How is the snorkeling at Labadee? - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

canarymoon · 06-16-2007, 12:04 PM

Have you been to Labadee, RCL's private island?

If so, did you snorkel?
Did you swim out from the beach, or was there an excursion by boat to a snorkel site?

What were the water conditions like?

What did you see?

Cruise Planner · 06-16-2007, 06:07 PM

You can snorkel right off the beach. Not alot to see, but the water is clear and warm. You have to rent a snorkely vest - dumb requirement, but another way for them to make money.

There are actually three separate beaches or perhaps I should say three separate areas with beaches. The first one is the largest, which is where most people stop and flop. The second is smaller and not as crowded, while the third is the furthest from the boat ramp, so there's less people there - this is where we like to go.

You will see lots of shells. And what irritates me as a long time scuba diver who practices the 'hands off' policy, there are signs telling people not to remove the shells, you'll see alot of people taking them and none of the lifeguards say anything.

There aren't any snorkel tours available like at other ports, but if you want a little more privacy, you might try the Malfini Beach excursion.

Pete

canarymoon · 06-16-2007, 07:59 PM

Thanks, Pete!

I know what you mean about the 'hands off' policy. That's why they make underwater cameras.

Why do people think they should take things off the bottom? They are just gonna stink up up their cabin for a while, then they'll take them home, set them on a shelf for a week, following which the county dump gets another item from the Caribbean.

JLT · 07-25-2007, 04:35 PM

Snorkeling is not Labadee's strong suit. Not a ton to see. We just came back from Grandeur's visit to St Thomas, San Juan, Labadee, and Samana. Best snorkeling we found was Sapphire Beach in St Thomas (a stingray came by). Snorkeling is always fun, so if you do it at Labadee bring your own gear, RCL charges $16 per person per day for gear, which I think is excessive.

We went to Dragon's Breath Beach in Labadee, which is across the way from the tender boats, and was not crowded until after lunch time.

I'm a fairly green person but I have to disagree a little with the "don't take stuff" agruments. My wife has an interesting assortment of stuff she has collected from all of our trips, and it does not go to the landfill a week after we get home, nor did it stink up the room, nor are we talking a huge quantity of anything. She does not go after anything that is alive, and frankly a small rock or small dead coral is not going to affect anything, even if EVERYONE took one. We respect living plants, animals, bugs, etc and do not litter. I suppose if it was something that stunk up the room I'd be agreeing with you all. I further practice the policy of not touching most of what I see in the water, I'm not at all interested in being "surprised". As I said above, we saw a stingray and my mind was screaming "Steve Irwin!!!!".