Snorkel port excursion: Tortola or St. Thomas?

[Jack15129]

Hi. DW and I are scheduled to go on the Jan 22, 2022 sailing on the Fantasy. We want to go snorkeling on either Tortola or St. Thomas. Seeking opinions on which island might be “better” and which snorkel tour you’ve had good experience with. Thanks so much!

 

[Juan M]

Hi! Our family has used Aristocat in Tortola for a Catamaran cruise and snorkel and they were fantastic! You can book all online, and they are located near th e cruise ship pier, a short walk away. They have all the snorkel gear on hand, along with some floats and a Stand up paddleboard or 2 as well. If i remember correctly, i think we went to 3 or 4 different spots, near Norman Island. They provide a lunch and drinks on board. This was pre Covid, but i am sure they are still fantastic.

 

[Jack15129]

Thanks a lot for the info! We’ll check that out. Is Aristocat a Disney excursion?
We think in these uncertain “start up” times, that we’ll stick with Disney sponsored port activities.

Thinking now we may do a zip line tour on Tortola and try snorkeling at St. Thomas (the following day). Snorkeling in the Caribbean (not Castaway Key - we did that) is on my “bucket list”. Windy weather in Grand Cayman in 2019 prevented any snorkeling there and we we disappointed!

 

[Juan M]

We’ve actually never done a DCL excursion until our November Eastern coming up in 19 days, our DS is 6 and won’t be fully vaccinated so DCL excursions are a must. We are doing snorkeling in St Thomas as well and can let you know how that goes.

As far as I know, Aristocat isn’t a Disney Vendor for excursions, at the time we used them, they had lost one catamaran to Hurricane Irma, and were in the process of buying another. On our trip it was only DCL folks, there was one other MSC ship in port that day, but we didn’t have any of their pax on our Catamaran. Back then they limited capacity to about 20 people, as the boat fit 35-40 but they want everyone to have space and enjoy themselves. I’d say it was maybe 3 or 4 families and about half were kids 12 and under.

In St Thomas we are doing one of the Shipwreck Cove snorkeling tours and can report back on how that goes when we are back on 11/21!

 

[RedHead0186]

I did a catamaran sail and snorkel on St. Thomas and it was great. We wen t

Thinking now we may do a zip line tour on Tortola and try snorkeling at St. Thomas (the following day). Snorkeling in the Caribbean (not Castaway Key - we did that) is on my “bucket list”. Windy weather in Grand Cayman in 2019 prevented any snorkeling there and we we disappointed!

That's what I did when I did that itinerary. Did ziplining in Tortola, then did the catamaran sail and snorkel in St. Thomas. Both were a lot of fun!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Aristocat is not a DCL provider. But they are better. Smaller group, avoid the cattle call and chase the kind of thing you're hoping to see snorkeling.

Obvs, not an option with under-12s right now. But an Aristocat sailing will have maybe 1/3 the total passengers, better food, and more flex.

 

[Jack15129]

We’ve actually never done a DCL excursion until our November Eastern coming up in 19 days, our DS is 6 and won’t be fully vaccinated so DCL excursions are a must. We are doing snorkeling in St Thomas as well and can let you know how that goes.

As far as I know, Aristocat isn’t a Disney Vendor for excursions, at the time we used them, they had lost one catamaran to Hurricane Irma, and were in the process of buying another. On our trip it was only DCL folks, there was one other MSC ship in port that day, but we didn’t have any of their pax on our Catamaran. Back then they limited capacity to about 20 people, as the boat fit 35-40 but they want everyone to have space and enjoy themselves. I’d say it was maybe 3 or 4 families and about half were kids 12 and under.

In St Thomas we are doing one of the Shipwreck Cove snorkeling tours and can report back on how that goes when we are back on 11/21!

Please do!!! We all look forward to hearing how your tour goes!

 

[Jack15129]

I did a catamaran sail and snorkel on St. Thomas and it was great. We wen t


That's what I did when I did that itinerary. Did ziplining in Tortola, then did the catamaran sail and snorkel in St. Thomas. Both were a lot of fun!

Do you recall the name of the catamaran snorkel tour company in St. Thomas?

 

[RedHead0186]

Do you recall the name of the catamaran snorkel tour company in St. Thomas?

I don't recall the name, but it was a Disney excursion. Pretty sure it was this one: St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel (ST21)
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...s-st-john-st-john-champagne-cat-sail-snorkel/

 

[Jack15129]

Thank you for the name! We’ll check that out!

Boy, our serious planning and questions are like a year behind! We were scheduled for last Jan/2021, but we rescheduled last October/2020 (before DCL actually cancelled the cruise). We are so hoping excursions can go as planned!!!

 

[rhinodadz]

We've snorkeled at both stops and they're both equally good as far as seeing sea critters. It all depends on the boat captain. We've gone with Kuralu in Tortola multiple times and have been very pleased. Going with them again in December. On St Thomas there are any number of operators - suggest checking out Tripadvisor.

 

[ThinkTink1]

We’ve actually never done a DCL excursion until our November Eastern coming up in 19 days, our DS is 6 and won’t be fully vaccinated so DCL excursions are a must. We are doing snorkeling in St Thomas as well and can let you know how that goes.

As far as I know, Aristocat isn’t a Disney Vendor for excursions, at the time we used them, they had lost one catamaran to Hurricane Irma, and were in the process of buying another. On our trip it was only DCL folks, there was one other MSC ship in port that day, but we didn’t have any of their pax on our Catamaran. Back then they limited capacity to about 20 people, as the boat fit 35-40 but they want everyone to have space and enjoy themselves. I’d say it was maybe 3 or 4 families and about half were kids 12 and under.

In St Thomas we are doing one of the Shipwreck Cove snorkeling tours and can report back on how that goes when we are back on 11/21!

I’ll be on that cruise too