Help! Need Advice Re Carnival Excursion!

[mousey]

Has anyone recently been on the Carnival Snorkel & Sail excursion in Key West. Was it an enjoyable experience and did you get to see a lot of fish and sea creatures? Would it be better to do something else in Key West and snorkel in Nassau? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:D

[peter_krynicki]

Has anyone recently been on the Carnival Snorkel & Sail excursion in Key West. Was it an enjoyable experience and did you get to see a lot of fish and sea creatures? Would it be better to do something else in Key West and snorkel in Nassau? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:D

 

I haven't done this particular trip, but either a morning or afternoon snorkel trip out to the reef is approx 1 hour's sail out, one hour in the water, and one hour back. IMO the sail out and back, with a few drinks, is worth the approx $40.00 you pay, even if you don't snorkel for very long. You can always use up the rest of the time with a vest on, floating in the water with a drink. You will potentially see alot of fish - various varieties and colors, but conditions will depend on the weather the day or two before you go and any cloud cover when you are out there. Wind and swell will make the water look murky and you will not see alot.

 

You will not go out with Sebago, but their web page has a 65 second video which is a pretty good example of what one of these trips is like...

 

http://www.keywestsebago.com/snorkeling.php

 

That's Sand Key and the Sand Key lighthouse where it is likely you will go, approx 7 miles out of Key West.

 

Pjk

[keywester33]

If you have never been to Key West, I would visit the town and save the snorkeling for another port. Unfortunately our reef is in very bad shape and while you will see many fish (assuming good conditions), the reefs in the Caribbean are in much better shape. Sailing back and forth for an hour is nice, but given you are on a cruise ship, I don't think you are short on time on the ocean. Just my opinion.

[Aquahound]

If you have never been to Key West, I would visit the town and save the snorkeling for another port. Unfortunately our reef is in very bad shape and while you will see many fish (assuming good conditions), the reefs in the Caribbean are in much better shape. Sailing back and forth for an hour is nice, but given you are on a cruise ship, I don't think you are short on time on the ocean. Just my opinion.

 

As much as I hate to admit it, I do agree with this post. The reef snorkling off Key West is not that great. The best snorkling is 25 miles up the Keys on a reef called Looe Key, but the cruise ship excursions do not go that far. Like keywester said, I would explore the town. It is much safer and cleaner than Nassau.