Snorkeling at Princess Cay vs. St. Thomas vs. St. Maarten

[Shoshee10]

Hi all! I'm going on the Princess Eastern Caribbean Cruise in October with a friend of mine who really wants to go snorkeling. She's never been before. I get panic attacks when I snorkel, so she'll have to be on her own, and I wanted to try to find the best place for her first time. She was going to just go at Princess Cay because it sounds like the main thing to do there is be beachy, but if the snorkeling is much better at one of the other islands, I would like for her to have that information. Any help anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

 

Leslie:rolleyes:

[bruce-r]

You are correct about Princess Cays. It is just a day at the beach. Because it is a sandy beach with only a little rock structure, I think the snorkeling there is quite disappointing compared to other actual snorkeling sites. In general, sandy beach = poor snorkeling. But since your friend has never been snorkeling before, it would be a good place for her to start. Beginners tend to want to stand up often, and since it is mostly sandy, she won't be damaging any coral as she learns. The best snorkeling that Princess Cays has to offer is far to the left of where the tenders come ashore as you are looking at the beach from the water. Just go past the food and to where they rent snorkel gear, get the gear if she needs some then go a little farther before you get in the water.

 

On St. Thomas I'd go to Coki Beach. Yes, I is a sandy beach, but it is right next to coral world and they feed the fish there, so there are lots of fish to see. I thought it was a really nice beach too. There is a place at the beach where you can rent snorkel gear. There are also showers there for rinsing off the saltwater before you leave. I'd go there first thing in the morning before it starts to get busy and leave by lunch time. Go next door to Coral World where there should be some taxis waiting and head back to the ship for lunch. Then you will have the rest of the afternoon for other stuff.

 

If you want to spend the whole day, you can go to St. John where there is better snorkeling, probably the best of any place on your cruise, but it will use of your whole day going to Red Hook, getting the ferry over to St. John then reversing the process going back.

 

I'd skip snorkeling on St. Maarten. I'd go to Orient Beach.

[Shoshee10]

Thanks so much for your advice Bruce! I really appreciate it!:D

[H2O babe]

We snorkeled off St. John while in St. Thomas. It did take most of our day. We didn't do any shopping or much other sightseeing but that is what we had decided we wanted to do and we enjoyed it. Several in our group have done lots of snorkeling in Hawaii and were a bit disappointed compared to that but we did see lots of fish and I was very pleased with the outing. Good luck to you.