Cococay Snorkelling advice

Hi,

I’ll be in Cococay at the end of the month, my first ever non-European cruise.

I got snorkelling gear for Christmas and wondered where is best on the Island to go?

We are not planning on renting a bungalow/cabana etc. My main interest on the island is to see lots of marine life.

Any recommendations for how to make the best of the day would be appreciated.

Thanks all

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Stay left off the tender and go to the first beach you encounter. Swim out past the rocks, then go left towards where the ship is anchored (assuming you are going before the pier is complete). Swim out towards the ship until you reach the reef.

When you are done snorkelling walk over to the other side of the island ( turn right as you get off the tender). Just past the aquaadventure park there is a great beach where you can walk out a long ways in the water. We’ve seen barracuda, small reef sharks, rays and other assorted fish here.

When you are done snorkelling walk over to the other side of the island ( turn right as you get off the tender). Just past the aquaadventure park there is a great beach where you can walk out a long ways in the water. We’ve seen barracuda, small reef sharks, rays and other assorted fish here.

From the beach itself or while snorkeling?

From the beach itself or while snorkeling?

From the beach itself.

Hi,

 

I’ll be in Cococay at the end of the month, my first ever non-European cruise.

 

I got snorkelling gear for Christmas and wondered where is best on the Island to go?

 

We are not planning on renting a bungalow/cabana etc. My main interest on the island is to see lots of marine life.

 

Any recommendations for how to make the best of the day would be appreciated.

 

Thanks all

 

 

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Snorkeling is not great at Coco Cay but swim out to the sunken airplane they have placed there, which attracts a lot of fish.

Not a good snorkeling place.

But I guess for people who have never done it

It might be ok..

Stay left off the tender and go to the first beach you encounter. Swim out past the rocks, then go left towards where the ship is anchored (assuming you are going before the pier is complete). Swim out towards the ship until you reach the reef.

That is bad advice....Do not tell people that !

That is bad advice....Do not tell people that !

Please explain.

I've only gone snorkeling twice in my life and the first time was on Coco Cay. There was a designated area for snorkeling, and you had to rent a safety vest of a sort. We bought our own gear because it was cheaper than renting it from RCL.

I thought it was fine, there were lifeguards who fed the fish, so they were everywhere. If you are serious about fish, maybe you'll be disappointed, but I had a great time, and it was only a few bucks to rent their safety vest.

I've only gone snorkeling twice in my life and the first time was on Coco Cay. There was a designated area for snorkeling, and you had to rent a safety vest of a sort. We bought our own gear because it was cheaper than renting it from RCL.

 

I thought it was fine, there were lifeguards who fed the fish, so they were everywhere. If you are serious about fish, maybe you'll be disappointed, but I had a great time, and it was only a few bucks to rent their safety vest.

Regarding the safety vest, the last time I was there the vest was free.

I find if you YouTube Coco Cay. And watch people’s videos( some are good, others not so much) you can get a good idea of what kind of fish are there. I happen to enjoy it. It’s not the greatest for snorkeling but it’s very nice for the price. Free. My last time there I hung out with a Sea Turtle for about 15min. He was having lunch by the sunken plane. I was there the first week of Jan. and the snorkel vests were still free as well. Happy Sailing!!!!

Stay left off the tender and go to the first beach you encounter. Swim out past the rocks, then go left towards where the ship is anchored (assuming you are going before the pier is complete). Swim out towards the ship until you reach the reef.

I agree this is a good area. My daughter had two manatees join her there back around 2012. To the right of this area, as viewed from the beach is a platform you can climb up on to rest without swimming ashore. On hot days big fish tend to congregate there.

This picture of a pink and white octopus was taken in the coral right at the Snorkel beach in the rocks at the lower right corner of this picture

CoCo Cay is pretty much target rich environment anywhere around it. Under the lifeguard towers and docks is golden also...enjoy...we have to wait almost 2 years before we get there again....:loudcry:

This picture of a pink and white octopus was taken in the coral right at the Snorkel beach in the rocks at the lower right corner of this picture

 

CoCo Cay is pretty much target rich environment anywhere around it. Under the lifeguard towers and docks is golden also...enjoy...we have to wait almost 2 years before we get there again....:loudcry:

Great pics Becci, I'll be back again in Sept, Last year visibility wasn't great a week after Irma. I'll dive again hopefully.

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences.

I’m sure for some people there are better places to snorkel but since I live in London anywhere will be awesome to me!

I’ll definitely head to snorkel beach and may try a few other spots through the day.

Hanging out with a sea turtle or manatee would pretty much be a dream! Fingers crossed haha!

I’ll report back any sightings! Thank you all! x

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I plan to be snorkelling there with my family in March... really looking forward to it. One question is some of the people in my party aren't very strong swimmers... do you need to know how to swim in order to go snorkelling at Coco Cay? Can you inflate the life jacket and basically float around?

I plan to be snorkelling there with my family in March... really looking forward to it. One question is some of the people in my party aren't very strong swimmers... do you need to know how to swim in order to go snorkelling at Coco Cay? Can you inflate the life jacket and basically float around?

Yes, you can inflate the life jacket and float. Also, the sand drops off very gradually and there are many places where it is shallow and you can actually stand with your head out of the water. It's really a good place to learn to snorkel.

I plan to be snorkelling there with my family in March... really looking forward to it. One question is some of the people in my party aren't very strong swimmers... do you need to know how to swim in order to go snorkelling at Coco Cay? Can you inflate the life jacket and basically float around?

You can inflate the snorkel vest as much or as little as you want. You will not be able to dive down if the vest is inflated a lot, which is probably what your party is interested in doing if they aren't strong swimmers.

If the people who aren't strong swimmers aren't planning on snorkeling but want to float around and feel secure, I would have them rent a life jacket, not a snorkel vest.

Coco Cay has a nice 'prepared' snorkel area ..... WAY better than anything you'd see at Labadee

This said, it IS a prepared area, so not 100% natural. There are lifeguard stands to help keep you safe. What you will see and how good the visibility will be is 110% weather driven .... except to say that if you get in EARLY other folks have not kicked up the bottom sand .....

dd likes it tho