Best snorkeling - St. Martin & St. Thomas

[TigerBravo1977]

What are the best places to snorkel, preferably not that crowded, and how do you get there from the dock? Thanks!

[d0hboy]

Spotted this thread and it asked the exact same question I was about to venture forth -- I'm heading there April 24th/25th ('ish) and was hoping if anybody had good or bad experiences with specific companies.

[CoNEY46]

2 years ago, we did our own skorkling adventure on Saphire Beach. We had a really good time. The best area was on the right side of the beach oof the rocks. . We did not find this beach crwded at all. We were 7 people and just took a taxi at the dock. $ 35 each way. For just 2 people you can probably get a fare of $ 10 pp each way. All in all we had a great day at Saphire Beach

 

In April we are planning a trip to Coki Beach, and will do the beginers dive course witht the cokidiveclub. $ 60 pp and we will go down to 40 ft or so.

We the plan to do some snorkling on our own at the same beach.

 

But remember the best places to snokle will attract more crowds

[Katelab]

Coki beach on St Thomas is a great place to snorkel. They have been feeding the fish dog biscuits there for years so the fish come to great snorkelers. It is easy to get to by taxi

[captNcrunch]

Spotted this thread and it asked the exact same question I was about to venture forth -- I'm heading there April 24th/25th ('ish) and was hoping if anybody had good or bad experiences with specific companies.

 

Excellent experience with captain nautica in St. Thomas. Only available through the ship but they pick you up at the pier, only take no more than 25, and go to three different places. If you want to snorkel this is the trip! The boat ride was quite a trill also. Each person has thier own entrance into the water so no waiting on those who can't figure out how to put the gear on! :D The have a web site captain nautica dot com! Well worth the money. I am going again in September.

[d0hboy]

Many thanks, this was useful information. How long did these tours last? Would you have recommended it at one site or another (St.Thomas or St.Martin?)?

 

Basically, I had questions as to what would be the best stop to save it for.

[weechloe]

Paid $125 for five of us to go to Coki Beach and then picked up three hours later and then have an island tour. It was awesome and the snorkelling was great. We used our own dog biscuits for the snorkelling. They sell dog biscuits right along the beach for snorkelling.

[NewCop26]

I just got back from a cruise and went scuba diving in St. Thomas on Coki Beach. The water there was awesome! I also asked others before I left to decide which place to go. Everyone recommended St. Thomas by far.

 

While on the ship I talked to some people who went to St Maarten to dive. They had a horrible experience and said it was a crappy place to dive.

 

So my recommendation is St. Thomas. I think you'll be glad you did. :)

[grace51601]

We just returned from Glory Eastern Caribbean and snorkeled at both ports (easiest way if you can't decide...). We took a ship's excursion to St. John's and did Trunk Bay-- best snorkelling ever! It's a beautiful beach and beach entry is always nice (we have a young son who snorkels with us and gets a little intimidated sometimes with boat entry). Lots and lots of fish, beautiful coral, and an underwater snorkeling trail. On a previous trip we did Coki (on St. Thomas)-- it was good snorkelling but way too crowded for us. On St. Maarten we did the Golden Eagle catamaran that took us to Tintamarre for snorkelling. It wasn't quite as nice as Trunk bay (boat entry, though there is a beach on the island). There weren't as many fish and the coral wasn't as good, but we did see two cuttlefish there, and we'd never seen cuttlefish before. Last time we snorkelled in St. Maarten we saw an octopus-- so I'd recommend either place, but give the edge to Trunk Bay.

[iluvcruzin]

I've been to the ones mentioned above. Coki is nice location. The aquarium next door is nice too and they have lockers and showers. Trunk Bay by far has the most gorgeous beach. Snorkling is ok and it depends on the currents the day you go. Sometimes it's smooth as glass and you can see some life along the snorkle path created by the national park. If there is a bit of rough water, I've been there and seen hardly anything. Now, if you don't want to mess with the taking the ferry over to St. John's, Sapphire Beach is a great alternative. Like mentioned above, there is some good spots over by the rocks. However, there is still a nice coral reef a few feet offshore where you will see lots of little fish. They have chairs to rent there as well as water sport rentals. My DH rented a jetski and enjoyed it. They have snorkle equiptment if you don't have your own. We go there most of the time when we visit St. Thomas.

[Host Star]

I have been to trunk bay a few times and was very lucky to have nice clear water..but have often heard of those who have traveled so far and been disappointed because the water was murky, after having a stormy day or two previously.. so lately I just go to Coki, snorkel, head back to the ship, do lunch and then off to power shop.. doing coki saves you time for shopping:).. at Coki there is a rental stand and they will give you some dog bixcuits to feed the fish.. best snorkel spot at coki is around the rocks towards the aquarium.. it was wonderful in D ecember.. hope to do it again when cruising on the Millie this December..

[scubaran]

Hi,

 

In case you decide to snorkel in St. Martin, we were there in April and took a tour that stopped at Pinel Island. You take a small open boat across the bay to the island where there were beach umbrellas and white sand on the left and snorkeling on the right. The reef was very nice, lots of fish and if the waters are calm, as they were that day, if you're a good snorkeller, you can go out about 100 yards to a sea mound where there were loads of sea fans and lots of corals and fish (saw a lobster as well hanging out on the wall of the mound). Anyway, Pinel Island was great and I'd snorkel there again (not the beat up coral you normally find in most snorkel spots).

 

Randall

[Widespreadpanic]

I've been to the ones mentioned above. Coki is nice location. The aquarium next door is nice too and they have lockers and showers. Trunk Bay by far has the most gorgeous beach. Snorkling is ok and it depends on the currents the day you go. Sometimes it's smooth as glass and you can see some life along the snorkle path created by the national park. If there is a bit of rough water, I've been there and seen hardly anything. Now, if you don't want to mess with the taking the ferry over to St. John's, Sapphire Beach is a great alternative. Like mentioned above, there is some good spots over by the rocks. However, there is still a nice coral reef a few feet offshore where you will see lots of little fish. They have chairs to rent there as well as water sport rentals. My DH rented a jetski and enjoyed it. They have snorkle equiptment if you don't have your own. We go there most of the time when we visit St. Thomas.

 

Just have to say I LOVE your avatar!!