First time snokeling

[salamicruiser]

We are visiting St.Vincent,Grenada,St.lucia Martinique,st. thomas on Star Princess in December. Where would be the best to go snorkeling, probably off a catamaran might be best:confused: ? I will have an 18year old and 15 year old with me. Many thanks.

[michmike]

You can check the port of call boards here or look for other posts about the various islnads here on the snorkel/scuba board. I've only personally been snorkeling in St Thomas of the islands listed. You have a couple options. If you don't want to invest a lot of money and to see if the kids really enjoy doing it, you can do something as inexpensive as going to coki beach in st thomas where you can rent gear and snorkel right from the beach and see quite a bit. Only downside to that is there is no instruction but then snorkeling isn't rocket science. Or you could take a ship's excursion to Trunk Bay on St John, but again you likely wouldn't get much in the way of instruction.

 

If you're willing to spend the money, you might check into a half day excursion on a sailboat or catamaran in St Thomas. These typically run about $60 per person and again, you can find info about them on the St Thomas port of call board. The advantage there is that you will get instruction and more often than not, a crew member right in the water with you to assist. They deal with novices all the time and tend to be very patient and encouraging.

 

As for me, if the kids were merely curious and not gung ho on the idea of snorkeling I'd likely try Coki Beach. If they really do seem to like the idea of snorkeling, then the half day trip might be better. Another option depends on the order is which you are going to hit the islands. If St Thomas is early in the trip then you could try it at Coki and then if they really enjoyed it you could book a boat trip the day of, when you hit another island.

[michmike]

I did a quick search on the st thomas board and found the following possibilities for half day snorkel trips -

 

check out http://www.captainnautica.com

http://www.interlines.com

http://www.rumbabacharters.com

http://www.sailjester.com

http://www.daysailfantasy.com

[captNcrunch]

I have taken captain nautica and would highly recommend it. The groups are small and the time in the water exceeds most excursions. The boat ride is also a bit of a thrill. Snorkeling was great we did 3 different spots in 4 hours.

[sicsinohio]

Thanks for the recommendation! We are going to St. Thomas, St. Martin and Nassau in March and would like to do some snorkeling.