Is it possible to shore snorkel at Labadie?

[KansasK]

We will visit Labadie on the second week of our back to back cruise. We remember being able to snorkel from a beach some years back before Labadie was expanded. Is it possible to snorkel from a beach and see any coral/fish?

 

If so, which beach is it? Thanks!

[Jimmers]

I'm sure there are some fish in those waters but it's not known for good snorkeling. Personally, I'll save the snorkeling for another port.

[racerxspeedy]

You may see a few fish on the calm (right) side along the rocks at Nellies beach. The water can get churned up pretty quick once the crowd rolls in.

[Dan-P]

I snorkeled on Nellies last year and enjoyed it. I was/am a novice snorkeler, so seeing anything is fun to me. The right wall, under the "over-the-water" cabanas at Nellies Beach, was the best I found from the shore.

 

Dan.

[KansasK]

Thanks for the information on Nellie's Beach. We might give it a try for snorkeling.

 

Other ports are better for snorkeling, but sure, but we are not beach people and wanted to do something at Labadee. Certainly the price will be right!

[orville99]

Nellie's beach is probably the best place to snorkel on Labadee - it stays shallow a lot further out than Columbus Cove, and there are some good rock formations that the fish like. If you are going to Cozumel as well, try El Cid (about a 5 minute walk from the pier). I think we paid about $15 each for the day (included $10 in drinks), and their snorkel area has a sunken plane, and a lot of fish. We even saw an octopus there.

[Simply mad]

Columbus Cove has good snorkeling by the new water slide along the rock wall. We saw barracudas scallops and lots of colorful fish and sea horses

[cb at sea]

The Haitians eat anything that moves...there are few fish to see there.

[Russ Lomas]

Columbus Cove has good snorkeling by the new water slide along the rock wall. We saw barracudas scallops and lots of colorful fish and sea horses

I am surprised to hear this. I tried snorkeling there and saw a couple of boring brown fish, nothing else. I dive and have snorkeled for years, so I know what to be looking for, but it just was not there to see. Maybe I will toss a snorkel and mask in my bag again and check it out next time I am there, but I found Labadee to be the worst snorkeling I have done in the islands I have visited including DR, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. John, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan (by far the best), Barbados, Nassau, etc.

[karen s]

The Haitians eat anything that moves...there are few fish to see there.

 

 

Agreed, we took the speedboat/snorkeling excursion on our last Labadee visit, and the speedboat portion of the excursion was AWESOME, the snorkeling, not so much...barely any fish. I'd do it again, but only for the speedboat part...as stated above, the Haitians have fished most of the fish from their oceans.

 

We had a great day there, shopping a bit, private chairs on Barefoot Beach (we were in a GS and have had a cabana there before so didn't get one again), and then the tour, and then some more beach time. And even though we weren't in a Cabana, we were very well taken care of. Don't think I'd spend extra on a Cabana again after how well they took care of us on Barefoot Beach without one. JMHO. :o

[heziggy]

We did both Columbus cove and I believe adrenaline beach (under zipline) We found that there are a heck of a lot more fish and tons of beautiful coral at Adrenaline Beach. The only problem is it can wreck havoc on your feet so be sure to wear water shoes. Columbus Cove is sandier and calmer then the other due to being enclosed on 3 sides

[tidygirl]

If you have your own snorkel you can try it! We didn't see much on the beach we were at but hey it's something to do besides sit!