beach snorkeling in winter caribbean?

[tonylaker]

hi all,
we're looking for a beach snorkeling holiday in the caribbean in early december. our requirements are as follows:-
water 78/80F+, inexpensive, good reef snorkeling accessible from beach (no boat trips!), no bugs (or few bugs), beachside hotel, no corporate highrise. previously we've been to maldives and cook islands but need to be nearer home this time, so realize we can't expect the same of quality of snorkeling. i guess it's a big ask, but is there anywhere that could meet our needs?
thanks
tony

 

[mikeycanuk]

Akumal Beach Resort in the Mayan Riveria, Mexico. Great reef and a few hundred feet to the north and turtle encounters are guaranteed. Can't comment on water temps, always went in the summer. Never been to the ABR but heard it's a 3 star on a 5 star beach. The town of Akumal is a great place to hang out. locogringo.com is a hotbed of info and fanboys/girls of the ABR

 

[diversteve]

Bonaire or Curacao might be options. Both should be low-80's in winter afaik. And both offer excellent beach snorkeling - likely as good as you'll find in the Caribbean.

Info Bonaire - The Bonaire Information Site - The Most Current and Up-To-Date Information
Curacao Travel- Caribbean, Curacao, Dutch Caribbean

to get started. More info in our regional forum also: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lesser-antilles/

This site also references snorkel options at many of the dive sites: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/index.htm

Maybe Aruba also but from what I've seen a lot of the hotels are "corporate high-rise" - or at least lots of low condo buildings. Curacao also has 10x the population/traffic etc. vs. Bonaire. Downtown can be pretty congested so I'd stay east or west of town.

Maybe look at the USVI's also - St. John has a lot of snorkel trails off their beaches. St Croix also possibly, Buck Island nearby is a NMP so they limit activities there. But that's a boat ride. There's also some snorkeling off St. Thomas's East End, from there you can car ferry over to St. John - takes 1/2 hr. I think the VI's might be colder though in winter, they're closer to the Atlantic and shallower.

Of all these places the only one we ran into bugs was Bonaire. I suspect the Mangrove lagoon (which you can also snorkel) and the Salt Pans contribute to that.

 

[diverjen]

I would ditto St. John. There were 8 of us, so we rented a villa, not sure about accommodation choices for you but they are plentiful. For strictly beach snorkeling, this place is really hard to beat. ABR is also a great choice, if you are looking for something that is a great value, but I do think that St. John has the best variety from the beaches. I highly enjoyed/recommend Water lemon, Cinnamon, Haulover North and Brown Bay. If you want to hang out on the same beach all week and not move around and do different beaches and also want a cheap AI, ABR is a great spot to see turtles and rays and some reef that has seen better days. I would of course go back there in a heartbeat - its a wonderful place. But if I had to stop diving for some reason, I would snorkel St. John - its the closest to diving I have seen snorkeling(in my Caribbean only snorkeling/diving experience). Water will probably be warmer at ABR in December, though.

I only dove Bonaire, but I didn't really see great snorkeling (meaning very shallow healthy reef systems) where I dove except a few places. Klein (reachable by kayak or boat) seemed to have excellent snorkeling areas, so I would want to get out there several times if I was making a purely snorkel trip. We went to several of the so called best snorkeling spots on Curacao and were disappointed. I want to see reef. A few fish or a turtle on a sandy bottom is nice, but I want more out of a week long trip. I think a lot of divers think a shallow spot for snorkeling means coral at 15-25 feet. To me that is still too deep for amazing snorkeling.

Everything is relative, so here's my background, I have snorkeled extensively in the Caribbean and only recently started diving, here is where I have snorkeled:
Cozumel
Grand Cayman
Rivieria Maya, including Akumal and other spots
Antigua
St. John
Roatan
Belize
Curacao

Dove Bonaire and BVIs.

Good luck with your vacation planning.....

 

[tonylaker]

thanks all. it seems as if we'll be headed to ABR

 

[diverjen]

So jealous! You will have a great time! Please post a trip report when you get back!

 

[LovetoFloat]

Would return to Bonaire in a heartbeat. Unaware of anywhere else where you can step offshore and immediately see marine life.