Snorkeling St. Thomas - looking to leave from close to the ship!

[siestaclaud]

Looking for a good snorkel trip in St. Thomas - that leaves from close to the ship pier. We did St. John's snorkel once before - so we don't need to do that again. Would like to get the most time snorkeling - and least amount of time getting in a bus or ferry to go snorkel. Any tips?? Thanks!

[DreamingBig1]

When we sailed RCI Freedom a couple years ago, we did the Powercat Snorkel excursion. It was a lot of fun!

 

They picked us up at the pier.

 

I don't know if they work with NCL. If they do, we would use them again without hesitation on a return trip to St. Thomas.

[ColinIllinois]

While you are waiting for some answers here you can check out the St Thomas Ports of Call forum. Might find some answers there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

[beachmonkey]

We were on the Getaway a couple of weeks ago and did the Cat sail and snorkel with the turtles. It was a great trip. They also have an option to use the power snorkel.

[WildcatRock]

Looking for a good snorkel trip in St. Thomas - that leaves from close to the ship pier. We did St. John's snorkel once before - so we don't need to do that again. Would like to get the most time snorkeling - and least amount of time getting in a bus or ferry to go snorkel. Any tips?? Thanks!

 

Take a look at 'Castaway Shipwreck Sail & Snorkel'. We've done it twice. Both times they've picked us up right next to the ship. You take a catamaran out to Buck Island and get to snorkel in Shipwreck Cove (there's a small shipwreck there, thus the name) . Fish counts are good, coral is decent and we saw sea turtles our last time there.

[timetaffy89]

I highly recommend the Fury charter! It meets right next to the ship and takes you to the turtle sanctuary. It's not through the cruise line so it's cheaper and there were only 6 other people on the catamaran with us. It was wonderful!

[puddles99]

I highly recommend the Fury charter! It meets right next to the ship and takes you to the turtle sanctuary. It's not through the cruise line so it's cheaper and there were only 6 other people on the catamaran with us. It was wonderful!

 

 

Another vote for Fury - great crew, easy process, fantastic snorkeling. Highly recommend.

[FreestyleNovice]

Did the Sea Blaster snorkel tour on Celeb, don't know if they work with NCL too but it had plenty of snorkel time, pier pickup, relaxed atmosphere, would recommend!

[mitsugirly]

Since everyone has mentioned actual tours or excursions, I'm going to do the opposite and say you can do it yourself. Have you ever checked out Coki beside Coral World? It has amazing snorkeling right there from the beach. AMAZING! I seen things there that I haven't seen before and the purple coral (which I had never seen before either) was beautiful. You catch a cab right as soon as you get off the ship and away you go. That same cab will come back and get you when you are done. It worked out great and saved time waiting on a "tour" to gather everyone together that was booked on it plus it's probably a whole lot cheaper than any excursion. But then again, I'm not sure what you are looking for.

 

I have a complete review of our day there with TONS of pictures from the snorkeling part so that you can get a better feel of whether or not it has what you are looking for...it's located in my signature line. :)

[rbrugler]

We went on a snorkeling trip to Turtle Cove and one other location. Our boat left from in front of the ship. It was a great excursion.

[siestaclaud]

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions!!! They all sound great! This group is awesome!!

[canadianeh934]

Coki beach....take bus from the port to there. You can rent snorkeling gear there. You want out from the beach and start. No need to pay a person it is fantastic there. Food and beverages are right there as well.

 

Best on the island.

[zqvol]

Just remember that most of the snorkel trips that you take on a boat give you about the same amount of time in the water, the difference in the length of the excursions is the travel time on land.

[fishin' musician]

Have snorkelled all of the usual haunts including Trunk Bay on St. Johns, Sapphire Beach was my fave. Rays and turtles beyond the reef and an amazing variety of fish within the reef. About a $20 cab ride each way and $5 to rent a lounge.

[LrgPizza]

We did Captain Nautica speed boat snorkel. It leaves from the cruise ship dock, so no cab or bus is needed. It went to 2 locations: the turtle place and the shipwreck. We were able to swim on our own at both without having to follow a guide, which we preferred. The boat only had 12 people, so not a mess of bodies climbing in and out. We spent about 45 minutes at each location. We were finished and back on the Getaway by noon for lunch. We then had plenty of time to head out and do other things, if we chose.

Edited May 12, 2015 by LrgPizza