Thread: Snorkeling St. Thomas, Mt. Maarten, Princess Cays

What's the best beach for snorkeling? Also, is it easy to rent snorkel gear and how much are the rentals? I was wondering if it's worth bringing my own snorkel equipment.
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Of those 3, the best snorkeling I have seen is at St. Thomas. We took a tour to Buck Island and the snorkeling was good there. St. John has some decent snorkeling, too, with beautiful beaches. Princess Cays, the area to snorkel isn't very big, but I did see some pretty fish there.

I always bring my own snorkel equipment. That way, if I want to go off on my own, I am able to do it.

Sheffie

Have only snorkeled at Princess Cay. Pretty and easy but crowded. I believe the equipment was around $8 for the day

take your own gear...at Princess Cays, "turn right" after you get off the tender, cross the bridge and walk to the furtherst beach....snorkel around the rocks...surprisingly good!...in St Thomas, take the excursion to St John and snorkel the marine park there....in St Martin, I did the excursion to the French side for snorkeling...lots of fish but water was murkey because of a recent storm.

Thanks for the info. What time of year did you go? I've been thinking that it'll be nice just to take our own gear since we'll be soaking up lots of beach/snorkel time on this trip.

Have you seen anyone using boogie boards? If so, where?

I htink bringin your own gear is great. I have never been to Princess Cays, but I've never really seen boogie boards. Come to think of it, I don't ever remember big enough waves....

I went snorkeling at princess cays. It was my first time snorkeling but I enjoyed it . The rental cost was $20.

Decent snorkeling at Trunk Bay, as well, with a marked snorkel path.
IF the weather/water conditions are good... they aren't always.

We were at Coki beach on St. Thomas last week, just beautiful, very little current or waves, so the snorkeling was great for kids and adults. A lot of different kinds of fish and other water creatures.

We had our own gear, but there were several rental places there that were inexpensive, and many places to eat and get drinks. Be aware there is a big excrusion that stops there to snorkel. When you enter the beach, take a left hand turn and walk all the way to the end. The excursions and most people get dropped off on the other end of the beach and tend to stay right there. The taxi ride was about $15 per person for the round trip, and our driver was nice enough to drop some of our party of downtown after the beach, and the rest of us at the ship.