Snorkeling: Grand Cayman, Cozumel or Isla Roatan???

[luvcruisin09]

We are a group in our late 20's and will be sailing on the Carnival Legend in November. We currently have a Cave Tubing tour booked for Belize and the only other thing we want to do for sure is snorkeling. So Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Isla Roatan are open. We have been snorkeling before and want to make sure we get to see colorful beautiful fish, have some drinks and hopefully be on a boat with a waterslide. We have seen some that offer lots of different beach activities, water trampolines etc but we want the main focus to be on the snorkeling. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Open to booking with Carnival or privately.

[CarnivalGirl3]

ooo grand cayman.

 

Hell. Turtle Farm. Sting Rays.

 

Perfect. but that wasn't really snorkeling with fish. so, this one doesn't fit your requirements.

 

I don't remember Cozumel and haven't been to isla roatan.

[luvcruisin09]

ooo grand cayman.

 

Hell. Turtle Farm. Sting Rays.

 

Perfect. but that wasn't really snorkeling with fish. so, this one doesn't fit your requirements.

 

I don't remember Cozumel and haven't been to isla roatan.

 

 

 

Thanks! I should have mentioned we have done that in the past. Want to have a fun & beautiful snorkel with lots of fish this time.

[theeviltwin]

Def snorkel in Grand Cayman. If you take a right when you get off the tender, you can walk down a way (about 5-10 min) to the Eden Rock Dive Shop and rent gear. There's also a small restaurant next to it that rents gear as well. You can get a locker to stow your things while you are in the water. Its very rocky getting in, but nothing too major. Tons of fish and beautiful coral. Since you are doing it on your own its very inexpensive.

 

If you go to Fins & Flippers in Roatan they have a very nice area to snorkel off the beach. I do not remember the snorkel rental fees because we brought our own. You snorkel off their pier, but it isn't very deep at all. Not a lot of fish but there's a ton of coral.

 

Can't help you out with Cozumel - we didn't snorkel there. ;)

[amachad]

In Cozumel, I would take a taxi to Chakkanab Park (sp ?). You can spend the day there. Great beach with Palapas , lounge chairs, beverage service on the beach, iguanas roaming freely. Really good snorkeling and diving. They do Dolphin swim there too.

This is a state park. I think the entry fee is about $10 per person. There is a restaurant for food. 10 of us ate there, no problems.

[rjscott]

I second Chankanaab in Cozumel. Good snorkeling and good facilities. Also, Eden Rock in Grand Cayman is good. Lots of fish and you can rent equipment and store your stuff in lockers if you need to. There is a pier where you can enter by a ladder into the water, so easy entry.

Fins & Flippers in Roatan gets very good reviews. Google them and you'll see. They're our backup plan if we decide not to do a tour.

[ThePatientOne]

Heads up gang..

We are cruising in November as well.. (CCL Valor) and looked into Fins and Flippers..

Their rates were $20.00 PP in advance, $25.00 at the gate.. Snorkel gear rental was $8.00..

Notice I mention all this in past tense..

They are now Maya Key.. Rate is $50.00 PP and the web site is vague as to what this covers..

I have repeatedly requested more information and have yet to get a reply..

We also want to do a snorkel/beach day and were thinking Roatan..

Just thought I would share this information with you..

[rjscott]

Wow, thanks for the heads up! Will pass that info on to my roll call as we had some people planning on F&F for our Equinox cruise. What a shock! Ok, so another choice is Tabyana Beach. Very nice and good snorkeling. We've been there b/f. Or, a lot of people like West Bay Beach. Do a search on the board for that.

[luvcruisin09]

Thanks for the advice everyone! We had kind of decided on Fins & Flippers too bad they've doubled in price :( Hate when that happens.

[murphysdad]

guys, we just got off the Legend last week, and the snorkeling in roatan is absolutely the best. take Rony's and ask for Tony. He is the most experienced guide, and took us to the west end beach for snorkeling. It was undisturbed and fab. Take your own gear, or you can rent it from the beach. We had rony's the entire day and it was the best part of the trip. belize is a rip off if you take a ship tour for snorkeling to goff's cay...no drinks, pay for everything, and you can see the same reef in roatan.

[Stevesan]

We are a group in our late 20's and will be sailing on the Carnival Legend in November. We currently have a Cave Tubing tour booked for Belize and the only other thing we want to do for sure is snorkeling. So Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Isla Roatan are open. We have been snorkeling before and want to make sure we get to see colorful beautiful fish, have some drinks and hopefully be on a boat with a waterslide. We have seen some that offer lots of different beach activities, water trampolines etc but we want the main focus to be on the snorkeling. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Open to booking with Carnival or privately.

 

The "best" is probably Roatan, closely followed by Cozumel.

 

I can recommend Capt Marvin at GC and Eagle Ray at Cozumel. Both ports have a number of excellent independent operators.

Be sure to book a "full" day trip at Coz. The shorter trips go only to the near shore reefs. The longer will usually visit off-shore Columbia and Palancar Reefs. Last time we went to Punta Sur Reef. It was magnificent!

GC has first rate snorkeling, and diving, directly from Eden Rock, only a few blocks from the tender docks. They Have rental lockers, a rinse tank and direct entry from their deck.

 

http://www.captainmarvins.com/

http://www.edenrockdive.com/

 

http://www.eagleraydivers.com/

http://cozumelinsider.com/

 

I booked Anthony's Key Resort thru the ship. They are a major operation, both snorkeling and diving.

 

http://www.anthonyskey.com/en/index.html

[VSS0114]

We were on a Carnival ship in 2008 and took the ships tour to Tabayana - it was the most beautiful snorkling spot I've been too - we were in the water for hours, and I could have stayed another day and never gotten bored. The coral was amazing (and they have guides in kayaks to help keep visitors inside the "snorkle trail" to main the coral) and the variety of fish was stunning. I would go out of my way to book another stop at this beach!

[fun_cruiser]

We were on the Carnival Legend two weeks ago - Roatan is by far the best snorkeling I have done out of Cozumel, Bahamas, Belize, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin. Go to the West Beach for some great diving.