Snorkeling St Thomas opinions

[fairygirl1]

Thinking abt the catamaran shipwreck excursion in St Thomas on gem. Can anyone who has taken this give your opinion..? It only has 1.5 hrs snorkling, with 30 min catamaran each way...sounds great, turtles, shipwreck etc,,, curious for opinions thx!

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

In 2014 we did the Castaway Shipwreck Sail & Snorkel and in 2015 we did the Turtle Cove Catamaran Sail & Snorkel. We enjoyed them both very much. Had adequate time for snorkeling on both. Seen lots of fish and turtles on both. This March we are going to do the BOSS underwater adventure, it's similar to snorkeling but you have a helmet on and you ride an underwater scooter. Sounds like fun!

[acharris1]

Do the turtle snorkel. It was on a boat called "The Cat". We did it last year and LOVED it. Doing it again this year. Can't recommend it enough.

[valandemmy]

So, we have cruised several times before (once with RCL, 5 or so on Carnival) so we (Me 40, Wife 35, Daughter 15, Son 8) would like to know what we should or could expect to be different on this cruise.

 

We will be doing a 7 day cruise out of Miami on the Getaway going to Belize City, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan, Bay Isalnd.

We have booked a Guarantee Balcony and get free specialty dining with it..Was going to get "free drinks" but it was 90 bucks per person for the "free drinks" haha...

 

Anyway...What do we need to know...TIps, Tricks...any advise would be great...THanks

[res2cue]

Another vote from me for turtle cove

 

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[Sand and Seas]

Another vote from me for turtle cove

 

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Agree! This was a fun snorkeling tour. Nice sail out and back, plus lots of turtles.

[ellis101]

Thinking abt the catamaran shipwreck excursion in St Thomas on gem. Can anyone who has taken this give your opinion..? It only has 1.5 hrs snorkling, with 30 min catamaran each way...sounds great, turtles, shipwreck etc,,, curious for opinions thx!

 

 

We LOVED the catamaran shipwreck snorkel on 'castaway girl' great snorkelling and fun crew. We had two snorkelling stops; the shipwreck site and also turtle cove as we all asked the captain when we were onboard to split our time which he obliged. They also serve the best rum punch for the trip home!

[ilovetotravel1977]

We LOVED the catamaran shipwreck snorkel on 'castaway girl' great snorkelling and fun crew. We had two snorkelling stops; the shipwreck site and also turtle cove as we all asked the captain when we were onboard to split our time which he obliged. They also serve the best rum punch for the trip home!

 

We are doing this NCL excursion in April! I'm glad it gets great reviews :)

[janetz]

We did this excursion which was excellent. There were 10 people in all. :D

http://www.usvisailing.com/

[BirdTravels]

Thinking abt the catamaran shipwreck excursion in St Thomas on gem. Can anyone who has taken this give your opinion..? It only has 1.5 hrs snorkling, with 30 min catamaran each way...sounds great, turtles, shipwreck etc,,, curious for opinions thx!

 

We did the twice as nice snorkel. Here's our review posted on NCL

 

 

This was a truly amazing adventure. First, Captain Val and her crew of the Stars and Stripes did an awesome job at making this a great trip. The boat was new, modern, clean and well maintained. From the minute we got on, to the minute we got off, the crew catered to every passenger. The water was warm and the snorkeling was great. We enjoyed the sun, juice, and soda on the one hour trip out to Buck Island. We snorkeled for 30 minutes over a ship wreck in Shipwreck Cove. The crew was in the water providing a history of the wreck and pointing out things to see. Then, we sailed around the island to Turtle Bay. This was actually two stops in one. The crew was in the water locating turtles in the grassy bottom. Then, they took us over the reef which was a totally different experience teaming with tropical fish. On the trip back to St. Thomas, the crew raised the sails, turned off the motor and sailed all the way back to dock. On the way back, the crew served Painkillers (rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, cream of coconut), sodas, and snacks. Outstanding service! Highly recommended.

[fairygirl1]

Thx everyone! We have snorkeled before but never get to see the sea turtles or a wreck think its a must do!!! Sounds pretty amazing!

[janetz]

Thx everyone! We have snorkeled before but never get to see the sea turtles or a wreck think its a must do!!! Sounds pretty amazing!

 

Let me tell you a little about our time with Fury Charters. It is not a ship sponsored tour. Captain Mike timed it so we arrived at Buck Island before the ship sponsored tours.

There were 10 of us onboard and it was wonderful. We saw so many turtles. At first (if you wanted) we went as a group and our guide showed us many turtles and sea urchins, which we held could hold in our hand and then we just did our own thing.

They also had noodles and such for just floating around.

When we left the area there were two ship excursions coming in and I kid you not between the two there had to be over 125 people in the water when we left.

Consider a private excursion over the ship excursion. Less money and less people. Much nicer. :)

 

http://www.usvisailing.com/daysails.html

Edited February 14, 2016 by janetz

[ilovetotravel1977]

We did the twice as nice snorkel. Here's our review posted on NCL

 

We were all set to book this one, but NCL upped the price THREE times since June! The Castaway Girl one was the cheapest for us.

[dongordon]

Do the turtle snorkel. It was on a boat called "The Cat". We did it last year and LOVED it. Doing it again this year. Can't recommend it enough.

 

I agree 100%.

I have done the Turtle Cove on the Cat and the Pirate ship 4 times in St. Thomas.

IMHO, it is the best snorkel excursion I have done in my many years cruising in the Caribbean.

 

The crews on both boats were very entertaining and the music and rum drinks never disappoint when heading back to port :D

 

Don