Rose Island Adventure: Snorkel, Sea Turtles, and Private Beach

The reason we booked this experience over others was it advertised SNORKELING with sea turtles. However, upon boarding the boat they told us that we were only observing sea turtles from the boat. At the sea turtle area, we were told it was because of sharks. That is a hard argument when literally every other tour group at the same area was in the water snorkeling. Many people on the boat looked frustrated and disappointed. The family across from me also said they thought it was we would be in the water. I showed the captain a screenshot of the listing and expressed my confusion. He said they never snorkel with the turtles. I was concerned going in after seeing reviews saying that it was just observing, but other reviews said you do snorkel with them. The snorkeling over rainbow reef and the island were beautiful, but for the cost we left very disappointed in the false advertising.

This excursion doesn’t start by the cruise port. You will need to get a taxi and that will cost you around $25 each way. Your first stop will be at a reef where you have 25 min. to snorkel. No fins were offered and the current was pretty strong. I consider myself a good swimmer and I was struggling to stay pretty close to the boat as I knew our time was short. Be careful getting back into the boat as all steps except the top 2 have no grip and are slick and your foot can slip easily. You then drive over to where the turtle can hopefully be seen but you aren’t allowed to get out and swim with the turtles as they say this is a spot where the sharks come to feed in the turtles. There were other tours at the same spot and their customers were swimming with the turtles. I was very disappointed in not getting the chance to enter the water here. Once we reached the 007 beach club it was nice. They are still working on the space and construction was going on behind blinds. We had ample time to swim and relax in the water here and had use to kayaks, paddle boards and 3 floating water trampolines (something think that). Other thing that one should know is that getting onto the boat from the dock in Paradise can be a little challenging if it’s low tide. The staff was very helpful but it is a little scary. We also choose this excursion because we didn’t want to do the swim with the pigs/feed the pigs and this was also obviously an option that wasn’t advertised here for this excursion. We didn’t know this until they called for anyone that had paid to feed/swim with the pigs to please come out of the water. Hope this review helps others.

It was a great experience! The captain and Andrew were amazing and very friendly. We will definitely do this again.

O07 outfitters was our boat and we were put on Shore to shore which was the wrong boat and I asked 2 times and we were herded on there and the snorkeling was sub par at best then some how When it was time to heat every body got jerk chicken the Shawn first mate called us out on the speaker as who was with OO7 then gave us horrible hamburgers and made a point that we should have used them needless to say I was not impressed

The experience was very fun. The captain was a bit rude. The two other helpers on the boat were fantastic and helpful. Overall a very fun day.

We have a group of 10 including 4 kids. We all enjoyed the boat ride (beautiful clear water) and the island. We wished we had more time for snorkeling. By the time we got in the water we only had about 10-12 minutes. We saw several sea turtles and the fish at the snorkeling were beautiful. Swimming at the island was a highlight. Helpful hint - if you contact them ahead of time they will pick you up within walking distance of the cruise (8 or more people). Saved time and money taking a car to Margaritaville.

Staff were excellent. Ad was misleading. You do not snorkel with turtles. That was main reason we booked the trip as did other families who were surprised. Beach club very good. Snorkeling short maybe 20 mins total.

The staff was great. The boat was packed so it wasn't very comfortable. Snorkeling only lasted for around 20 minutes. I really was going for more. Additionally, the reef was deep, so you really couldn't get a close up view except for the fish that would choose to swim near you. After searching for turtles, we went to their private club for lunch. This was really just sitting on a beach for a couple hours. While beautiful, I could have just stayed at the resort if I wanted to lay around. I did enjoy the views while boating to and from the marina.

The snorkeling and Rose Island were beautiful (8/10), but the excursion was extremely poorly managed. Our tour which was supposed to be 10 AM-2 PM was rescheduled twice on the day of the excursion, with a final time of 12:30 PM-4:30 PM. We called Viator to cancel because we were worried about missing our 5:00 PM cruise. The operator then arrived, asked us not to cancel, and repeatedly guaranteed we'd be back at the cruise port by 4:30 PM and dropped off directly at the terminal. Based on those assurances, we withdrew our cancellation request. The excursion itself was enjoyable, but everything fell apart on the return. Despite reminding the crew multiple times that we had a cruise to catch, there was no urgency or organization. Passengers weren't called back to the boat, we didn't leave Rose Island until about 4:22 PM, and the captain even slowed down for 5 minutes so everyone could watch sea turtles. We weren't dropped off until 5:02 PM, forcing us to sprint 10–12 minutes to our ship. We only made it because others onboard intervened. Otherwise, we would’ve definitely missed our ship. What makes this so disappointing is that the issue wasn't bad weather or circumstances beyond their control—it was poor planning, repeated delays, disorganization, and promises they failed to keep. Throughout the ordeal, no one apologized or acknowledged the stress they caused. The snorkeling was good, but the operation deserves 1/10. If you're arriving by cruise ship, I strongly recommend choosing a different operator. Missing your ship is simply not a risk worth taking.

They are hilarious 😂 “Tips are not required, they are expected” I went with my whole family and it was so fun and enjoyable from the pigs to the food and all of it was just so good 10/10 would recommend for family’s on vacation or just by yourself!!! Totally worth the price! We went for around 4hrs and it was fun! They were 1hr and a half late but the atmosphere and everything was worth it! Around 3-4 staff (who were super kind and helpful) per boat ride and it fit around 20 passengers on it! Had so much fun!!!