And the winner is - Mi Dushi! I think on Monday we’ll be signing the contract to privately charter Mi Dushi! The decision of Jolly Pirates vs Mi Dushi was a really tough one. I’ve read great things about both of them and have found them both really helpful in their email communications – very responsive! Jolly Pirates’ pre-scheduled excursion is about $5 pp less than Mi Dushi if you book online, but chartering their ship privately is considerably more expensive. Another upside of Jolly Pirates is that they launch from Moomba Beach right by the Marriott. Mi Dushi’s biggest negative (for us) is that they launch from the other end of Palm Beach, from the DePalm Pier by the RIU & Westin. This might be too much of a walk for our older guests, so we’ll arrange a cab for them. (Anything in Palm Beach is ‘walkable’ for most – I’d say the DePalm pier is maybe 3/4 mile from the Marriott, walking the beach. Maybe 15 minutes? I’ll post again when I find out for sure.)

So why Mi Dushi?! We decided we liked the additional control we get with the private charter. Instead of going from 3:00-6:00, we’re going to go from 3:30-6:30 so we can come in during sunset (sun sets around 6:15 at the end of October). I really like their bar offerings – good liquor selection, a few tropical drinks AND beer. (Some excursions don’t include beer — I don’t know whether JP does or not, but think that I at least saw one of the catamaran excursions that didn’t include beer.) The initial proposal offers two ’shallow reef’ snorkeling spots, but I asked about Antilla since that was something JP offers. They say yes, we can instead do one reef spot and the Antilla Shipwreck. (Now I need to figure out if we want to go to Antilla.) Finally, Mi Dushi offers snacks, something not included in JPs prices. And since its a private charter she says they can customize the snacks a bit for our group with some more cheese and add some fruit. The cost? At the date of this post, minimum $1100 + 3% tax for the private charter (this could be different at the time you inquire and keep in mind October is ‘off-season’, so I have no idea the price during a busier season). That includes up to 30 people. Additional people are $36 each. This includes 3 hours of sailing / snorkeling, all snorkeling gear (including a disposable mouthpiece), snacks, unlimited drinks and rope swing.

Update: Read our Mi Dushi Review»

One note: for either excursion you need to bring your own towel! They do not provide towels. I’m going to email the Marriott and see if we can use their beach towels. Probably not but its worth asking. I decided against towels for the welcome bags since Marriott provides nice ones on the beach, but never thought about the excursion! Also, they recommend bringing a long sleeve shirt since it can get cool when the sun goes down, and if you’re going to take a cab, you’ll want dry pants / shorts. Mi Dushi’s website FAQs are really helpful» (and here are Jolly Pirates’ FAQs»)