St Thomas snorkel

[fatboy50]

Anyone know of a good snorkel excursion that leaves from the port area of St Thomas to avoid the dreaded bus ride?

[WildcatRock]

We've taken Castaway Girl to Buck Island the two times we've been to St Thomas. They pick u at and bring u back to the pier. Go to NCL.com and pull up the excursions page - you'll find lots of good info.

 

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[LrgPizza]

We did Captain Nautica when we sailed the Getaway. It picks up and drops off at the pier. The excursion uses high speed boats, with only about 20 people on each boat, so not a super-crowded mob getting in and out of the water. We snorkeled at 2 separate spots - one with a sunken ship and one with sea turtles. Both were really cool. We were finished & back on the ship before noon, ate lunch, and then still had time to set out and explore the island on our own.

[FreestyleNovice]

Sea Blaster St Thomas, two snorkel spots, be prepared to get wet aka blasted on the boat ride. :)

[mitsugirly]

Check out Coki Beach. It's simply amazing and some of the best snorkeling ever....straight from the beach. I did a full review with TONS of pictures when we were there a little over a month ago. I was blown away by everything that I seen there. You can find the review I did in my signature page. There's absolutely no reason to do an actual "snorkel tour" here when you can get some of the best right there from shore. :)

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Here's who we used in St. Thomas and luved it!:D http://www.havefunwithus.net/

[fatboy50]

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to check them out now.:)

[figment9999]

We've done Castaway Gil 3 times; consistently great people in the crew.

[rbrugler]

We did the Turtle Cove Snorkel that left right from in front of the ship, and it brought us back there too. We also did one on our cruise last year that was a walk from the dock, but not far, and we got right on the catamaran. Both were thru NCL and the cost was the same as private excursions.

[dltvermont]

I will second Mitsugirly's suggestion of Coki Beach. Never snorkeled before and a friend told us to taxi to Coki. We did that and it was amazing and all for just a taxi fare.

[FreestyleNovice]

I will second Mitsugirly's suggestion of Coki Beach. Never snorkeled before and a friend told us to taxi to Coki. We did that and it was amazing and all for just a taxi fare.

 

Writing that one down, sounds great. Thanks.

[CruiseNwill]

Where do you get the snorkel equipment?

[dltvermont]

Freestylenovice,

 

First, check out mitsugirly's review of coki (I think its in her signature) She has tons of pics of the snorkeling among others. She is also experienced with snorkeling so a pretty good judge.

 

Second, my only thing about Coki is to not let first impressions of the beach itself deter you. It is very small and not really geared toward tourists like others, so not real fancy with lots of amenities. But, the water is crystal clear and the snorkeling is great!

[FreestyleNovice]

Freestylenovice,

 

First, check out mitsugirly's review of coki (I think its in her signature) She has tons of pics of the snorkeling among others. She is also experienced with snorkeling so a pretty good judge.

 

Second, my only thing about Coki is to not let first impressions of the beach itself deter you. It is very small and not really geared toward tourists like others, so not real fancy with lots of amenities. But, the water is crystal clear and the snorkeling is great!

 

Thanks! Previous time on St Thomas we did the Sea Blaster tour and snorkeled at Turtle Cove (Buck Island, south of St Thomas) and Christmas Cove (Great St James Island, southeast of St Thomas). Was great AND wet haha. Will be back in November for a day and I do know someone who wants to visit Coral World and it seems to be next door! Really thanks for your advice!

[mitsugirly]

Where do you get the snorkel equipment?

 

You can rent the snorkel equipment there at Coki if you don't have your own. :)

 

Freestylenovice,

 

First, check out mitsugirly's review of coki (I think its in her signature) She has tons of pics of the snorkeling among others. She is also experienced with snorkeling so a pretty good judge.

 

Second, my only thing about Coki is to not let first impressions of the beach itself deter you. It is very small and not really geared toward tourists like others, so not real fancy with lots of amenities. But, the water is crystal clear and the snorkeling is great!

 

I honestly can say the snorkeling was just so great there (probably better than Sapphire). The amount of coral and things that I seen there were just awesome.

 

Now this is just MY opinion, but the beach isn't that bad in my opinion. It's small as in the width, but it's a pretty decent sized long beach. It wasn't as beautiful as Sapphire of course, but it wasn't any different than many of the other beaches I have been to in the Caribbean. I also thought that the amenities they had there were similar to any other beaches as well. They had restrooms, they had places to rent snorkeling equipment, they had several shower hoses lined up to wash off with before you leave, they had food and servers. It actually had a lot more than plenty of places I have been to in the Caribbean now that I think about it. :D

 

It just made for an excellent snorkeling day for sure. I would never hesitate to go back. :)

[Ms411]

Coki has the most local flavor of the St Thomas/St John beaches. Many of the vendors are Rasta or follow some of their characteristics, so you may smell "smoke" from time to time. Depends on where they're smoking and where you are in relation to the smokers.

 

The vendors sometimes get into loud arguments over snorkel/chair customers. Competition is fierce.

 

The neighborhood that you pass through to get to Coki is not pretty at all, but it's GORGEOUS once you get to the beach.

 

Just want to let you know what to expect.

 

BUT, some of this may change when the resort next to Coki re-opens next year. It's going to be a Margaritaville property, and people are expecting that they'll do what they can to make the area more attractive.

[dltvermont]

Yeah Ms411, your description is better than mine. I think I was more hesitatant upon arrival than I was of the actual beach itself. When we pulled up I was thinking to myself "what did my friend get me into" but once we were on the beach it was nice. I think that was more what I was getting at. Dont let what you see when you pull up question your decision to go there.

 

Mitsugirly's description is very accurate in all respects.

 

Speaking of "rasta", there was one guy there that had dreads that almost dragged on the ground. At one point he was tucking them into his pantleg!!

[Ms411]

Dtvermont, I felt the same way when I first went to Coki, but I got over it after seeing the beach and getting in the water. I also like the fact that you can get local food there. Coki is a true Caribbean experience.

[mitsugirly]

 

Speaking of "rasta", there was one guy there that had dreads that almost dragged on the ground. At one point he was tucking them into his pantleg!!

 

 

YES!!! This guy was there when we were there too. He was very friendly to everyone. At one point he got in the water to cool off and his dreads were a mile behind him when swimming (:D not really, but....). I really wanted to get a picture of him and forgot.

[Cruising Lions]

Did captain nautical twice and had a great time

 

 

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