Next Caribbean destination for advanced snorkeling

[mantaraye]

I am looking for "the next snorkeling destination" I am a pretty hardcore snorkeler and have snorkeled Hawaii, Australia, and all over the Caribbean. This past summer went to Roatan and liked it although I would like to try something new.

I like destinations with a good combination of nice beach and snorkeling. Since I am a fairly expereinced snorkeler, I focus on healthy reef systems - I want to see a variety of hard and soft corals as well as fish populations - if the coral is healthy, the fish variety will be there.

Bonaire seems too far away. Right now I am considering Exumas, Abacos, Turks and Caicos, Little Cayman. Maybe Tobago Cayes near St. Vincent, but the distance for that may be too far. Any suggestions?

 

[Damselfish]

might want to say where are you flying from. The length of time to get various places in the Caribbean can have as much to do with flight connections as the actual distance. Bonaire would be a really good place to go.

Do you freedive? Are you looking to do it all from shore or are you willing to take boats?

 

[mantaraye]

I would be flying from Louisiana, which is close to many Caribbean destinations, but Bonaire is still kinda expensive. I definitely would be willing to do boat as well as beach - I like desinitations that have both because I can get in more snorkeling. I am confortable with snorkeling in from the ocean and deep water.

As far as freediving, still working on the ear thing, so I pretty much stay on the surface.

 

[herman]

If by "nice beach" you mean long wide sandy area, Bonaire is not your choice. Bonaire's beaches are mostly ironstone and broken coral, far from "nice". It's not that bad to get to, Delta out of Atlanta, Continental out of Houston or a new airline (forget the name) out of Miami. Air can be expensive but your snorkeling is free and unlimited. I find that when diving on Bonaire, the cost of air is pretty much a wash when I do a cost per dive. Boat charges can add up fast and quickly make up for the extra air cost if you are hard core. Bonaire is your best bet for serious snorkeling but if "nice" beaches are also a must, I would suggest Curacao instead. Nice (wide sand)beaches and great snorkeling.

 

[Damselfish]

yeah Curacao or maybe even Aruba, been a long time since I snorkeled there but I think it was good. And it has the beaches. Also more charter flights & package deals from some places, at least there used to be. Someplace in the Virgin Islands might work, and they're closer.

Little Cayman is a great place to dive, but I don't think of it as a good snorkeling destination. There's not really snorkeling in front of the resorts. You can hop on a dive boat to Bloody Bay, which is famous for starting shallow 20ft in places - nice for diving, but still deep to see much if you're on the surface and probably pretty rough and surgy if you're right up against the shore where it's shallow. I think there's snorkeling at Point of Sand? - but you'd have to get there it's at the opposite end of the island from all the resorts. Maybe you could kayak to Owen Island and snorkel, not sure what that's like.

I don't think Turks and Caicos is a great snorkeling destination either, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. There are a few places on Provo that have good snorkeling from shore, but not too many. Great beach, but that stretch of sand mostly continues on underwater. I don't know if Grand Turk would be better?

(Realize that nice beach and good snorkeling often aren't in the same place. The shore diving and snorkeling is really good on Bonaire partly because they have mostly ironshore and rocky coral beaches, rather than big sandy beaches. Curacao is somewhat unusual in having lots of nice little beaches that have good snorkeling shallow and close too.

 

[RalphinOrmond]

I also would like to hear any reports about Exumas. I have snorkeled on Cat Island. The best place I found there was at the end of the road that heads NE out of Arthur's Town. It was desolate for a long ways back to any sign of human habitations, so you'd want to have a dependable rental (with a good spare and a jack) but the underwater world was fully enchanting enough for me. Because of the remoteness, I've often wondered if I'd have the gonads to go back to that spot. There's the Orange Creek Inn, also in that general part of the Island, and I wonder if there would be great snorkeling within walking distance of the Inn? Anyway, manaraye, if your a solitary guy ready to deal with a kind of challenging local culture (not in a negative sense, for heaven's sake, just in a "different" sense), Cat Island is a special place. I hope to go back. But Exumas sounds fantastic as well. Anybody got any info on that?

 

[Aqua Cat]

The Exumas are GORGEOUS with over 360 tiny deserted islands that run Southeast from New Providence. Very healthy reef as most operators do not reach these remote islands. Great Exuma is the best place to fly into but flights are getting more scarce and expensive. If you want the comfort level of a luxery hotel but the remoteness of out island cruising and snorkeling, a liveaboard is a great way to go. Aqua Cat dives, snorkels and freedives always on the move visting 4-5 new sites a day! Our 28' tender, 'Seadog' is readily available to run people to the beach, fish, lobster, or snorkel shallower sites. Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) is also easy and cheaper than most southern Caribbean destinations. Blackbeard's adventure liveaboard is also running summer 2009 departures from Nassau cruising the Exumas. Good luck and stay wet!

 

[RalphinOrmond]

Thanks for the info, Aqua Cat. My family obligations have me on the shortest of leashes for the time being. Once free, I'll beeline it to the Exumas. And the Orange Creek in on Cat Island too!

 

[robint]

Bonaire, Bonaire, Bonaire......... yes, airfare is high but once you snorkel there you won't care.
There are a couple of dive/snorkeling sites that would rival anyplace you have ever snorkeled --- Oil Slick Leap, Andrea I & II, 1000 Steps, Yellow Submarine, and Karpata for instance. I can't think of a better place to snorkel with better coral and fishlife so close to shore. Spend the $$ on the airfare, it will be worth it. I have videos from Bonaire listed down on my signature.

Also, Go to this website and look at the dive sites photos:
ShoreDiving.com - Your Shore Diving and Snorkeling Web Community!

robin

 

[SnapSlap]

Guana Cay in Abaco has some great beaches and awesome reefs. Especially if you enjoy spearfishing!