Travel Destinations for snorkeling

[Ravendeer]

HI there,

Looking for some help from all of you. Going on a family trip in February. 8 people and only 2 dive. It is really for my Mom- she wants to do lots of snorkeling and mainly from the shore. We are traveling from West Coast in Canada. Destinations being thrown around are: Bimini, Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos or Akumal/Adventuras Mexico. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[NYCNaiad]

I hate snorkeling. I am a diver at heart. However, I occasionally snorkel when I can't dive (e.g., ill, flying that day, traveling with non-diving people, etc.). I tell you this because I was shocked to do a snorkeling session that actually beat a number of my dives. It was a mangrove eco tour in Grand Cayman with Mangrove Snorkel « Cayman Sea Elements Mangrove Eco-Tours. They do small specialized trips and really cater to you. It was just my buddy and I, yet they still took us on a tour and let us stay in the water for a while. (A lot of other outfits have a minimum of number of people before they'll go out, they'll jam pack you in with a ton of people or rush you out of the water.) Also, they really took the time to teach us all about the mangrove ecosystem. It wasn't just Grand Cayman that made the snorkeling special, it definitely was the locale plus the tour company. Side note: I came literally eye-to-eye with a sting ray in the mangroves while on the tour. How cool is that?

I also dove the Kittiwake and Stingray City on Grand Cayman. While I believe both of these are better with scuba, there were a number of people who snorkeled them and said they had a blast.

 

[diversteve]

I'm fairly sure the reef is too far out off of Providenciales (Provo) in the T/C for shore snorkeling. I think the closest point is 500 yds. or so and by then it's deep enough to dive. Grace Bay Beach is a nice sandy beach for a considerable way out. So I wouldn't think the snorkeling there is great. Good diving though. I don't know the other islands but I think it's similar on Grand Turk.

I don't know Bimini well enough from shore - I have dove there but off a liveaboard. Don't know Akumal at all.

My choice would be Grand Cayman. For the 2 divers it's also excellent deep wall diving.

For Mom there's easy entry snorkeling off Cemetery Beach, Smith's Cove and Turtle Reef - which has steps for entry into a shallow cove. It's actually a named snorkel site. Turtle Reef | Snorkeling in West Bay | iDive Cayman Go here and select snorkeling for 9 other site videos. Dive Sites of the Cayman Islands - iDive For the Cali or Eden Rock the cruisers are a definite factor - there can be as many as 4-5 ships in port and Eden Rock is 500' away.

Turtle Reef is IMO about the best shore dive on Grand Cayman also - Sundivers is on-site for tanks. Smith's Cove is also a shallow dive a short swim out. Someone recently posted the cruise excursions have found Smith's also. There's a Cayman cruise schedule online to find out the best days to go there.

One other of interest is the Kittiwake wreck - it was purposely sunk shallow enough to be a dual dive/snorkel site. It does require a boat ride out.

You can snorkel overhead and see the main decks and topography of the ship plus take a look down the smoke stack that opens up straight down to the bottom of the hull and the engine rooms.

Kittiwake Sites in Cayman, Kittiwake Wreck Dive - Kittiwake Cayman

Plus besides the Stingray City Sandbar snorkel (the cruise excursion) you can also snorkel above the Stingray City dive and swim down to participate - it's only 14' deep. Only via boat though. Many of the dive boats offer snorkeling ride-alongs also - on ours the parents dove while the kids snorkeled down.

Testudo - a member here - also publishes a site with a lot more options: TESTUDO'S SNORKEL GUIDE Cayman Off the Beaten Path

 

[herman]

By far Bonaire is the best shore snorkeling destination in the caribbean with Curacao as a second option. The other destinations have a few spots you can go, mostly at the resort you are staying at. On the other hand, on Bonaire you can both dive and snorkel at any place.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Have you given any consideration to the Cook islands? Rarotonga had lots of great snorkeling from shore.

If you're not against paying to boat to the good sites for snorkeling, checkout Ambergris Caye Belize. Lots of fun things to do there for a family. Snorkeling at shark/ray alley, Hol Chan and Mexico Rocks and lots of decent snorkeling off the end of docks to (in particular Ramon's dock) and just such a fun place for a family over all.

 

[Scubanoobi]

If you're on the west coast I'd say Hawaii hands down (Maui or Big Island). I've been all over the Caribbean and Hawaii and snorkelling in Hawaii is by far much better and very easy entries from sandy beaches. Topside activities are amazing as well.


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[lamarpaulski]

HI there,

Looking for some help from all of you. Going on a family trip in February. 8 people and only 2 dive. It is really for my Mom- she wants to do lots of snorkeling and mainly from the shore. We are traveling from West Coast in Canada. Destinations being thrown around are: Bimini, Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos or Akumal/Adventuras Mexico. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Second for Grand Cayman. Excellent snorkling...did with 8 year old. Great places to snorkle and dive all around island. Get vehicle for at least a couple days. Stingray City. Tarpon. Safe environment. Not cheap though.

 

[Ravendeer]

Thanks for all the feedback and information so far. I myself am leaning towards Grand Cayman but have a couple in the party concerned about cost. I do also realize that T/C is expensive. And while I'd love to go to Bonaire, it is cost prohibitive. My mom really wants the Caribbean as my brother lives in Florida and she was planning on stopping there on her way back.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I would agree that Grand Cayman has excellent snorkeling and great wall dives -I've done them both, and the West Bay-Turtle Reef snorkeling was some of the best I've ever seen. The only downside is that Grand Cayman is very expensive -expensive lodging, expensive dining, expensive diving. Now, most of my trips are to Cozumel - for what a week in Grand Cayman costs me, I can pay for two weeks in Cozumel. And I am a dive-first guy. If I'm there for a week, I'm going to be diving at least 5 days. I'll snorkel a few times in the afternoon, after a 2-tank morning dive trip, lunch (and, often, a short siesta). Cozumel does not really have the same quality of snorkeling that Grand Cayman does, and the best snorkeling sights are either from a boat (Columbia Shallows or Palancar Gardens) or way South (the snorkeling from shore at Punta Sur park is pretty good). But for diving, I'll take the drift diving in Cozumel over the diving in Grand Cayman (though the Cayman diving is still very good).

For overall value for the money and experience, I prefer Cozumel. Opinions may vary.

 

[Damselfish]

Cayman has a rep for being expensive and it's true you can spend a lot without much effort. But like many such places it can be done much less expensively depending where you choose to stay and eat, and flights there are often pretty reasonable. With 8 people sharing 2 condo type units and eating many meals in you don't have to spend a fortune. Same with Bonaire, airfares there tend to be on the expensive side but if you find an appropriate condo or even a house rental and don't eat out all the time you'll cut down on costs a lot, and of course there's plenty of places to snorkel and/or dive.

Compared to Bonaire, I don't really see Cayman as a great snorkeling destination for someone who wants to do a lot of it. It's true that scattered around the island are a few good spots to snorkel where stuff starts shallower that have shore access, and more if you're going to free dive a bit or see the view from a distance. And there are some snorkel oriented boat tours like stingray city and the mangroves that would be good, though of course if you do that and some tagging along on dive boats it's going to run up the cost some.

Curacao is also worth considering. It's generally a little easier and less expensive to get to than Bonaire, and has lots of rental options. Plenty of places to snorkel and they are more typically on sandy beaches (sometimes with bathrooms and snack bars) rather than ironshore like Bonaire - the whole family can pick a beach for the day and hang out, snorkel or dive as it suits them. And there are more other activities on Curacao than Bonaire for the people that want to go do other things.