Eastern Caribbean Snorkeling

[Berkeley Gal]

Will be on the Emerald Princess in December with stops in St. Thomas, Aruba, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Prince Cays. Would like to hear about recent snorkeling excursions as last year we were disappointed in our St. Thomas and Aruba excursions as we found the sites were short on coral and fish (but not on people.) Princess Cays was still good and in Curacao we very much enjoyed our excursion.

 

Experienced snorkelers-- what good snorkeling excursions have you taken recently? Have you been to Trunk Bay when there are three cruise ships in port?

[dodwa]

In Dominica we snorkel end with 60 of our "closest" friends at Champagne Reef - I would not recommend that. The excursion was nice enough but SOOO crowded. We snorkeled with Aruba Bob in Aruba - it was great - we'd do it again for sure. In St. Thomas we did Discover Scuba which was a nice first dive and lesson if you are thinking about learning to scuba. It wasn't amazing scenery, but the lesson was nice. We didn't do an organized excursion in Grenada. Have fun, that's a great cruise!

 

 

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[Stevesan]

Will be on the Emerald Princess in December with stops in St. Thomas, Aruba, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Prince Cays. Would like to hear about recent snorkeling excursions as last year we were disappointed in our St. Thomas and Aruba excursions as we found the sites were short on coral and fish (but not on people.) Princess Cays was still good and in Curacao we very much enjoyed our excursion.

 

Experienced snorkelers-- what good snorkeling excursions have you taken recently? Have you been to Trunk Bay when there are three cruise ships in port?

 

At Bonaire snorkel Klein Island with:

 

http://www.woodwindbonaire.com/cruises.html

 

Aruba snorkeling is good to poor, except a sail/snorkel with Jolly Pirates to the sunken German war ship is interesting with an an abundance of fish.

http://www.jolly-pirates.com/

 

At St Thomas snorkel with Rumbaba.

http://www.rumbabacharters.com/

Edited February 20, 2014 by Stevesan

[jaasb0808]

If you are not set on doing an excursion and willing to venture out on your own, I would recommend taking a taxi in St. Thomas to Red Hook then hoping on the water taxi to St. John. The water taxi only takes about 15 minutes and runs every hour, and there is wonderful snorkeling right from the beach in St. John.

 

Here is a wonderful guide to snorkeling in St. John I recently found:

 

http://blog.sunplay.com/category/st-john-2/

[Berkeley Gal]

We've done the Champagne Reef three times and enjoyed it all three times. Instead of staying with the"pack" , we went around on our own

 

Seacow in Bonaire was fantastic. Grenada excursion offered by Princess was very nice. Snorkeled around the skunked sculptures and then had time to swim and relax at a beautiful beach.

[Island Crazed]

Do a day at Secret Harbour St Thomas. Nice shore snorkeling on a nice beach. I really shouldn't share our fav spot.

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Where did you try in St Thomas? We went to Sapphire beach once before and it was awesome snorkeling from the shore. (Of course reports show that the beach hut and vending is gone now, but you can still go there since it's a public beach). I have a review from our day there with pictures in my signature link.

 

Also Coki beach is supposed to have amazing snorkeling right from the beach as well. We will be heading there next month to check it out.

[Island Crazed]

If you're still thinking, We've snorkeled at Coki, Secret Harbour on St Thomas and Trunk Bay twice on our own. Coki is nice. But the snorkeling is more appropriate for beginners. I don't think 3 ships is excessive to spoil your fun at Trunk. If you can book a smaller excursion on your own though you'll get the best sites. We just returned from a western route and snorkeled Palancar reef off Cozumel, Off Little French Key Roatan and off Grand Cayman. Open water snorkeling is harder than beach snorkeling but what you see is very worth it. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

 

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[roysue]

We are avid snorkelers and snorkel most everywhere. Our best snorkeling experience has been in Bonaire. Klein Bonaire is a small, uninhabited island. The island is surrounded by reef. You take the water taxi from the main island over to Klein Bonaire. The water taxi is about $15 as I recall and often provided as a shore excursion by the cruise line. Go over to Trip Advisor and do a search. I can't recommend this adventure enough! Enjoy your cruise!