 4 people, so we chose them so our family could fit into one dune buggy…and so I wouldn’t have to drive! All of their ATVS are street legal and fully automatic.
We booked through their website and received an email confirmation. It was stated on their website and they reiterated in the confirmation that each driver had to bring their drivers license and $25 cash in order to obtain a temporary St. Kitts drivers license.
We were told to wait at a particular spot for our transportation to the tour location when we arrived at the cruise port in Basseterre St. Kitts. We waited a little long for the tour guide to show up and when we were finally all together, one of the “drivers” in our group had forgotten his drivers license and we had to wait for him to go all the way back onto the ship and come back. Nice.
When we arrived at the tour start location, it was a small building and each driver had to fill out their paperwork for the temporary license. Our dune buggies were lined up and ready for us, so we were directed to go to ours.
We were handed large goggles, which we quickly took for the kids, but us adults already had sunglasses, so we initially declined. He quickly replied that although they aren’t required, he highly recommends them. So we took them to have on hand just in case. Wow, he was not lying…trust me, YOU WANT THE GOGGLES! Pictures further down this post will show you why.
This was a guided tour, but only in the sense that we had a tour guide in an atv in the front of the pack leading the way and a tour guide in the back of the pack so that no one gets left behind. Otherwise, it was like we were driving on our own adventure.
We started out driving on roads away from the building, along the water, where we could see our cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.
Then, we went offroad and into dirt, farmland, and trees. Time to hold on!
Once we got onto the dirt roads, we quickly put on our goggles. The dune buggies are pretty open and dirt was flying in from all around.
Every inch of our bodies and clothing was covered in dirt. We didn’t mind because we were having fun and we couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous we looked. But we had to be careful with laughing because if we opened our mouth, dirt would fly in! 😀
After driving for a bit, we arrived at a scenic spot to take photos and check out banana trees and other vegetation.
Our tour guide shared some history of St. Kitts and Nevis with us, as well as local life and traditions.
We then got back on the road and drove to another scenic lookout near the water.
At this location, there was a food/drink stand that we all got a Caribbean beer from and the kids got some chips. There were some locals hanging out as well and everyone was super friendly. There were also restrooms to wash our faces.
The courtyard had various little shops with locals selling goods. They weren’t pushy but if you’d rather not talk or look, you could walk down the middle of the courtyard towards the water.
After hanging out for a bit, we got back in our dune buggies and drove back to the tour building. We were then taken back to the cruise port.
This was a really fun tour. I particularly enjoyed that it was adventurous without being strenuous and that our whole family could be together in one dune buggy.
My sister and brother in law were able to get a 2-person dune buggy, so they spent less and they didn’t have to share with strangers. I know we all fam on a cruise, but sometimes you want the experience with just your party and not have to rock-paper-scissors which person gets to drive.
If you want to drive, you must be 18 years or older with a valid driver’s license present on the date of rental in order to operate the ATV/Dune Buggy or Scooter.
I did not rock-paper-scissors my husband…we all knew well ahead he would be driving because I am the passenger princess. It was also quite the off-roading experience that he was well-practiced in…it was like us passengers were on a thrill ride! We would not have had as much fun if I was the one driving.
I also liked how there was a sense of independence on the tour and that the guides trusted us to keep up. I am not against “being a tourist” as touristy things can be amazing, but I don’t like looking like I’m being herded like fragile old cattle. Our tour guide was like “Keep up and let’s go!” Love it!
One thing to note is that we did not go to Timothy Hill Overlook. That is the main picturesque lookout spot in St. Kitts & Nevis that offers a 360-degree view of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the island of Nevis and the hilly peninsula. If Timothy Hill Lookout is something you must do, I think they offer several tour options or simply ask the tour guide if that is somewhere you will be going or perhaps even ask via email when booking. Otherwise, you will have to go there some other way.
We would definitely recommend this tour and would even do it again…maybe my son will want to do it in a few years when he has his drivers license. I will still remain as the passenger princess but will maybe be holding on a little tighter.
