Snorkeling In St. Maarten

[kchesneylover]

Can someone help me out? Where are the best spots? We will be there in October on the Valor.

 

I want to see lots of coral and pretty fish.

[kchesneylover]

hmmmm... I guess no one can help me out.

 

Anyways, I have narrowed it down to:

 

Dawn Beach

Little Bay Beach

 

Anyone have advice for me? I love to snorkel so I would love to go to the best snorkeling spot.

 

Thanks.

[Zeno]

Frankly snorkeling in St Martin is not the best. The two beaches you mentioned probably have about the best snorkeling you will find on St martin. Dawn Beach is good BUT it is subject to very rough seas on occasion. Little Bay can get quite crowded - it is a small beach.

[kchesneylover]

Zeno,

 

Thanks so much for the response. I am kinda bummed about the snorkeling. I have googled all day to no avail.

 

Wonder why there are no fish. I thought they had a coral reef. I would go on the sunken ship snorkel, but I doubt that will be any good now.

[gtaylor]

Zeno,

 

Thanks so much for the response. I am kinda bummed about the snorkeling. I have googled all day to no avail.

 

Wonder why there are no fish. I thought they had a coral reef. I would go on the sunken ship snorkel, but I doubt that will be any good now.

 

I'm not sure what you 'googled', but you might read my earlier post in this forum. No idea what your 'no fish' statement refers to.

 

We think that Creole Rock is probably the best, by far, snorkeling on the island. We snorkeled there three times last year, twice with the Golden Eagle, and then again on the Sand Dollar. Lots of fish, lots of live coral.

 

Grand Case Beach Club used to offer a tour out to Creole Rock (available to non-guests), but I don't find that link right now.

 

gary

[Zeno]

Zeno,

 

Thanks so much for the response. I am kinda bummed about the snorkeling. I have googled all day to no avail.

 

Wonder why there are no fish. I thought they had a coral reef. I would go on the sunken ship snorkel, but I doubt that will be any good now.

 

There are fish - just not in the numbers and variety I have seen on other islands. I actually saw a fairly large school of Jacks in front of Pedro's on Orient beach (which really does not have much snorkeling - the only place I have seen many fish of any size on Orient Beach is in front of Pedro's).

[Zeno]

I'm not sure what you 'googled', but you might read my earlier post in this forum. No idea what your 'no fish' statement refers to.

 

We think that Creole Rock is probably the best, by far, snorkeling on the island. We snorkeled there three times last year, twice with the Golden Eagle, and then again on the Sand Dollar. Lots of fish, lots of live coral.

 

Grand Case Beach Club used to offer a tour out to Creole Rock (available to non-guests), but I don't find that link right now.

 

gary

Question for you gary:

We have not been out to Creole Rock to snorkel but I might want to try it on our next trip.

What kind of water entry do the boats have? I have REALLY crappy knees and need at least a pretty secure ladder with "real" steps (not the spindley little bar kind) to get out of the water. Does either boat have anything along that line? thx much

[kchesneylover]

There are fish - just not in the numbers and variety I have seen on other islands. I actually saw a fairly large school of Jacks in front of Pedro's on Orient beach (which really does not have much snorkeling - the only place I have seen many fish of any size on Orient Beach is in front of Pedro's).

 

a large school of jacks would probably freak me out.

 

When I get to work, I will google Creole Rock and I heard of this place called Prickly Pear. That might be something.

 

Thanks for the links gtaylor. I will read up on those when I get to work as well.

 

I have seen the pictures of the water on St. Maarten/Martin and it is absolutely beautiful. I just don't know what we will do - we always snorkel when we go to ports.

[L_T]

Question for you gary:

We have not been out to Creole Rock to snorkel but I might want to try it on our next trip.

What kind of water entry do the boats have? I have REALLY crappy knees and need at least a pretty secure ladder with "real" steps (not the spindley little bar kind) to get out of the water. Does either boat have anything along that line? thx much

Just thought I'd let you know our experience at Creole Rock. We went through Pierre who had a nighttime small streetside booth in Grand Case, near the entry to the pay parking lot downtown. For $35 each (equip included) he took six of us out for a morning guided snorkel trip all the way around Creole Rock. Water entry wasn't a problem :) however, getting back into the boat was a challenge - had to climb up the outboard motor with Pierre helping - there was no ladder of any kind.

We plan to have Pierre take us out again when we return for our annual February in St. Martin. I have wide feet so will take my own fins this time, but he did have a large selection of fins available. Snorkel vests were also available. Pierre did a good job of pointing out special views and fish, and kept checking on everyone. We saw a variety of fish, many on the small size, as well as interesting rock and coral formations. He was operating out of the Blue Martin restaurant/bar, a small establishment located next to the bridge in Grand Case, just north of the Lolos, and used the pier nearby.

After the trip we relaxed on their beach chairs at no charge, but we did order drinks and then eventually a sandwich each. As a bonus, we discovered that the Lolos were open for lunch so when we left we took two racks of ribs and half a chicken back to our hotel ($10) for later meals.

I'm sure there are a few small operators like this that also offer short snorkel trips. We also rented snorkel gear on Pinel Island and went to the north side for a shore swim where we saw lots of small fish in the coral. The marked snorkel trail on Pinel (near the ferry boat landing) is susposed to be okay too - probably will try it on our next visit. Wish we could make it back to our favorite island more than one month a year!

For the OP - search this St. Martin forum for "snorkel" and I bet you will find lots more info than on Google!!

Lynn

[kchesneylover]

LT thanks for all the great information!! Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

 

I am trying to find out how long and wide St. Martin/Maarten is. I want to go to Grand Case Beach on the North end of the French Side as opposed to the Dock in Philipsburg which is the South end of the Dutch side.

[gtaylor]

Question for you gary:

We have not been out to Creole Rock to snorkel but I might want to try it on our next trip.

What kind of water entry do the boats have? I have REALLY crappy knees and need at least a pretty secure ladder with "real" steps (not the spindley little bar kind) to get out of the water. Does either boat have anything along that line? thx much

 

The Golden Eagle has 'steps' that they lower down into the water, that just break the surface. You need some upper body strength to pull yourself back up onto the steps when getting out of the water. You can kind of see them in my Tintamarre picture over in the PhotoBucket. We really recommend the Friday Farewell Island Getaway all day cruise that they offer to on-islanders.

 

The Sand Dollar had a ladder off the back of the SMALL boat. I really don't remember if it was fixed or not, but was probably a flip down setup. I don't remember any problem at all getting out of the water. Thought the Sand Dollar was a great half day trip!

 

gary

[Zeno]

The Golden Eagle has 'steps' that they lower down into the water, that just break the surface. You need some upper body strength to pull yourself back up onto the steps when getting out of the water. You can kind of see them in my Tintamarre picture over in the PhotoBucket. We really recommend the Friday Farewell Island Getaway all day cruise that they offer to on-islanders.

 

The Sand Dollar had a ladder off the back of the SMALL boat. I really don't remember if it was fixed or not, but was probably a flip down setup. I don't remember any problem at all getting out of the water. Thought the Sand Dollar was a great half day trip!

 

gary

 

My upper body strength isn't too bad so I could probably get myself up that ladder - thx for info.

[guinness67]

We took the Golden Eagle excursion last week in St. Maarten. We didn't go to Tintamarre due to the water being too choppy. Instead we went to Mullet Bay in St. Martin. We anchored in about 6 feet of water. The beach and water were fantastic. I'm not an expert snorkler or diver so I can't attest to the quality of the reef there, however I was definitely entertained while snorkling.

 

The catamaran's stairs made for easy access. The two highlights of the cruise were: only 11 people on board for the excursion, and sailing by the airport in St. Martin and watching how low the planes fly over the water before landing. By the way, the crew was great, too.