Best Snorkling

[dlwfarm]

Our family is going on a Carnival cruise and want to go snorkling. Where is the best snorkling? We'd probably take a carnival excursion. I want to see lots of fish, I don't care about seeing sunken ships. Any ideas? Which island and which excursion. Or just share what you know. thanks so much. Mary

[snc_cam]

Mary,

 

On the various snorkel excursions I've been on, there hasn't been a lack of fish, especially when the guides bring along some "fish food"... :) What I like to see while snorkeling are the beautiful reefs. And for these, the best I've seen so far has been in Belize and Roatan (MB) along the barrier reef. Have taken LOTS of digital underwater prints of this.

 

Steve

[pungo3]

I agree with Steve. You can see fish anywhere, but most of the reefs are dead or dying because of people touching the coral. Any place that has had lots of tourist will probably have dead coral which is brown and unattractive. The prettiest coral I have seen is in Belize. I hope you have a fabulous cruise.:D

[snc_cam]

Pungo, I actually had to yell at some folks who "obviously didn't listen to the guides" about not standing or breaking off coral for a souvenir. People are crazy and then they wonder why the reefs are dying...

 

Maybe I should let them touch the fire-coral... :)

[cdamion]

I have snorkeled all over the place. The best places for clear water and pristine coral I have seen is Bonaire and Roatan.

 

The best place for lots of fish was Champaign Reef in Dominica. There are natural springs that warm the water, so it attracts all kinds of fish - including sea horses.

 

I go off on my own though, rarely with a ship tour (except Bonaire where the ship had the few tour operators booked).

[klpalp]

I would recommend Roatan, we were there last week and did the Maya Key excursion and it was amazing! There are other locations on the island you could snorkel also, that sound like they would be good too. We had planned a snorkeling excursion in Belize, but it got cancelled due to high winds that day...bummer!

[snc_cam]

cdamion, what do you think about aruba, curacao, and St Martin? Are there any good places in these islands for "reefs"... Steve

[elkaholic]

For me... #1: Roatan, #2: Belize

[kybluecruiser]

Cozumel is world known for great scuba diving and snorkiling. Absoutley beautiful.

[snc_cam]

KyBlue... and we will keep going around the Caribbean... Where in Cozumel did you snorkel... Have done that twice and been VERY disappointed...

[pungo3]

Pungo, I actually had to yell at some folks who "obviously didn't listen to the guides" about not standing or breaking off coral for a souvenir. People are crazy and then they wonder why the reefs are dying...

 

Maybe I should let them touch the fire-coral... :)

 

Thank you for at least trying to tell them. I've been called bad names because I asked nicely for people NOT to stand on the reef. Being born and raised in Florida, I've snorkeled my whole life (63 years) and long for the days in my youth when I could snorkel pristine reefs here in Florida.

[snc_cam]

I too was born and raised in Florida... not many of us crackers around :) especially in Florida... though, I left the state over 30 years ago for a job and don't desire to live there again... too many people :)

 

I really didn't care what the people I told thought. They were being rude by what they were doing and I wanted to protect the beautiful reefs. Unfortunately, didn't get into snorkeling until about 10 years ago while on a trip to Hawaii... and loved it. Try to do it at least once every cruise.

[pungo3]

I too was born and raised in Florida... not many of us crackers around :) especially in Florida... though, I left the state over 30 years ago for a job and don't desire to live there again... too many people :)

 

I really didn't care what the people I told thought. They were being rude by what they were doing and I wanted to protect the beautiful reefs. Unfortunately, didn't get into snorkeling until about 10 years ago while on a trip to Hawaii... and loved it. Try to do it at least once every cruise.

 

It's really too bad you didn't snorkel while you lived here. Pristine reefs down in the Keys. Such a shame what has happened to them.

[cdamion]

cdamion, what do you think about aruba, curacao, and St Martin? Are there any good places in these islands for "reefs"... Steve

 

Malmok Beach in Aruba - good snorkeling close to shore. I don't know for the other 2 islands. I do know there are good places in St. Martin, but don't know where. Curacao I have never been to or talked to anybody about.

 

The trick is to find someplace everybody doesn't go. When somewhere gets popular, people come in flocks and kill the coral.

 

Rather than a ship tour, I would look up forums for each place or tripadvisor and get recommendations for independent tours.

[MrBanana1240]

Belize has the barrier reef so I assume there. Our stop there got cancelled due to rough seas

 

Roatan is my all time favorite and the snorkeling is really nice there.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[alligirl78]

KyBlue... and we will keep going around the Caribbean... Where in Cozumel did you snorkel... Have done that twice and been VERY disappointed...

 

 

Money Bar..or Dzul Ha reef is an absolute family favorite of ours in Cozumel. I've seen barracuda every time, eagle rays (sometimes) and tons of fish every single time. And this is walk-off snorkeling where you can walk right into the water from shore. Food is yummy and margaritas are great!

 

OP..the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef runs from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, down to Honduras. You really can't go wrong with the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. The most amazing coral formations that I've seen are in Roatan and in Akumal Bay in Mexico. Akumal is also a very popular sea turtle site. If you're looking at a western itinerary, I think you'll find at least one, if not all ports, that will fulfill your requirements.

[mpcaruth]

Roatan is by far my favorite:

 

 

Costa Maya is nice:

 

Curacao is really good (but I didn't get any real good pics):

 

And Bermuda is not bad:

 

 

You can read my detailed picture reviews of these snorkeling adventures in the links in my signature.

[vamartha]

We've snorkeled in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize, Aruba, Grand Turk and at Xcaret, south of Cancuun. A planned snorkel trip in Roatan was cancelled because of very angry seas and it is still very much on my bucket list.

 

The coral in Belize was huge and rather healthy looking but the visibility was not good, I'd like to do that one again.

 

Shore snorkeling in Cozumel is not good for coral, but there are plenty of fish. We usually choose to go to Chankanaab National Park.

 

Shore snorkeling from Eden Rock in Grand Cayman is spectacular but it is a bit of a swim from the shore to the reef. Did I mention that it is also free?? Probably my favorite just because of the cost! :D

 

Aruba - amazing, spectacular and fantastic! Highly recommend Aruba Bob. Beautiful fish, the coral is in good shape - the best we've done and I've heard Bonaire is much better! We were in the Mangel Halto area.

 

Grand Turk - nothing spectacular in the beach area at the port. Coral is dead, couple of interesting fish but not much color and no coral that was alive. I've heard it is better in other areas and at the wall.

 

Xcaret was my first time ever snorkeling and while at the time I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, it really wasn't special. Too many people for good visibility and not much coral to speak of. Some pretty fish though!

[mitsugirly]

You said you were going on a Carnival cruise, but yet didn't mention the ports you will be going to in order for us to be able to help you a little better with where to go to in that particular port.

 

We absolutely LOVE Roatan and Maya Key is an awesome place to snorkel right there from the dock you walk down. You simply go down the steps and it's like you are in an aquarium. :) I have a complete review listed in my signature line below and there are TONS AND TONS of pictures from our day there. They ONLY way you can book this island is by booking with your cruise ship. It's still worth it though IMO.

 

In Cozumel, check out Chankanaab for some great snorkeling right there at the beach. You simply walk down the steps and in the water you go and there's plenty of fish to see. (I have 2 reviews in my signature line of Chankanaab with tons of pictures...especially on the 2nd one). It's also a National Park and there's even more to do there as well.