Best place to snorkel, need help NOW!!!

[angelsop99]

Hello,

I know this might not be the right place to post this question, but I tried under the snorkel forum, no one reply :( , seems like this is the more popular forum:D.

 

Hope you guys can help me out.

 

I'll be taking NOS to eastern caribbean (St. Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Nassau)....I have nevern been snorkeling before, and i want to surprise my parents....i was wondering if you guys could help me out. Where is the best place to snorkel (or the best tour to take?) as far as for seeing colorful corals, and tropical fishs, clear blue water....thank you so much!!!

 

thank you

[42trvl]

Can't say that we're the most experienced snorkelers around, but of the few places we've been to, we thought St. John was the nicest. You should be able to either do an excursion there from St. Thomas or go on your own. I think it was about a 20 min. boat ride and then easy taxis to any one of a number of gorgeous beaches.

[Iamthesea]

I agree! Go to St. Johns by Red Hook ferry and take an open air taxi to Trunk Bay National Park.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=172448

[cruiseman_tx]

Sounds like you're new to cruising, so here's my 2 cents worth. At the St. Thomas stop, I'd say take the ship's snorkle excursion to Trunk Bay on St.John. It's one of the most spectacular beaches in the world, and a good place to snorkle. They have a trail with underwater markers to guide you. It's not the best snorkling in the world, but I think it's a very good place for beginners to get a feel for it. All transportation, equipment and instruction is provided, so all you have to do is show up on time for the excursion and follow the person in charge.

 

You can find info here on how to do the same thing on your own for less $$, but that entails a taxi-ferry-taxi ride both ways. For a newbee, I think the extra $$ are worth it, so all you have to do is relax and have a great time.

My 2nd choice ship's excursion would be Captain Nautica. A very fast power raft takes you to St.John for two snorkle stops, one of which is usually Honeymoon Beach. Complimentary refreshments and shrimp cocktail were included.

[luvjftffc]

I think Coki Beach was a great place to snorkel, which is located in St. Thomas.

[angelsop99]

Hello again,

I couldn't find the St.John Trunk Bay snorkel tour on RCCL's shore excursion, I only see Buck island. Where do i find the tour package

 

thanks

[trabucocruiser]

I vote for St. Thomas, Buck Island catamaran excursion over a sunken ship.Water was clear and warm, they supply he equipment if you don't have it, and guide you around. Good for beginners or if you have a few trips under your belt.

[sailrnav]

The Buck Island Sail and Snorkel is one of our favorites, combines our two favorite sports, sailing and snorkeling. Have done it many times. Trunk Bay is also very good for a beginner, however, it is not a current RCCL excursion. You have to go on your own.

 

Our favorite RCCL excursion is the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel on Antigua.

[NancyB84]

I vote for Trunk Bay. Absolutely beautiful. You can go on your own... take a taxi to Red Hook Ferry in St Thomas, take the Ferry to St John, a taxi to Trunk Bay... it is a great place to relax and snorkel. Plus if you go on your own, you are not under the time constraints of the ship excursion. It is so relaxing and peaceful there. There is an underwater trail, marked, for the people who snorkel. They have showers/changingrooms/snack bar/rentals etc!!!! It was also less expensive to go on our own too. Someone recently posted the prices of the taxi and ferry, it has been a year for me so I can't remember exactly. It was easy to do though. Our first non-ship excursion on our own. Good luck and have a great time on your cruise.

[QLOTP]

Coki beach in St Thomas was great. Many, many, many fish!!! Its right off the beach and great for young kids.

[Duanerice1]

Coki Beach would get my vote too. Not an expensive cab ride and you can rent snorkel equipment there. St John's is quite a hike to get there. Cab, ferry, cab, each way.

We took a Godfrey our which inclued a tour of the island and 2 hours snokelng.

 

Duane

[NCTarheelsCruiser]

Hello again,

I couldn't find the St.John Trunk Bay snorkel tour on RCCL's shore excursion, I only see Buck island. Where do i find the tour package

 

thanks

 

You are right, the Trunk Bay excursion through RCI is not available currently, we were just on Jewel last week and were going to try and go on that one again, as we had been on it previously and really enjoyed it.

Anyway, we decided to take the catamaran snorkel tour to Buck Island instead and don't regret it at all. If you choose that one, you will be sailing on the Castaway Girl, a very nice catamaran that has stairs forward that lead right into the water, so you don't have to jump off the side or the back to enter the water. It also makes getting back on the catamaran much easier when you are done. The crew was cool, if you go say hello to Brooke and Mango for us, they were really nice and kept our Rum punch cups full on the way back. The snorkeling was good, we saw lots of tropical fish, also turtles (this island is a nature preserve and a turtle nesting area), and barracuda. There is a shipwreck here as well that is split into three different sections and was interesting to see. I would definitley recommend going on this trip.

[cruiseman_tx]

Hello again,

I couldn't find the St.John Trunk Bay snorkel tour on RCCL's shore excursion, I only see Buck island. Where do i find the tour package

 

thanks

 

I was fixing to apologize for mis-information, but then I looked at the RCCL web site, and under shore excursions found the "St. John Beach Tour" listed. Has a snorkle stop at Trunk Bay, just as I remembered. However, that doesn't mean it's currently available. If you try to book it online they will tell you if it is or isn't available.