Entry and exit from water

[sid316]

My wife and I are taking our first cruise in two weeks and want to do some snorkeling. We have not done any in ten years since visiting Australia.

We are a little older (62 and 55) and my wife has a very bad knee that would make it almost impossible from her to climb into a small boat from the water. In our two dives in Australia one had steps leading from a dock into the water and the other was straight off a boat. The first was easy, but she would not be able to negotiate the latter this time.

We would like to snorkel in Grand Turk and Halfmoon Cay.

Does anyone know if either of these locations offers an an excusion that we would be able to use?

[nrh322]

A good operator will be able to assist your wife... regardless of the dive's exit point. She might have to be willing to subject herself to being lifted though.

 

I trained paraplegic scuba divers for several years. If they can get in and out of the water, your wife can.

[rebeljohn]

We have snorkeled twice at Half Moon Cay. Easy entrance, just walk into the water from the beach. We snorkel over to the right side, near the rock wall jetty. We take bagels(in a zip lock bag) from the breakfast bar to feed the fish.............

[happycat Bainbridge Is]

This is all second hand, but I will share a couple bits of information I found in researching snorkeling at those two locations.

 

You can snorkel from shore at Half Moon Cay, or take a shore excursion by boat out to the reef. There is supposed to be much more to see on the reef, and it's only a 10 minute boatride away. Sadly, we did not get to do this, because it was too rough to tender to Half Moon Cay (which happens not infrequently).

 

Hopefully someone who has been can tell you about the entry/exit, but I do believe that one way or another, they will find a way to get your wife in and out of the water. It might not be pretty, but if she's okay with the fact that someone may need to hoist her back aboard, it can be done. Personally, I'd rather be able to snorkel and have to do a less than dignified fosberry flop back into the boat than to be more dignified (?) and miss out.

 

Here are two postings I found about snorkeling in Grand Turk from other cruise critic posters:

 

check Bohio dive resort day visit = great beach, $7pp cab ride each way or rent bikes; snorkeling PG out a bit; nice bar and great restaurant (conch chowder).

 

cab to Governor's Beach ($3pp each way). 15 minutes+ to walk-VERY hot. We walked to the far end of the beach. It's shallow and very easy to swim out to the exact spot that the tour boats take the ship tours (I think $49 +/-) go to your right and snorkel the dark shaded areas.... the further right the better negotiate a ride each way on the train trolley for a few $ per person.

 

Hope the tender gods cooperate and you get to enjoy snorkeling from shore at the very least, and a boat trip if your wife thinks it's worth the tradeoff.