Recommendation for Snorkeling on a Quiet Beach …Please!

[lisa928]

My husband and I are in our early thirties and will be on our third (NCL) cruise, this time 14-days from NYC to Miami leaving on 10/28. Over the past two cruises we have learned that we really did not enjoy the organized excursions, but rather catching a cab to a beach for snorkeling. Last time we did it ‘his’ way (i.e. grabbing a cab and asking the cabbie where the best place to go was) and this time we are doing it ‘my’ way (i.e. doing a little homework before, which is the reason I am here!).

Anyway, our cruise has eight stops (see itinerary below) and what I am looking for are suggestions of a quiet beach that is great for snorkeling, noting we have our own equipment! We are really big in saltwater fish with a 220-gallon tank containing fish, live coral, inverts, etc. With that said, we are interesting in seeing more than purple tangs, parrot fish, or chromis fish. I am looking for sharks or turtles, but would love to see a more variety of fish and some corals. (I know, one of these days we will get out scuba licenses). Oh, by the way, when I say quiet beach I would prefer some place without water sports, not a lot of people, and I could care less about amenities, but at the same time I would prefer not to be an hour away from the port.

Okay, I know that is a lot of info, but I am hoping the more detailed the more likely the recommendations will fit what we are looking for. Although this board is island specific, I am posting all our stops, in case someone else also familiar with one of our other stops, but I am also going to post in other appropriate boards.

• St. Thomas
  
• St. Kitts
  
• Barbados
  
• Aruba
  
• Curacao
  
• Ocho Rios
  
• Grand Cayman
  
• Cozumel

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Lisa

[Snorkel2Much]

Cemetery Beach just north of 7 Mile Beach in Grand Cayman.

[Jeanne B]

I would recommend one of the many beaches on St John, you can take the ferry over from St Thomas and either rent a jeep or take a taxi (to the main beaches). We spent a week on St John last summer and snorkeled every day, I can't wait to go back!!

[twinkletoes4445]

I'd rent a car and then you could just drive around an if you see a spot you'd like to stop at and snorkel, you could do that. Cementery Beach is a good spot, like the previous poster suggested. We really love the East End...it's so natural and "islandy" compared to the 7MB area.

 

We always use Andy's for our car rental. :)

[snowcat]

If you are looking for sea turtles, we snorkeled with the sea turtles on Barbados. We went with a ship's excursion, but I would imagine that you could also get a cab and/or guide at the pier...the Barbados forum will have ideas. It was a great experience (and the ship's tour we were on was quite small...only 12 people). On Grand Cayman, we usually walk over to the Eden Rock Dive Shop and enter the water for snorkeling there. It is a short walk from the tender terminal and they have lockers you can rent and a ladder into the water. I'm not very educated about fish (more like, oh look there is a pretty blue one!!) so I'm not sure if you would see anything unusual. We enjoy it and it is an easy and inexpensive snorkeling option. By the way, we LOVED St. Kitts! (Didn't snorkel there though)

[North Carolina Cruiser]

The turtles at Barbados are incredible!:eek: Awesome:eek: You don't need an excursion, we took the city bus, swam out to where all the excursion boats were (50-75 yards off shore) turtles everywhere:D There are several locals that will take you out from the shore if you're not comfortable swimming that far, A LOT CHEAPER than any excursuion! Then get back on the bus and go see the green monkeys:D again, incredible:eek: I think feeding time was around 2:00PM. They come from everywhere! The locals are very friendly and willing to help.