Best snorkeling on Eastern?

[zeldacruiser]

Where is the best snorkeling to be found on the Eastern cruise? Do you recommend with or without Disney Excursion? Thanks! (Of course, we're leaving in two weeks and should have booked our excursions ages ago!)

 

[kplatt]

We have snorkeled at Sapphire Bay, both staying there on vacation and while stopping in St. Thomas on our cruises. The hotel has watersports rentals, restaurants, a pool, a nice long sand beach, and reefs very close to shore on the right side of the beach. We took a cab from the port as soon as we got off the ship and arrived about an hour before the excursions did.

We have also done the Leyland Sneed [sp?] excursion to St. John's. Nice, but a long boat ride for not much time in the water.

We have also visited Coral World on every trip, and love it. My son and I did the sea trekking there last time -- you wear helmets that rest on your shoulders, receive pressurized air through long tubes, and walk along an underwater path led by a guide. Saw lots of waterlife, and handled a few things that the guide found. Next to Coral World is Coki Beach which I've read has good snorkeling, but I've not been there.

Good luck!

Karen
Wonder 1/01
Magic 3/02
Magic 11/02
Carnival Destiny (don't ask) 12/03
Booked on Magic Eastbound Panama Canal 8/05

 

[musicgirl]

At St. Thomas, my vote is for the Capt. Nautica excursion.

This was a top notch treat. You go by speed boat to your destinations. We went to 3 different places. They do change destinations depending on weather and where they think it will be the best snorkeling.

It was about a 20 min. speed boat ride to the 1st place.
Our 1st stop was to Turtle cove. This was awesome!! We were the first group that day. We stayed for about an hour. We saw lots of turtles (some were babies!) By the time we were leaving, other excursions were just arriving.

We had refreshments at this time. And just around the corner was our second stop. It was a shipwreck and was pretty busy. We only stayed about 20 min. and then another speed trip to one of the St. James islands.

This was beautiful. We were 1 of 2 groups there. The other was a small group of about 6 that were scuba diving. We stayed here for about an hour as well.

They were great, very informative offered disposable underwater cameras for those that had forgotten. The ride itself is fun. It is bumpy and fast, but in a fun way.

All in all, the snorkeling time was about 2 1/2 hours plus the boat ride time. We were back for lunch and had time to clean up and go into shop.

I would do this again in a heart beat.
After that, we were on our way back with more refreshments and another speed ride.