Nassau Snorkling

[jman1972]

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise June 27th on the Majesty of the seas, how is the ship, and the other question I have is, we want to go snorkling in Nassau which snorkling excursion is the best: Seahorse sailing and snorkling, Rainbow reef , or Stingray snorkel and Beach break. We are looking forward to our cruise and hope we have a great time

[laurasue]

Hi! Not sure about the Majesty, but we'll be on the Sovereign going to Nassau next month. We wanted to snorkel in Nassau as well. After a little research, we've decided to do a private tour instead of one through the cruise line. You get more for your $, and what seems to be a better snorkeling experience. We're going through Stuart Cove's. http://www.stuartcove.com/ I have heard nothing but great things about them Your trip includes a reef snorkle, a shipwreck, and a shark snorkle (optional). It's a half day tour. Usually this trip doesn't work with cruise ship itineraries, but some of the RCI ships stay in port until late (the Sovereign leaves at 1am) so it shouldn't be a problem at all. :D

 

As for the ship excursions, I have read here at the stingray snorkle isn't much more than you standing in a fenced facility where you bend over to put your mask in the water to see the rays. Before we decided on Stuart Cove's, we were going to do the Seahorse tour for a longer snorkleing experience. We'll post a full report when we get back.

 

Hope this helps!

[PhinsAndGills]

If you're looking for snorkeling, I've also heard that the "stingray cities (there's some in most every Caribbean stop) aren't really worth it. I know I wouldn't enjoy it because I like the challenge of finding them on my own in the "wild", not in a contained area (I have never been dissapointed in my 4 trips to the Bahamas area, we've seen at least one each time.

 

I've done the Rainbow Reef snorkel twice through RCCL and liked it. Lots of good marine life seen on both trips. If you want some fun snorkling, take your equip onto CocoCay and stay to the left of the snorkel area in the "deeper" drop off part. I've seen Eagle Rays, sting rays, a small shark, and a puffer fish, along with many other things. I wish they'd just let me snorkel to and from the ship... forget the tender... :D

 

Have so much fun. I'm going to really miss CocoCay. I'll see Labadee for the first time over Thanksgiving.

[BahamasGirl18]

I did snorkeling in Nassau. We did the stingray adventure. It is in a fenced in area but if you have never been up close with stingray's than it is tons of fun. My mom didn't find it to fun because she threw her fish and ran. I on the other hand had a blast. Plus you get to explore the island. I thought it was worth it!

[Carrie P]

Sounds like my Mom! I could see it now.

I did snorkeling in Nassau. We did the stingray adventure. It is in a fenced in area but if you have never been up close with stingray's than it is tons of fun. My mom didn't find it to fun because she threw her fish and ran. I on the other hand had a blast. Plus you get to explore the island. I thought it was worth it!

[laurasue]

I did snorkeling in Nassau. We did the stingray adventure. It is in a fenced in area but if you have never been up close with stingray's than it is tons of fun. My mom didn't find it to fun because she threw her fish and ran. I on the other hand had a blast. Plus you get to explore the island. I thought it was worth it!

 

LOL! I bet that was a kodak moment! :D

[BahamasGirl18]

It was pretty funny! Then she got scared while we were snorkeling because if you go far out in the water there was some weird kind of fish that had long sharp noses (I guess you could say?!?). Not sure about them but I didn't want to go out there, especially since I have a major fear of sharks. Not that there were any in a fenced in area but still, just the thought of deep water. Ahh!:eek:

[geckocruzer]

We snorkeled with Barefoot Sailings while we were in Nassau. They were great, however we were first time snorkelers, so we have nothing to compare it to. It is a small group; we had our family of 4 and another family of 4. You ride out on a real sailboat...really sailing. That was an adventure on the way back with the wind tilting the boat at about a 45 or more degree angle...YIKES. We snorkeled in an area with just the eight of us and the captain throwing food in to attract the fish. We could see the ship's excursion from a distance...looked like about 80 people packed into the snorkeling area. Too crowded.

 

It was a 3 1/2 hour excursion, and was $210 for the four of us...(14 year old son is adult price). Complementary pop, lemonade, punch on the way out...complementary pop, lemonade, punch, and rum punch, along with cheese and crackers on the way back. Great time for beginners, but perhaps more adventurous or advanced snorkelers would want more. They do offer other excursions...and have a website.

 

Have fun.