Thread: Best Caribbean Snorkeling

Have you snorkeled in the Carribean? Where did you find the BEST snorkeling in A) The Western Caribbena, B) The Eastern Caribbean; and C) The Southern Caribbean?


Let's see if we can put our heads together to put together three different TOP 10 lists by and for our snorkeling enthusiasts who sail on the three different Caribbean itineraries.

Once I have 10 suggestions for a geographic area, I'll start a poll to get the top 10 order.

(This is for REX'x new TOP 10 PROJECT.)

Here's a start to suggestions for great Caribbean snorkeling destinations by itinerary. Please add yours!


GREAT WESTERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Barrier Reef at Turneffe Atoll, Belize
Geoff's Cay, Belize
Coral Cay, Roatan
Montego Bay Marine Park, Montego Bay
Palancar Reef, Cozumel
Sting Ray City, Grand Cayman
Ambergris Cay, Belize
Barrier Reef, off Roatan






GREAT EASTERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Trunk Bay, St. John
Turtle Cove, St Thomas
The Reef at Pelican Rock, St Maartin
Round Cay, Turks & Caicos
Haulover Bay, St John
Underwqater Nature Reserve, St Martin (French side)
Smith's Reef and Bight Reef, off Grace Bay Beach, Turks & Caocos
Buck Island, St Croix
Cane Bay, St Croix
Leinster Bay, St John
Coki Point Beach, St Thomas
Cinnamon Beach, St. John


GREAT SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Anse Chastanet House Reef, St. Lucia
Cade's Reef, Antigua
Caracas Bay Island, Curacao
'drift snorkeling' south side of Aruba
Champagne Reef, Dominica
Bonaire Marine Paark, Bonaire
Curacao Underwater Marine Park, Curacao
DePalm Island, Aruba
Palm Isalnd and Petit St. Vincent, The Grenadines
Canouan Island, The Grenadines
beach snorkeling, Antigua

The Barrier Reef, either from Belize or Roatan, is my favorite in the Caribbern for snorkeling.

The EASIEST for seeing Colorful fish is DePalm Island, Aruba! It's just like walking down the stairs of a swimming pool and being surrounded by beautiful Blue Parrot Fish and well as many colorful others!

Thank you so much for your wonderful responses, Localady and Lulu!

I'll ammend the list at once to include your suggestoins,

Lulu-
Haven't been there, but I am taking a snorkel excursion out of Belize this Christmas. I'm going to check and make sure it's to the Barrier Reef!

So far my favorite Caribbean snorkeling have been near the lighthouse in Aruba and anywhere just offshore in Bonaire, even by where the ship docks... Bonaire is surrounded by a National Marine Park and is protected. Literally thousands of fish from every color of the rainbow are out there.

GREAT WESTERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Barrier Reef at Turneffe Atoll, Belize
Geoff's Cay, Belize
Coral Cay, Roatan
Montego Bay Marine Park, Montego Bay
Palancar Reef, Cozumel
Sting Ray City, Grand Cayman
Ambergris Cay, Belize





GREAT EASTERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Trunk Bay, St. John
Turtle Cove, St Thomas
The Reef at Pelican Rock, St Maartin
Round Cay, Turks & Caicos
Haulover Bay, St John
Underwqater Nature Reserve, St Martin (French side)
Smith's Reef and Bight Reef, off Grace Bay Beach, Turks & Caocos
Buck Island, St Croix
Cane Bay, St Croix
Leinster Bay, St John
Coki Point Beach, St Thomas


GREAT SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN SNORKELING SPOTS
Anse Chastanet House Reef, St. Lucia
Cade's Reef, Antigua
Caracas Bay Island, Curacao
'drift snorkeling' south side of Aruba
Champagne Reef, Dominica
Bonaire Marine Paark, Bonaire
Curacao Underwater Marine Park, Curacao
DePalm Island, Aruba
Palm Isalnd and Petit St. Vincent, The Grenadines
Canouan Island, The Grenadines
beach snorkeling, Antigua

This is from Frommers,some more for the list to pick and choose,or discard,we still prefer the reef at Cozumel.

The Best Snorkeling


The Virgin Islands offer some particularly outstanding sites, but there are many other great places for snorkeling in the Caribbean.
Antigua: This is a snorkeler's dream. Most of its lovely beaches open onto clear, calm waters populated by rainbow-hued tropical fish. The marine life offshore is particularly dense, including gentle manta rays and colorful sea anemones. The rich types of different elk and brain coral make snorkeling particularly rewarding.
Bonaire Marine Park (Bonaire): All the attributes that make Bonaire a world-class diving destination apply to its snorkeling, too. Snorkelers can wade from the shores off their hotels to the reefs and view an array of coral and a range of colorful fish. In particular, the reefs just off Klein Bonaire and Washington-Slagbaai National Park receive rave reviews.
Stingray City (Grand Cayman): Stingray City is an easy 4m (13-ft.) diving site that can also be seen while snorkeling. It's an extraordinary experience to meet the dozens of tame, gentle stingrays that glide around you in the warm, crystal-clear waters.
Curaçao Underwater Marine Park (Curaçao): In contrast to Curaçao's arid terrain, the marine life that rings the island is rich and spectacular. The best-known snorkeling sites, in the Curaçao Underwater Marine Park, stretch for 20km (12 miles) along Curaçao's southern coastline, and there are many other highly desirable sites as well. Sunken ships, gardens of hard and soft coral, and millions of fish are a snorkeler's treat.
St. Martin: The best snorkeling on the island lies on the French side, where the government religiously protects the calm waters, which are populated with schools of brilliantly colored fish. Find a tiny cove and explore the shallow reefs along its shores, especially in the northeastern underwater nature reserve.
The Grenadines: Every island offers great snorkeling possibilities right off magnificent white-sandy beaches. In most places you'll have the waters to yourself. A reef stretching for 1.6km (1 mile) along the island of Canouan invites snorkelers, and the waters are filled with beautiful brain coral and rainbow-hued fish. The snorkeling is also good at Palm Island and Petit St. Vincent.
Tobago: The shallow, sun-dappled waters off the Latin American coastline boast enormous colonies of marine life. Buccoo Reef on Tobago is especially noteworthy, and many local entrepreneurs offer snorkeling cruises.
Coki Point Beach (St. Thomas): On the north shore of St. Thomas, this beach offers year-round snorkeling, especially around the coral ledges near Coral World's underwater tower, a favorite with cruise-ship passengers.
Provo (Turks and Caicos): Although this island is known primarily as one of the world's best dive sites, it also offers a number of snorkeling possibilities. The government has established snorkel trails at Smith's Reef and Bight Reef, right off of Provo's spectacular Grace Bay Beach. These reefs are right off the shoreline, and they provide easy access into the fragile but stunningly beautiful world of coral gardens, the most dramatic in the vast area immediately south of The Bahamas.
Buck Island (St. Croix): More than 250 species of fish, as well as a variety of sponges, corals, and crustaceans, have been found at this 340-hectare (840-acre) island and reef system, 3km (2 miles) off St. Croix's north shore. The reef is strictly protected by the National Park Service.
Cane Bay (St. Croix): One of the best diving and snorkeling sites on St. Croix is off this breezy north-shore beach. On a clear day, you can swim out 137m (449 ft.) and see the Cane Bay Wall that drops off dramatically to deep waters below. Multicolored fish and elkhorn and brain coral abound.
Trunk Bay (St. John): Trunk Bay's self-guided 205m-long (672-ft.) trail has large underwater signs that identify species of coral and other items of interest. The beach offers showers, changing rooms, equipment rentals, and a lifeguard.
Leinster Bay (St. John): With easy access from land and sea, Leinster Bay is filled with calm, clear, and uncrowded waters with an abundance of sea life.
Haulover Bay (St. John): A favorite with locals, this small bay is rougher than Leinster and is often deserted. The snorkeling is dramatic, with ledges, walls, nooks, and sandy areas set close together. At this spot, only about 182m (597 ft.) of land separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea.


Forgot to mention,that is Palancar Reef in Cozumel.


Tom

Another favorite is the Champagne Reef Snorkeling in Dominica.

Wow!
Great input, folks! Thank you so very much!

FIRST order of business: I'm FRUING everyone who's responded here!

Secondly, two of the Categories - Great Easstern Caribbean Snorkeling and Great Southern Caribbean Snorkeling - now have qualified for te=heir own Top Ten polls!

I've put these two polls in our new Cruise Polls Forum.
Here are the links:


http://www.cruiselinefans.com/cruise...caribbean.html

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/cruise...caribbean.html