What's the BEST Snorkeling on the WESTERN...

[DMoss3377]

Hey gang...

My DH, a friend, and I are taking the Western Itinerary for the first time this October. We've done the 4-night Wonder and the 7-day Eastern.

We did the Catamaran Snorkel at Nassau on the 4-night and the 5-Star Trunk Bay Snorkel at St. John on the Eastern.

We loved Trunk Bay and the snorkeling there...and love to snorkel in general. So now that we're going on the Western...where's the best place to snorkel? What's the best DCL offered snorkeling excursion?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[jrabbit]

In Key West we did the "Key West Cat. Sail and Snorkel". We went out about 8 miles from Key West to the 3 largest barier reef in the world (behind the Australian and Beliez barrier reefs). We snorkeled off of the catamaran in about 15-12 feet of water. There were a ton of sea critters to see and the reef was very interesting too. Great trip! DW loved this on the best of all of our snorkeling excursions.

In Grand Cayman we did the "Shipwreck & Reef Snorkeling" excursion. We snorkeled in front of where the Magic was anchored in the harbor. We first went to the shipwreck where the crew tossed in a bunch of fish food. It was like swimming in an aquarium - way cool. It was neat to see the remains of the shipwreck. There were a lot of fish in the area. We then moved several hundred yards to a reef and snorkeled there. The reef was amazing and home to lots of critters (including tarpins - which look like sharks). This was my favorite snorkel trip of all (St. Johns, Key West, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay.)

There have been other posters who have used Captain Marvins, Captain Bryons, and Nativeway for excursions to Sting Ray City and other snorkeling stops on their trips. These have sounded like very, very good trips.

Castaway Cay snorkeing at the family beach is disappointing after snorkeling at real reef. CC is a great place to learn to snorkel since the area is protected from the waves.

 

[mac_tlc]

IMHO, the best snorkeling in the Western itinerary is at Chankkanub National Park in Cozumel. It's crystal clear, variety of areas & depths for those of varying skills, it's right off of land, although the rocky steps are sometimes a challenge, and inexpensive.

I would recommend you do it yourself.. just take a taxi from the pier, it's $10 pp to get in, and there are plenty of taxis available when you leave.

It's one of our favorite places on the Western itinerary.

mac_tlc

 

[DMoss3377]

Thank you jrabbit and mac_tlc for the responses.

Keep them coming.

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

I've been snorkeling for over 30 years (and I'm only 38), all over the Caribbean and Mexico, US, Hawaii and South America. The absolute best place to snorkel out of all these places is Grand Cayman. You are lucky to be going to one of the top snorkeling/diving destinations in the WORLD. Lucky You (and lucky me, I'll be there in 2 weeks!).

When people talk about "snorkeling" with stingrays, understand that where the stingrays are is a large sand bar with a silky sand bottom about 4-5 feet deep. Not much to see in the way of snorkeling....Other than hundreds of Stinrays!. Many of the tours also make snorkeling stops at reefs so that you can reallly snorkel and see the wonderful undrwater world, but at the actual Stinray Sandbar, there is probably only one thing to see, RAYS. Many people don't even snorkel. You can just swim, stand, feed, pet and photgraph these beautiful creatures without even needing a mask and snorkel.

Mrsfuzzmo

 

[DMoss3377]

Thanks mrsfuzzmo!

I've heard Grand Cayman is awesome. Nice to have my friends verified by someone with so much snorkeling experience.

Have you ever taken any of the snorkeling excursions through DCL at Grand Cayman? Or would you recommend one company/trip over another?

Thanks

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

Actually, I will be on DCL for the first time in 2 weeks. Last couple of times we did ship excrusions and had a good time (RCCL, NCL), this time we are doing the Bucaneer Catamaran (Run by Capt Bryans), so I will be able to give you a full review in about 3 1/2 weeks. I'll ask around and see what everyone did and if they would recommend anything as well.

Mrsfuzzmo

 

[bigd332]

We did the sting ray city snorkeling with Soto cruises. very nice operation and we had a blast.http://www.sotoscruises.com/index.shtml

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

"In Grand Cayman we did the "Shipwreck & Reef Snorkeling" excursion. We snorkeled in front of where the Magic was anchored in the harbor. We first went to the shipwreck where the crew tossed in a bunch of fish food. It was like swimming in an aquarium - way cool."

JRabbit- would you suggest this excursion for kids too? I have two daughters, 13 and 11, and would love to try this, as none of us has ever snorkeled so I want to go with a group that can give some instruction as well. We do have our own equipment. I was just going to rent a car and hit a couple suggsted spots for beginners, but after hearing about the poor gentleman who almost drowned, I realize I don't want us to be in over our heads-(no pun intended!)

Kathy

 

[DMoss3377]

Thanks for the replies...I'll be interested to here the reviews on the upcoming trips, as well as anyone else's experiences.