Best Snorkeling

[missypriss19]

Going on a 7 day cruise in October and wondering what stop would be the best snorkeling experience between Grand Turk, St Thomas or San Juan.

 

 

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[Mary Ellen1]

Oooh, tough choice between Grand Turk & St. Thomas.

 

Skip the snorkeling in San Juan -- it's not known as a snorkel destination.

 

Grand Turk: take an excursion that includes a stop at The Wall, an underground Grand Canyon. You're swimming along and all of a sudden the ocean floor just drops away, from 40-ish feet to 7000+. Amazing! We've snorkeled with 2 different private providers on Grand Turk and have seen sharks, rays, turtles and lots-lots-lots of fish. (And gotten stung by jellyfish once... :( )

 

St. Thomas: one of the best places is Coki Beach. It's small and crowded, and IMHO works best as a 2-hour-ish beach stop after you've done some other things. What's great is that the rocks & coral begin right at the entrance to the water -- you're pretty much seeing fish as soon as you're in knee-deep water. There are several other beaches with good snorkeling, too, but Coki is GREAT, and it's nice that you can easily reach the good snorkel spots from shore.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Serggo6]

St. Thomas, take a ferry over to St John's (not very expensive) snorkeling at almost any of the national park beaches is outstanding. You can find out about all the beaches and what amenities each has and also how easy or difficult it is to snorkel there.

[Budget Queen]

The 2 snorkel stop on the ship excursion out of Grand Turk is very good. As mentioned, it does go to the wall. There was also a very tame nurse shark, that seemed to have a particular attachment to one of the staff- he did have a supply of food. :) Stayed with him the entire snorkel time, following him around. I am never an advocate of this artificial and environmentally poor choice, but, it's already established.

 

St. Thomas, I've seen a decline in the snorkeling compared to several years ago. Yes, I am a snorkel snob. I also tried their 2 stop snorkel trip, - ship excursion, problem was, it was only a one snorkel stop and a beach stop. :( But the snorkel stop was very good, with abundant looks at sea turtles. Healthy coral as well.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Budget Queen

[evandbob]

I would choose Grand Turk, the coral heads there are still alive.

 

St Thomas snorkeling, as well as St John's continues to impress new comers only. The coral there has bleached tremendously over the last 15 years, and is now mostly dead. Whether too much sun tan oil, pressure from too many humans, invasive species like crown of thorns, or warmer water, it is a fact that coral is in serious decline.

[FireEater]

Where ever you go, be sure to bring some bread to feed the fish while swimming. They will be all over you.

 

We do that for all the diving/snorkeling we do. The larger and smaller ones show up. Some times I have felt like i was in the middle of a fish tank....:D

[joeyancho]

Coki beach is terrific and you can smoke weed with the locals.

[Budget Queen]

Where ever you go, be sure to bring some bread to feed the fish while swimming. They will be all over you.

 

We do that for all the diving/snorkeling we do. The larger and smaller ones show up. Some times I have felt like i was in the middle of a fish tank....:D

 

Not an environmentally sound practice.

[Cairnmom]

Grand Turk!

[whataboutport]

Yeah I asked on this forum and was repeatedly told not to bring in non native foods to feed the fish.

 

I went to St John and it was gorgeous there, and we had a great day, but the visibility was not too good. I had to really strain my eyes to see under the water. Lots of sand kicked up that day I suppose. Also the waves were a bit harsh that day.

[mefinephotoman]

Yeah I asked on this forum and was repeatedly told not to bring in non native foods to feed the fish.

 

I went to St John and it was gorgeous there, and we had a great day, but the visibility was not too good. I had to really strain my eyes to see under the water. Lots of sand kicked up that day I suppose. Also the waves were a bit harsh that day.

 

We went to Trunk Bay in 2009 and it was absolutely crystal clear!! In fact, I don't think I have ever seen such clear water. Here is a shot from that visit.

 

Snorkeling was really good on the left side of the small island. Lots of fish etc.

[whataboutport]

That's beautiful! Yeah the day we went it wasn't very clear or too sunny. I'm still glad I went though. I've been wanting to go there for years.

[wantocruisemore]

Where ever you go, be sure to bring some bread to feed the fish while swimming. They will be all over you.

 

We do that for all the diving/snorkeling we do. The larger and smaller ones show up. Some times I have felt like i was in the middle of a fish tank....:D

 

Please do not do this anymore. The food you're feeding the fish may actually harm them.

[Stevesan]

Where ever you go, be sure to bring some bread to feed the fish while swimming. They will be all over you.

 

We do that for all the diving/snorkeling we do. The larger and smaller ones show up. Some times I have felt like i was in the middle of a fish tank....:D

 

Most sporting goods stores have fish food.

Save the bread for your sandwich snack.

 

True story

I was snorkeling alongside our guide when suddenly dozens of fish were swimming along my back.

The guide was chumming with tortilla strips. Not a good example, but we were at Cozumel. :rolleyes:

Edited August 11, 2014 by Stevesan

[Islandbear]

Don'r Feed Reef Fish ANYTHING!:cool:

[CRUISERTN]

Agree with the others about not feeding the reef fish. Forget snorkeling in San Juan. St. John is great, but if you are pressed for time you have to take a taxi to the ferry, wait for the ferry, take the ferry over, then a taxi from there to snorkel and then the same thing coming back. If you go to St. John, Trunk Bay or Honeymoon Beach is good. The best in St. Thomas is Coki and easy access and lots of fish near the rocks on the side closest to Coral World. Grand Turk is good, too, but snorkeling there is off of the boat as opposed to the beach at Coki or the places mentioned in St. John.