Best snorkeling on this trip?

[White Cloud]

Our family is going on the Legend in December to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. We have 7 in our group of me45, DH45, DS12, DS15 Grandparents66, and sister 49. Most of us, except Grandpa, love to snorkel and really want to take advantge of that on this cruise. I have read all the port boards and of course on each you hear that port is the best! I figured everyone here would be more objective.

 

Would you please rate the places we are going and give some ideas of the best snorkeling for each? With Granpa not wanting to snorkel we probably won't be able to go every port and we want to get in on the best snorkeling and maybe tours where Grandpa can be included.

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give.:D

[cccole]

My absolute favorite snorkel site is the Palancar Reef off Cozumel. Then Belize. I am not a fan of Grand Cayman and have never been to Roatan. Cherie

[snowbird1]

Our family is going on the Legend in December to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. We have 7 in our group of me45, DH45, DS12, DS15 Grandparents66, and sister 49. Most of us, except Grandpa, love to snorkel and really want to take advantge of that on this cruise. I have read all the port boards and of course on each you hear that port is the best! I figured everyone here would be more objective.

 

Would you please rate the places we are going and give some ideas of the best snorkeling for each? With Granpa not wanting to snorkel we probably won't be able to go every port and we want to get in on the best snorkeling and maybe tours where Grandpa can be included.

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give.:D

 

Cayman has some great snorkeling on the reef, not Sting Ray City. In fact there are great places to snorkel within walking distance of where you tender in. Belize is good if you take the trip to the reef on a boat. Cozumel has many good places to snorkel as well but I can't speak for Roatan. The only place down there that I snorkeled that I thought was subpar was Costa Mayo.

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi there.

 

White Cloud: we're doing that same itinerary over Thanksgiving week. For Grand Cayman, here's a link to all of the snorkel spots that are within walking distance of the tender dock.

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/GrandCaymanSnorkeling.htm

 

cccole: tell me more about Palancar Reef? Was that a ship excursion, or did you do it on your own? I assume you had to take a boat out to the reef? How did you do it?

 

Thanks,

Mary Ellen

[cccole]

We went twice with Scuba with Alison. We had divers and snorkelers in our group and she had guides for both. I do not think that she just takes snorkelers. Is there any chance on your roll call that you can round up a couple of divers? Or maybe someone on CC can recommend a guide for just snorkelers.

 

We took a boat to the Palancar Reef and I was just amazed at the beauty. The colors of the coral, all of the different fish, and the formation of the reef. On our second trip we did a morning dive/snorkel trip and she dropped us off at her favorite beach club on the way back. We had a fantastic lunch, played in the ocean and then took a taxi back to the ship.

 

The first time we did a morning dive/snorkel trip and then took a taxi into town for a great lunch and some shoppping.

 

Alison might also be able to recommend a boat that is just for snorkelers.

 

Hope this helps. Cherie

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi Cherie. Thanks for the info. I've since found info on Mystic Snorkeling Tours with Rosie, and am going to book with her. She got rave reviews on Trip Advisor. It looks like just what we want.

[cccole]

Mary Ellen - I am happy to hear you found something. If you are doing a morning snorkel trip you might ask her ahead of time if being dropped off at a beach club is a possibility. It really made our day perfect! Have fun!!! Cherie

[vista03]

White Cloud, I have only snorkeled in two of the ports on your itinerary.

 

Grand Cayman: I have snorkeled at Eden Rock (walking distance from the tender) and at the Reef near Sting Ray city. They are nice but there are other places that I have enjoyed more.

 

Belize: So far it has been the best place that I have snorkeled! It was amazing! I took a water taxi to Caye Caulker. The private guide met us at the dock for a 3 stop snorkel tour of the local reef. The first stop was a shallow reef. The guide was very safety conscious and when he found that one snorkelers was not aware of their surroundings and bumping into the coral he asked them to return to the boat (the snorkeler was able to snorkel at the other stops and luckily only had a few scrapes from the coral and further damage to the coral was spared). The guide saw that we were good swimmers and took us on an incredible tour of the reef. I had never swam that close to coral before :D . The coral was impressive and there was an abundance of fish. I saw a spotted sting ray on our swim back to the boat. The second stop was a reef that had a steep drop off where we saw an eel. The third spot was a shallow sand bar where we swam with the sting rays. There were also non snorkelers on the boat.

I enjoyed walking around Caye Caulker :) with the beautiful white sand beaches. It is a laid back small island (5 miles in length) with no cars -- only golf carts and bicycles to get around. I'd love to go back to Caye Caulker and do more snorkeling!

[White Cloud]

Thanks so much to everyone for your replies. We thought about doing the cave tubing in Belize but now I feel like that may be the best snorkeling for this trip. We may have to go on this cruise again to experience everything!;)

[flatman]

Hi there.

 

White Cloud: we're doing that same itinerary over Thanksgiving week. For Grand Cayman, here's a link to all of the snorkel spots that are within walking distance of the tender dock.

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/GrandCaymanSnorkeling.htm

 

cccole: tell me more about Palancar Reef? Was that a ship excursion, or did you do it on your own? I assume you had to take a boat out to the reef? How did you do it?

 

Thanks,

Mary Ellen

 

Wow! Thanks for the link Mary Ellen1. We're going in April and want to snorkel at Sunsethouse Dive Resort. Do you or anyone else know if they also offer anything like discover scuba courses? I've never been scuba diving but I think I would love to try it.

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi flatman. Sorry -- don't know about discover scuba. I'm thinking about trying it myself sometime, but on this trip I've got DH trying snorkeling for the first time, so I'm excited about that and will stick to snorkeling for now. Good luck on your search, and have fun on your cruise!

 

Mary Ellen

[MTV43]

Our family is going on the Legend in December to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. We have 7 in our group of me45, DH45, DS12, DS15 Grandparents66, and sister 49. Most of us, except Grandpa, love to snorkel and really want to take advantge of that on this cruise. I have read all the port boards and of course on each you hear that port is the best! I figured everyone here would be more objective.

 

Would you please rate the places we are going and give some ideas of the best snorkeling for each? With Granpa not wanting to snorkel we probably won't be able to go every port and we want to get in on the best snorkeling and maybe tours where Grandpa can be included.

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give.:D

 

If you love snorkel, don't miss Roatan. Our family has been to all 4 ports, West Bay at Roatan was the best shore snorkeling. If Grandpa doesn't snorkel, he still can enjoy the nice sandy beach. GC, we spent the morning at 7 miles beach, and afternoon snorkeled at Eden Rock, very close to the pier, don't need to spend money for snorkeling tour unless you want swim with Ray. Again, Granda can spend time shopping while the rest snorkel. At Belize, you done river tubing and ziplining, it was fun. We spent a week in Cozumel, snorkeling used to be nice but not the same after Wilma.

 

MTV

[DWALL]

vista,

Did you get the private tour at the dock in Belize? If so, who took you on tour?

Also, how much for the three stop trip? We will be there in early Dec and your trip sounds like what we want to do.

[Host Star]

Our family is going on the Legend in December to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. We have 7 in our group of me45, DH45, DS12, DS15 Grandparents66, and sister 49. Most of us, except Grandpa, love to snorkel and really want to take advantge of that on this cruise. I have read all the port boards and of course on each you hear that port is the best! I figured everyone here would be more objective.

 

Would you please rate the places we are going and give some ideas of the best snorkeling for each? With Granpa not wanting to snorkel we probably won't be able to go every port and we want to get in on the best snorkeling and maybe tours where Grandpa can be included.

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give.:D

 

roatan has fabulous snorkeling right from the beach and grandpa can relax on a chaise lounge while you snorkel... just grab a taxi to Fosters or one of the places on the beach that will give you a chaise and a drink for 5.00.. and just a short walk towards the end of the beach to the most incredible snorkeling

[YoPhilly]

Hi there.

 

White Cloud: we're doing that same itinerary over Thanksgiving week. For Grand Cayman, here's a link to all of the snorkel spots that are within walking distance of the tender dock.

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/GrandCaymanSnorkeling.htm

 

Thanks for posting the link.

[vista03]

vista, Did you get the private tour at the dock in Belize? If so, who took you on tour?

Also, how much for the three stop trip? We will be there in early Dec and your trip sounds like what we want to do.

 

Dwall,

We walked from the Cruise ship pier to the water taxi next to the swing bridge. Round trip fare for the 45 minute trip to Caye Caulker is $15 USD. Note that some Belize websites quote only in Belize dollars ($2 BZD = approximately $1 USD). http://www.cayecaulkerwatertaxi.com/pricing.html

 

Prearranged the "Local Reef Caye Caulker" three stop tour with Tsunami Adventures for $25 USD. Tsunami Adventures met us at the Caye Caulker water taxi pier. They provided snorkeling equipment, purified water and fresh fruit on the 3 hour tour. http://www.tsunamiadventures.com/snorkeling.htm

 

This was a fantastic day trip for $40 USD and the highlight of my cruise! :D

[White Cloud]

Thank you so much "MTV" and "Host Star"!!!

 

What you both suggested for snorkeling in Roatan sounds perfect for us.:D

[John&John]

Just got back from all these ports and due to windy weather / rough seas :( the only place we were able to snorkel was in Cozumel.

 

Seven of us grabbed a taxi for $25 (incl tip) and went to Chankanaab Park as soon as we got off the ship. Admission was $16 and they have chairs, beach loungers, palapas, restaurants, bars, changing rooms, swimming pool, etc. It's a big place. They also have a swim with the dolphins ($$$). You can print off a $2 off coupon for adults and $1 for kids on their website for general admission.

 

The snorkeling was much better than we expected. We saw a huge variety of fish and even a ray. It's great to snorkel from the beach as much as you please.

 

They also had a quite shallow swimming lagoon that was protected but make sure you have water shoes/sandals as the bottom is brutal.

[silentz]

See my post about snorkeling in Grand Cayman HERE.

 

My wife and I were on the Conquest last week and snorkeled at Chankanaab. Coming from a SCUBA diver I will tell you it was GREAT snorkeling. We saw tons of fish, reef life, and even an eel. I was kicking myself for not bringing my UW camera to Chankanaab. Click HERE for a link to the site and HERE for the coupon. They have very clean beaches, friendly staff and awesome scenery. We even had our food and drinks delivered to our beach chairs. Don't miss it!

 

Here are a couple of pics taken at Chankanaab.

 

 

Pool

 

Visitor's Center, Gift Shop, etc