Southern Caribbean (not Eastern)

[Berkeley Gal]

I posed a message with the incorrect description. The islands we will be visiting are considered Southern Caribbean.

 

Will be on the Emerald Princess in December with stops in St. Thomas, Aruba, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Prince Cays. Would like to hear about recent snorkeling excursions as last year we were disappointed in our St. Thomas and Aruba excursions as we found the sites were short on coral and fish (but not on people.) Princess Cays was still good and in Curacao we very much enjoyed our excursion.

 

Experienced snorkelers-- what good snorkeling excursions have you taken recently? Have you been to Trunk Bay when there are three cruise ships in port?

[roysue]

We are a group of 4, 3 being avid snorkelers, 1 novice. By far, the best snorkeling is in Bonaire. You can arrange to take the water taxi (sometimes directly through the ship) to Klein Bonaire, an island off the coast. It is about a 10 - 15 minute water taxi ride from the main island. We love this snorkeling so much, we have never seen much of the main island, lol! Go to the Bonaire board and do a quick search. There is a ton of info there. Enjoy!

[AlbertaCruisers]

For Aruba, I suggest Boca Catalina. I have posted before if you search. We usually take a cab there early to beat the boats bringing their people in (but it is a large area so you can avoid them) and then bus it back (except if it is Sunday the bus doesn't run). We have only been disappointed once, there was tons of sea weed blow in, I guess they had large waves for a number of days, it was gross. Otherwise, head out a bit and to your right as you are facing the water and there is lots to see (one reef area I always look for and it never disappoints). We have seen turtles and tons of different fish, and octopus, squid and tons of stuff. Great day and cheap to get there and back.

[Motorcycle Gma]

I posed a message with the incorrect description. The islands we will be visiting are considered Southern Caribbean.

 

Will be on the Emerald Princess in December with stops in St. Thomas, Aruba, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Prince Cays. Would like to hear about recent snorkeling excursions as last year we were disappointed in our St. Thomas and Aruba excursions as we found the sites were short on coral and fish (but not on people.) Princess Cays was still good and in Curacao we very much enjoyed our excursion.

 

Experienced snorkelers-- what good snorkeling excursions have you taken recently? Have you been to Trunk Bay when there are three cruise ships in port?

 

I haven't been to Bonaire, but I've heard diving is excellent there and it is on my to do list one day. I would definitely snorkel there. Last year, we did the S. Caribbean and I enjoyed seeing the sunken ship in Aruba (although visibility was bad due to weather). Curacao was wonderful for diving and snorkeling. We skipped St. Thomas totally and did the ferry to St. John. We were at Trunk Bay by 10 am and NOBODY was there (there were at least 2 ships in St. Thos). If you go to St. John, you can do it on your own rather cheaply. Grab a cab to Red Hook ferry; try to get the 9 am ferry at Red Hook and grab an open cab at St. John. You'll beat all the ship crowds. The snorkel trail was closed the day we were there (hurricane Sandy had come thru), so we missed the snorkeling, but the beach and the views are AMAZING! If I had it to do all over again, I would check with cabby to be sure snorkel trail is open and if not, take the tour around St. John for $20. There are wonderful beaches besides Trunk Bay (and snorkeling).

 

Enjoy!

[sunsetme]

klein Bonaire is fabulous and so few cruise ships stop at Bonaire anymore.

[Trend]

Have been to all places and as they said Bonaire is the spot but other place have their charm. In Dominica there is what they call the Champagne reef, bubbles of very hot what rise from volcanic cracks in the reef it is fun. Aurba is ok in certain spots just over run these days and of course a trip to St.Johns will not dissapointed . Another spot is St.croix but not a lot of ships go. This year we are stopping in Belieze have not done that but Roton was a mess with small jellyfish so you could not see or use a snorkel YUK. If this is what you love save up and go to the South Pacific nothing comes close.

[redjellybean]

I posed a message with the incorrect description. The islands we will be visiting are considered Southern Caribbean.

 

Will be on the Emerald Princess in December with stops in St. Thomas, Aruba, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Prince Cays. Would like to hear about recent snorkeling excursions as last year we were disappointed in our St. Thomas and Aruba excursions as we found the sites were short on coral and fish (but not on people.) Princess Cays was still good and in Curacao we very much enjoyed our excursion.

 

Experienced snorkelers-- what good snorkeling excursions have you taken recently? Have you been to Trunk Bay when there are three cruise ships in port?

 

Snorkeling best is Bonaire. ...doesn't matter where they take you, it will be spectacular!!!

 

Dominica bubbles ...just ok and they have a lot of other cool things to do in Dominca.

 

I can definitely see why you wouldn't like St. Thomas and Aruba...me neither. However, the power snorkel in St. Thomas allowed me to get in close to the relatively shallow "piece" of coral. My suggestion would be to go to St. Johns.