slabeaume

You can see the snorkel excusion boat from the beach. I have seen nurse & reef sharks.

 

Grand Turks: another secret place to snorkel is near the pier next to the beach. Last April 2011 I was the only one snorkeling in this area and there were many tropical fish and two nurse sharks.

That makes me feel a little better. I have seen a nurse and reef shark while snorkeling elsewhere and was happy they didn't eat me. I love snorkeling! So the snorkeling in Grand Turks----is by the pier better then down by Jacks (or whatever that bar is called?

The path is less than a 2 minute walk from the pier.

 

After disembarking from the tender and before going through the arch entrance to HMC take a right toward a small house/building. You will see two paths, asphalt path to the left of the structure and a sandy path through the mangroves to the right. Take the sandy path up the hill. At the top of the hill you will see a beach 500 ft long. It is rocky and you need to be careful.

 

Since this area is not supervised by HAL, do not snorkel alone and you need to be an above average snorkeler.

 

Enter the water near the rip rap (stone wall) where the bottom is sandy, snorkel out 50 feet until you see sandy bottom and then snorkel parallel to beach.

 

I have snorkeled at this location three times and have seen many tropical fish, stringways, sharks and barracudas :eek: !

 

Good luck

Sounds like the area the snorkel excusion takes you to. Although happily I didn't see a shark. What kind and how many have you seen there?

We have also gone to the area where you swim with the stingrays and the attendant let us get in the water with the rays since no one was there.

 

Also for good snorkelers; there is a great snorkel place on the other side of the island only 5 minutes from the pier. The snorkeling at the main beach is fair to poor.

Is there a path to the good snorkeling area? I did the snorkel excursion last time and really enjoyed it, but would love to snorkel from the beach.

My first cruise was on the Disney Wonder with my father in 2004 (I was 48). Since neither of us had cruised before, we chose what was suppose to be a 4 night cruise (he chose Disney) and it went to Nassau and Castaway Cay. At Castaway Cay, we went on a snorkel excursion where my dad, as he put it---attempted drowning himself. If you've never been in a situation where you needed to be evacuated off the ship, you're missing quite an experience!

But I still fell in love with the "cruising" aspect of the trip and have been on 4 more cruises. Even with the catastrophy we went through, the employees were fantastic.

My first cruise was on the Disney Wonder with my father in 2004 (I was 48). Since neither of us had cruised before, we chose what was suppose to be a 4 night cruise (he chose Disney) and it went to Nassau and Castaway Cay. At Castaway Cay, we went on a snorkel excursion where my dad, as he put it---attempted drowning himself. If you've never been in a situation where you needed to be evacuated off the ship, you're missing quite an experience!

But I still fell in love with the "cruising" aspect of the trip and have been on 4 more cruises. Even with the catastrophy we went through, the employees were fantastic.