Snorkeling in St. Thomas

[watch4sharx]

I have snorkeled at Sapphire Beach and at Magen's Bay. Both are decent and worth the trip I'd say. I did them both a few years before I dove so I don't know what I'd think of them now, but Sapphire beach was the place I saw my first wild barracuda so I'll always remember that.

Both are destinations for cruise ship snorkeling excursions though.

 

[KDAD]

If I remember correctly Magens Bay was a nice beach if you are looking for that and Coki Beach was some of the better snorkeling that I did. Hug the left side and head out past the crowds. Decent reef with plenty of fishes. Finish up under the pilings by the coral world to see some additional stuff.

 

[diversteve]

I think the only reason Coki Beach is named by so many people is that the cruise excursions have been going there for decades so there's probably a lot of chatter on Trip Advisor or the Cruise Forums. It was pretty plain when we dove there - decent dive, shallow - we used it for our first dive of the vacation b4 moving to the BVI's where there's a lot of locations with a lot better snorkeling - some right off the beach resorts.

Others at nearby islands like Anegada:

The only coral island in the Virgin Islands’ volcanic chain, Anegada is characterized by its nearly flat elevation, the striking coral reefs that surround it

or Jost Van Dyke.

We stayed on Virgin Gorda where The Baths is one of the most famous snorkels in the world - more for topology than fish life. Snorkel/Cruise excursions even go there from other islands on day trips - including several from St. John.

Right off the point about 100 yards past Coral World - 20' off the rocks in a little partly sheltered cove - I found the biggest Elkhorn coral I've ever seen in my life. Just one - all by itself. I didn't get too close for fear of being pushed into it and breaking off decades of growth.

 

[KDAD]

I will amend my Coki Beach recommendation to add that I was there on a cruise stop and only do self guided shore snorkeling.

 

[t-mac]

I agree that between STT and STJ you should have plenty of good options for snorkeling. While I love the BVIs, I don't think it's worth the hassle for what you want.

 

[LunaBuna]

Thanks everyone!! So far we have snorkeled at Coki Beach (just because that's where we rented fins). There wasn't much there. Vis was about 12' because of the Christmas winds. Yesterday we went to Water Island which was supposed to be a little more remote. I wouldn't call it remote since there were lots of tourists (but not nearly as many as Coki). The swimming area was marked off and there weren't any reefs inside the area but lots of people were outside the area so we snorkeled along the rock wall and saw some great shells, fish, and cuttlefish but inside then marked swimming area we got to swim with two beautiful turtles! I've done that many times but every time still amazes me. And nobody else in my party had done that before so that made the trip worth it.

 

[Jersey]

Very cool! Turtles are amazing. Agree there is little to nothing at Coki, beyond it is a pretty beach with a gentle slope. Again offer up Sapphire, especially the side near E building where you will find stands of staghorn and elkhorn corals in a small shallow protected cove. Most folks will stay to the more commercialized, prettier beach side near buildings A, B, C (rougher during the Chistmas winds, but if you head out over the deeper eel grass a favorite turtle feeding area). Pick you way over the rocks, enter in front of One Palm and enjoy. Pretty sure you saw squid, not cuttlefish.

 

[LunaBuna]

Great info! I did some research and looks like I'm not the first person to be fooled by the Caribbean Reef Squid! I wanted to make it to Sapphire but some folks in our group got sick and we ended up with fewer days to do fun stuff. But it's at the top of our list for next year (we've already got the room booked for the same week next year). Thanks so much for the great suggestion!

 

[Jersey]

Yep, me too, swore they were cuttlefish only to find they are not indigenous to this part of the world. They are very inquisitive. Sorry some of the group were ill, but gives you an excuse to start planning the next trip! Spent almost a year on St Thomas 2014 - 2015 for work. Many chances to snorkel all over and I kept going back to my condo at Sapphire.