Tropical Reef Safari

[DISME111]

Interested in booking the Tropical Reef safari on Lookout but wondering how strong of a swimmer you need to be? The tour says it’s for 5 and up. My six year old is a just ok swimmer and still getting the hang of the water but very adventurous. Are there any areas to stand? Strong currents? Deep? Any advice would be great!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Just did this yesterday. Deep water, the wind was up so the water was choppy. Far enough from shore that it's effectively open water snorkeling. The reef was great. Very ample diversity of marine life. Saw a stingray & a nurse shark. Barely a 10 minutes transit from Turbot berth.

 

[Hoorayforcookies!]

did this in March. Great snorkeling for me, my Husband and 10 year old. I also have a 6 year old. We left her with my parents because we were worried she wasn’t a strong enough swimmer yet. It was the right decision for her. Open water and choppy would have been above her level. It’s around an hour in the water at least. We stayed in the whole time because it was great seeing the reef. But there isn’t anything else to do but sit on the boat if the little ones can’t do it or tire out. They do have inflatable vests to assist with floating. Some adults (including me) were wearing these just to avoid tiring out and enjoy the reef more. Hope that helps.

Edited to add: it’s about 30 feet deep and out from shore so there’s not a place where you can stand.

 

[danceintherain]

Has your 6 year old been snorkeling before? I thought my 5 year old would love it, but we took him to Discovery Cove, and he was scared of the fish. I'm glad we tried it somewhere with easy access.
Honestly, even though he's a good swimmer, I don't think he would be able to handle extended time without standing up. Even my 8 year old struggled in the deeper areas. That was in a manmade pool where the biggest challenge was avoiding other people. I'm not sure any of my kids could handle open water with how I've seen cruise snorkel trips are described. Maybe my daughter, but she's super active in general, and wants to be a marine biologist, so there's a lot of buy in for her.