Snorkeling Shore Excursions onm WC cruise

[GoofyB]

Does anyone know much about the snorkeling trips offered as shore excursions? I'd like to sign up for one or two but want to make sure my 8 year old will be comfortable --ie, they won't drop us off in 20-feet-deep water. Do they always give you little floatie vests? Generally snorkeling is in fairly shallow water, right?

Thanks for any tips.

 

[thevolcanogod]

It really all depends on the trip, but generally snorkle excursions will take you out to a shallow reef - shallow in this sense is that the bottom may be 15-20 feet down but the reef can come up quite close to the surface. You will want your 8-year-old to be comfortable enough to swim without needing to touch bottom - if he is on an excursion and decides to touch down on the reef to stand up, he will damage or kill coral. Please make sure he understands this - enough tourists damaging and killing the corals can kill wide areas of the reef.

If he is not comfortable being in the open ocean without being able to stand, you can snorkle with him off of the beach at Castaway Cay or on Nassau - these places might be more comfortable and there are still things to see.

Oh, and yea, most excursions give you snorkle vests to wear.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

We took the Fury Catamaran snorkel trip in Cozumel and the snorkeling spot was quite deep (probably 15- 20 feet deep). You do have to wear an inflatable life preserver though. On Cayman, we just took a cab to 7-mile beach and snorkeled right from shore. Both were excellent!

 

[Mark_F]

FWIW - DCL requires all snorkelers to wear a snorkel vest.

 

[KarenB]

When we were on the western a few weeks ago, we did 2 snorkel excursions which were very different, but we enjoyed them both.

Key West- Fury Sail and Snorkel (booked through Disney)

This was a pretty long trip in the hot sun. We left around 1 pm. It took an hour to get to the reef, we snorkeled for about an hour, then an hour back. The water was approx. 15 feet deep. While we were on this excursion, the water seemed calm, but compared to the second excursion, this water was had a few little swells. Remember-they were just small swells, but noticeable, especially when comparing the 2 trips!! The visibility was good as we saw some fish and DS and I swam over a shark twice about the size of my 14 year old. It didn't bother us at all, but just something to keep in mind if your child has a fear. Snorkeling equipment was provided with a floataion vest included. This vest does keep it very easy to stay a float and they are required. (you don't have to fill them up, but you must wear them.) The crew was great, but they were pretty strict about procedures, etc.) Free soda, water, and beer on the way back.


Grand Cayman-half day snorkel trip (booked ourselves through Captain Marvins)

This is a private company and the tour lasted from about 10am-1am. I think we even set out a little early because everyone was there. Only about 25 people were on this boat. We had three stops. The first 2 were spots along the reef in water about 9 feet deep. The equipment was in great shape and I feel a bit nicer than what was provided in Key West. Floatation vests were provided, but we did not have to wear them. Actually, our stuff looked brand new!! It seemed to fit me much better also. The water here was very, very calm and crystal clear!! The crew seemed to interact more with us (but it was also a smaller group and boat). They would show us things under water. One crew member led a moray eel out from it's hiding spot a bunch of times to allow us to see it. Snorkeling here was like being in an aquarium-words can't describe the beauty!! The third stop was Stingray City which is about 4 feet deep, but the stingrays can be intimidating. (very, very safe though!!!!) They also had a diver taking videos that he made into a video or DVD you can buy.


Please understand that the Fury Catamaran was great and I am SO glad we did it also, but if we had to choose, Captain Marvin's would win hands down.

Don't forget, you can snorkel at Castaway Cay which is very calm and staggered with lifeguards.

Have a wonderful trip and PM me if you need more info!
Karen

 

[jrabbit]

On Grand Cayman we did the Shipwreck and Reef snorkel. You snorkel infront of the Magic. The day we did it the water was very, very calm. You do snorkel in the 15 - 20 of water. You are requried to wear the buoyance compensator. You should not touch the coral (ie stand on it) as that will kill it. Also, there are many corals that will give you a nasty and painful rash if you touch it with exposed skin. (this is not a problem at Castaway Cay - and I don't believe that there was this type of coral where we snorkeled on Grand Cayman.)

 

[prymsu]

I have also done the Fury Sail in Snorkel in Key West and thought it pretty good. They do run a tight ship, and if you are taking kids, this would be a plus. They do head counts and go over rules and tips, and some of the crew gets in the water and helps those who might need extra help.

 

[GoofyB]

Thanks all. Sounds to me like I made the right decision in confining our snorkeling to Castaway Cay. My son's just not quite ready for any of those other trips -- tho we may try to do snorkel off the beach at 7-mile Beach in Grand Cayman.

He's an oceanographer in the making and would never want to hurt the reefs and understands how that happens. But he's not the most confident swimmer yet, so the big snorkel trips will have to wait a few years.

thanks again!