Snorkeling the Eastern Caribbean

[lawtyger]

Geeze, ANOTHER kind of parrot fish! Who would have thought they came in so many glorious colors?!!

 

Thanks!

 

Here are 4 close ups of some parot fish we came across and 1 photo of the jumbo parot fish I were talking about. The filtering on the pic of the jumbo parot fish didn't work because it tends to work better when there is something other than water in the background. However, the jumbo parot fish are just as colorful, but for some reason look a little more beat up for lack of a better word.

 

http://www.imagestation.com/7924597/3933297655

[lawtyger]

Snorkeling is very good in Nassau. There are areas right off shore near The Atlantis, but depending on the tide & waves can be difficult. You have to go East from the Atlantis down the public beach about 1/2 mile or so, and you will come to a small cove area. There is some decent snorkeling here, if it is not so windy out. We were there last month on the VOS. But was way too windy to snorkel. YOu should take a private Excursion thru "Stuarts Cove" I think it is about 55 US a person. This is a really nice tour, it takes you to approx 3 reef areas. Also stops in the ocean and you can swim with--- Caribbean Reef Tip Sharks---This part of the tour was AWESOME!!! We have done this tour 3 times with Stuarts Cove. Well worth the money, and really decent snorkeling. Almost comparable to snorkeling in Cozumel before Hurricane Wilma hit there.

 

I've got my eye on Stuart's Cove but while my wife and I love snorkeling, the shark stop didn't excite her. She said she'd just stay in the boat at that stop but in Belize she said that too when we hit the nurse shark stop and she got in. I've heard good things about the Stuarts Cove trip so if time permits, we'll probably try that. I just need to verify whether being in Nassau only from 1:00 to 7:00 is going to be a problem.

[beachlady58]

We LOVE the Western Carib for snorkeling - we just did the Eastern and it was a let down...not to mention that it rained every day!!!!

 

BUck Island was the only place that was adequate for snorkeling. Good luck and have fun.Nassua and San Juan were a waste of time so stay on the ship and enjoy!:cool:

[lawtyger]

Your photos are just what I needed.We will be stopping in Roatan in Jan 08,and up until now was now really excited..Well I was wanting to zipline,or do the day spa...But those pics have me rethinking.I have not seen color like that since 83 in the Bahamas somewhere...Is Tabyana the name of the snorkle tour? Was that through the ship or privately.

 

We were in the Eastern Caribbean the same time you were there.We did the turtle cove tour,but had to move due to rough water...

We snorkled in St Thomas and St Martin,but neither were spectacular...(Lots of rough water though).

The actual highlight was diving off the second story of the boat in St Martin...That was fun!!

 

Rotan was our best snorkeling experience to date. Absolutely amazing. Tabyana is the name of the beach.

 

We took a taxi from the port to get there but the ship has excursions to Tabyana beach also which includes lunch. The area we snorkeled was about 100 feet off shore from the end of the beach. There were only a few other people snorkeling the area so it was really nice. I don't think the ship advertises the excursion as a snorkel excursion as all the cruise ship folks hung out at the beach and ate their free lunches. Little did they know that just off shore was some of the best snorkeling. To bad for them.

 

 

I was swimming through holes in the coral and chasing down spotted rays. At one point my wife got upset because I got so excited to follow a ray that before I knew it, I was 50 feet away. I'll see about uploading a video or two if you're interested (the one think to keep in mind is the colors in the video don't get filtered so what you're seeing on the video (as compared to the pics) is nowhere near the color of what I was seeing with my own eyes.

[char92868]

Lawtyger,

Who did you book your snorkeling with in Grand Cayman? This is our second time there and we really don't want a snorkel trip that includes the Sting Rays again. We would like to visit the places that you went. Please let me know!

Thanks!

[lawtyger]

Lawtyger,

Who did you book your snorkeling with in Grand Cayman? This is our second time there and we really don't want a snorkel trip that includes the Sting Rays again. We would like to visit the places that you went. Please let me know!

Thanks!

 

The first time we went, we booked with a private outfit which took us to Stingray City and made one snorkel stop on the way back which we were unimpressed with. Thus, our second time we did more research and discovered that there were several reefs that can be snorkel right from shore.

 

Let me be clear though, while Grand Cayman snorkeling it good and the water is clear, it's not Cozumel in our opinion and certainly not Rotan. The places we've snorkeled just lack the overwhelming coral structure that Rotan had for instance. But, the positive of Grand Cayman is you just get on the bus/van public transportation and it's a short ride to the different areas.

 

Last time we snorkeled at Grand Cayan we went to Cemetary Beach, Cheeseburger Reef and Eden Rock. Cemetary Beach didn't have a lot of Coral structure but had a lot of fish. Come to think of it, I'm not sure we ever found Cheeseburger reef per se but we were in the area and there were other boat snorkeling excursions diving the wreck of the Cali. The weather was really bad that day unfortunately. Eden rock is literally right around the corner from the port. It's so quick and easy to get to it's a must do because every time we have gone we have seen large tarpon in the water. Last time, I swam with a sea turtle (yet another video memory I could post).

 

I asked my wife if she still have the map we used that had all the different snorkel spots listed and she thought she did but she's out running errands. When she comes back I'll relay the information she finds. I'm acutally off to the gym. . . looking at all these old pics I realize I have about 30 days left to get in a little better shape if I'm going to be in all these pictures again :)

[brn2crz]

I would love to see the video when you have time...Thanks..

 

I agree about Grand Cayman..At least where we were..Cheeseburger &Ship Wreck snorkle. Exactly as you said.Very little structure.

You know its called Cheeseburger Reef,because its right there in front of the Burger King lol..

 

And the Ship wreck is a bit of a joke...Just some iron pieces..Further past the wreck,more towards the ships...There were some better hills..

I know there are better places in GC to go,and have heard stories of great ones...But these close to shore are not them.

 

I also know what you mean about the Coz diving.We took a land based snorkle one time (ok,we were staying on the Island,not the ship)

And there were walls and caves and Manta Rays...and Baracuda

[lawtyger]

Here is a video of my sea turtle friend who was nice enough to hang out for a while:

 

 

Here is a link to a few pictures of the sea turtle which give you a better idea of what my eyes saw while swimming with him. The pictures I can filter through photoshop elements, the video I can't which is why the videos tend to look much blue/greener. There's also a picture of a tarpon eating chicken that a guy through in the water. This is literally 5 feet from shore and the tarpon were all over ranging from 3 to 4 feet.

 

http://www.imagestation.com/7924597/3933277593

 

And here is the spotted ray in Rotan. Boy, I wish I could filter the colors on this because swimming with it (as I left my wife behind. . . opps) was awesome and the coloring of black and white dots clearly is lost in the video:

 

[brn2crz]

Really nice.Thanks..The sound was cool also...

 

I think my spa day has been changed to a snorkle...Now I guess I will have to zip line in Costa Maya :D

[masterbaker]

I am always on the lookout for prime snorkle spots, where healthy growing coral and abundant variety of sea life can be found. Unfortunately there isn't many great choices on your eastern caribbean ports of call. Sapphire has ok snorkeling, and so does Trunk Bay especially if you head down the beach all the way to the left as you face the water and snorkle the shore line out to the point.

 

The best we have found is Champagne reef in Dominica, and Rendezvouz Cay on the barrier reef of Belize. Both have healthy old growth reefs that attract a wide varitey of fish ect. The hard corals are AMAZING! I was snorkeling over 3,000 year old elkhorns that took my breath away, they were HUGE!

 

The wreck of the Cali in GC used to be a great attraction for a wide variety until hurricane Ivan broke the wreck into pieces that now lay on the seafloor. Such a shame. :( The shore snorkeling in GC, is just begining to improve as the faster growing soft corals are starting to make a comeback after the hurricane. It will be years before they are fully regrown. Cozumel's shore snorkeling areas were hit hard by hurricane Wilma too and will take time before they are nice again.

[Clamett]

Lawtyger, What beach in Rotan did you go to? At the one we went to, you had to swim about 50 yards off shore to get to the reef.

[lawtyger]

Lawtyger, What beach in Rotan did you go to? At the one we went to, you had to swim about 50 yards off shore to get to the reef.

 

Tabyana. Might be the same place. . . we probably swam about 100 to 150 feet out till we saw mostly all coral and rock.

[lawtyger]

Lawtyger,

Who did you book your snorkeling with in Grand Cayman? This is our second time there and we really don't want a snorkel trip that includes the Sting Rays again. We would like to visit the places that you went. Please let me know!

Thanks!

 

Char92868, here are links to some of the information we used. The beach descriptions contained in the first link were very helpful.

 

http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/OffshoreSnorkeling.htm

 

http://www.*******************.com/DiveSites.htm

 

I'm not sure what happened with the second link as it is just an activity guide for the cayman islands. The link just had a nice mape of the island and various dive sites. Just go to put these three words together - cayman activity guide - with a .com at the end and you'll find it.

[marieps]

my husband and I and two teenagers are going on the Mariner 4-1-07. We've been on a number of RCCL cruises and after the 1st one decided that excursions on your own...provided you did your research... was the only way to go. This year we have booked a private excursion through High Pockets for St. Thomas/St John snorkeling. Check out their web site http://wwwSailHighPockets.com We are sailing on a sailboat with a passenger total of 6 (@ $115 cash or $125 if you use a charge card) for 6 hours with a home made lunch, linen napkins and all beverages including those with alcohol. The captain, a former nurse, and her mate will take you to all those out of the way coves away from all the cruise ship tours. They have snorkeling gear and floats too... if you don't want to snorkel...but who doesn't want too! They also have friends with a taxi service and will arrange pick up and drop off for you at the pier! Weve been to Trunk Bay twice and though beautiful want to try other great snorkeling sites. I will post a review of this company when I get back...mid April or so...wish us luck!