US Virgin Islands snorkel port adventure

[WarEagle!]

Hello! My family will be on the New Years’ Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise, and I was wondering which snorkel port adventure would be the best in the US Virgin Islands. I will have my 6-year old son, and he is adventurous. He went snorkeling a few years ago but does not remember. It looks like the island has some great snorkeling options, but I have been disappointed in the past with DCL port adventures when I pick something that wasn’t recommended. Thank you in advance!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would book something non-DCL if allowed. The DCL snorkel trips are very cattle call and you will do better booking outside.

I know good companies if you are stopping in the BVI, but less so the USVI. I am certain they exist though, and will go somewhere the big excursion does not.

 

[Calantha]

2 thoughts:

First: We did non-DCL snorkeling on Antigua with my son in 2019 (who was 4 at the time) and it was very much an 'at your own pace'/multiple options for everyone tour - which was great, since ultimately he wasn't really into it. We were able to do our own thing (along with some much older members) - it was billed as "everyone from 3-80." Probably about 30 people total with 3 guides.

Second: We honeymooned for a week on St. Thomas in 2011. We did a snorkel/kayak/hike tour that was advertised as adult's only and then someone begged to bring their 2 children (who I'd say were between 6-10) - and it was a disaster - so much so, that the rest of the people on the tour were refunded their/our money. (It was a small group though - 10 people total/1 guide). Basically it was too much for the kids to do and they ultimately didn't want to do anything.

There are lots of good options on St. Thomas...I'll try to dig up the info on the group we used - they had other tours appropriate for kids.

EDIT: Virgin Island Ecotours.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

(On the BVI side Norman Island and the Indians are prime, by the way, if you have a Tortola stop. I would argue at a certain level for doing the snorkeling at the BVI if you are doing both Tortola and St. Thomas, as a lot of the BVI options otherwise revolve around being near bars, whereas at St. Thomas you can always go over to St. John and try to find the park donkeys at the National Park, which is basically my daughter's favorite thing to do in St. Thomas.)

 

[belle032]

I'm not sure which island you're visiting, but you have a chance to get over to St. John, make the trip. My family spent 3 weeks on the island a number of years ago and Trunk Bay is stunning. Think beach calendar beautiful. Crystal clear water makes it great for snorkeling. Cruise lines usually offer excursions, but you can also just take the ferry from St. Thomas.

 

[WarEagle!]

Thank you, everyone! I did see some excursions that went to St. John. I will check those out, too.

 

[tlprice]

We did the Doubloon Turtle Cove Sail and Snorkel (ST08). We don't often do excursions through DCL, but this was a last minute cruise and I didn't really have time to book anything on my own. I booked it because we had done a pirate ship excursion in St. Lucia that my daughter absolutely loved. We did not end up on the pirate ship for our St. Thomas excursion. We were on a catamaran instead (it does say it on the website, and we were notified ahead of time so we weren't disappointed). It was a nice excursion with a beautiful cruise out and back to the snorkeling spot. We had a guide that showed us the sea turtles while we were snorkeling, which was really amazing. We also snorkeled all around the area just seeing whatever else we wanted. There weren't too many people on the excursion, which was also nice.

 

[blabadie]

We recently returned from a land USVI vacation. We went on a snorkel trip with Cruz Bay Watersports that takes you to Maho Bay and one other snorkeling stop on St. John. Maho Bay is particularly known as a good spot to see the large sea turtles.

We had a great time at both stops and saw lots of sea turtles, stingrays, and tons of fish.

 

[WarEagle!]

We recently returned from a land USVI vacation. We went on a snorkel trip with Cruz Bay Watersports that takes you to Maho Bay and one other snorkeling stop on St. John. Maho Bay is particularly known as a good spot to see the large sea turtles.

We had a great time at both stops and saw lots of sea turtles, stingrays, and tons of fish.

Oh, that would be fabulous. I will check them out. Thank you!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We did St. John from St. Thomas on our own. First off the ship, caught a taxi to the ferry & another on St. John to the beach. There are a few that are very popular, but you can't go wrong with any beach on St. John. We hung out at Hawksnest Beach for the day & the water was amazing. We lost track of time & later realized that we'd snorkeled about the bay for over 2 hours. Super easy