St. Marten - which snorkel tour?

[berly1657]

We would like to go snorkeling on St. Marten - which tour - Pinel Island or Shepwreck cove? We want to take into consideration the time spent traveling to the snorkeling place etc = that is why we are opting out of the sailing - but maybe we would do that too if we got really good recommendations???

TIA

 

[justmestace]

I was thinking Pinel Island.....we've not had a lot of luck in seeing very many fish at the shipwrecks, most are too far down. Also, we like the idea of being able to explore the island, etc.
Then we decided after returning from Pinel, we'd taxi to Marigot to look around, see Ft St. Louis (and be able to say we were on both sides of St Maarten) and still have time to look around Phillipsburg before re-boarding.
I've read in my travel guides (for scuba & snorkel) about most of the Eastern's sites and I use that to compare to Disney's descriptions....Pinel sounds like the best.
As for St Thomas, we're going on our own to St John, Trunk Bay Beach. Our second choice is to look around Charlotte Amalie, maybe do the tramway, or a taxi to Bolongo Bay Beach Club. Our 3rd choice would be Coral World, which we would do by taxi on our own. I don't like the idea of going on a bus, on their schedule, and it's too much money that way. St Thomas is the easiest place to "go it on your own". The ferries and taxi's are right there at the port...it is their livelihood, so you're safe...
There is a public bus to Coral World, $5 pp, much cheaper than Disney. (Sorry, DCL)

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

We took an awesome excursion last summer that we're going to do again. We chartered a 42' cigarette boat and spent the day over in Anguilla. It was beautiful, great snorkeling also. They had the whitest beaches we'd ever seen. We got off the ship around 7:30, did some early shopping then met the charter around 9 and stayed out all day. If you want more info you can PM me or visit the operators web site at http://www.offshoresunsations.com . Click on "testimonials" for our trip report.

 

[justmestace]

Doogierunner,
Did you decide on the Christmas '04 trip? That may change my whole plan for St. Maarten!

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

No we haven't. I'd like to but we're still thinking. 7K is a lot for a cruise. We just moved into a new home... and are still trying to sell our old one. I did do some pricing w/ dreams, AAA, and Disney themselves. Dreams is the lowest. I'll PM you when we decide .

 

[jrabbit]

Be prepared NOT to snorkel on St. Maarten. They get a lot of wind and that kicks up the sand and visibility gets poor to bad. I understand that this happens frequently. The last time we went almost all of the snokeling excursions got cancelled.

The Golden Eagle Catamaran is still a lot of fun, even if the snorkeling portion isn't that great -- it's a party cruise (not party as in falling down drunk, but just a lot of fun on the boat, water and shore).

 

[cotomom]

Yes, I've heard the same about St. Maarten. I've also read that snorkelling is better on St. Thomas. Don't know from first hand experience, but will know in January!!