Anyone Snorkel in Grand Turk recently? Best Snorkel Excursion there?

Hi, My Carnival cruise ship is stopping at Grand Turks on Dec. 24th and want to know if anyone has snorkeled there since the hurricanes? What is the best snorkel tour? I have heard Bight Reef (Coral Gardens) is good. Any opinions or advice greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Haven't been there since the storms but I'll be there in February...oddly enough, on a Royal Caribbean (not Carnival-related) ship. Really curious to see how the reefs have been affected.

I snorkeled off the beach on both sides of the cruise terminal pier on my last visit after returning from my snuba excursion and oddly enough, the snorkeling to the left (i.e., near Margaritaville and up to Jack's Shack) in deep water was much better than toward the right (undeveloped beach and the conch graveyard). There were many more fish than in past years' visits and I'm hoping that has continued to grow.

Thanks for your reply Pellaz. I will let you know how the snorkeling went when I get back. I hope to do a snorkeling excursion that you can get there on the beach to the left. If not, I will just snorkel off shore and hope for some colorful fish!

Thanks for your reply Pellaz. I will let you know how the snorkeling went when I get back. I hope to do a snorkeling excursion that you can get there on the beach to the left.

Through the cruise line or locally? I know there's a snorkel shack on the beach that rents snorkeling gear, but I'm not sure if they arrange excursions there.

If not, I will just snorkel off shore and hope for some colorful fish!

Always a decent plan at Grand Turk and of course, totally free if you bring your own gear (I do). You'll want to go out near the safety line in deep water. There are two sunken anchors and a cannon to provide a "starter" for coral in about 15' depth, out from Margaritaville. The depth increases to 35 or 40' as you get further north near Jack's Shack; I saw more fish there.

Don't go out past the safety line for too long or a guy on a jet-ski will warn you back. If a ship is parked at the "inside" part of the pier, someone from the ship might yell at you since the pier, and the ship, are less than 200 feet away. Close enough that if a ship arrives or departs on that side, they will clear the water due to strong currents from the ship's maneuvering thrusters.

You can also use Grand Turk Divers and they have a tour that picks you up right there on the beach and takes you to 2 snorkel sites, right on the other side of the ship and at the wall (we stopped for this, but opted not to do it because my daughter was having some issues and we had really booked this tour for the island) and then they take you over to a private island (Gibbs Caye) and the stingrays come right up to you at the beach. It was a great experience! Check out my signature line for the review...there's TONS of pictures.