Snorkeling- Antigua or Barbados?

[Alebd]

I'll be cruising in December with port calls at Antigua and Barbados, and definitely want to do one snorkeling trip. Which island is better for this? Suggestions for independent tour operators? Thanks!

[laura29]

I didn't snorkel in Antiqua...but I did in Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Thomas.... and Barbados was the best. We signed up with the Thriller Turtle Tour ran by Stephan Tryhane and it was great! We swam with turtles, snorkeled over shipwrecks and saw many fish. There was also a great beach we stopped at. I highly recommend this tour..I think Barbados is a safe bet for a great experience. Check out the Barbados page for more info. on this tour. Good Luck!

[BrynnP]

I didn't snorkel in Antiqua...but I did in Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Thomas.... and Barbados was the best. We signed up with the Thriller Turtle Tour ran by Stephan Tryhane and it was great! We swam with turtles, snorkeled over shipwrecks and saw many fish. There was also a great beach we stopped at. I highly recommend this tour..I think Barbados is a safe bet for a great experience. Check out the Barbados page for more info. on this tour. Good Luck!

 

Laura,

When you say swam with turtles, exactly what do you mean?....literally swimming 'with' the turtles? How large are the turtles? When we were at the seaquarium in Curacao, the turtles were behind a fence and we fed them through the fence. It's a good thing too, 'cause those guys were huge!

[Stevesan]

Laura,

When you say swam with turtles, exactly what do you mean?....literally swimming 'with' the turtles? How large are the turtles? When we were at the seaquarium in Curacao, the turtles were behind a fence and we fed them through the fence. It's a good thing too, 'cause those guys were huge!

 

So are these!:p

They're fully grown Sea Turtles. Harmless, though. They're fully adapted to human snorkelers and are merely looking for a handout which your tour guide will provide.

[figmentdj]

laura29 I saw on the barbados board you said that you didn't like Antigua. What was your experience?

[laura29]

BrynnP,

A crew member jumps in the water and has food to attract the turtles. We had on snorkel gear, but no fins since that scares them. The turtles just appeared out of no where..it was amazing! They were not at all afraid and we were able to touch them as they swam by to get some food! There were at least three turtles, one was little, like two feet long and the others were larger, at least three feet long. It was a great experience!

 

Figmentdj,

I am sure it all depends on personal preference and excursions, but we didn't care for Antigua....The area I saw on the RCCL tour to Nelson's Dockyard which covered a large part of the island, was pretty much dry with cacti (like Arizona). It wasn't what I was hoping for (a more tropical setting). Also, the town area was not impressive, it stunk, literally, it smelled. Our waiter even told us the night before not to go anywhere alone because it wasn't safe and that the people in the town weren't very nice. Now, our tour guide was very nice. I suggest that you book a nice excursion here...maybe a beach or boating activity. I am sure other people have had great experiences. Best of Luck!!

[BrynnP]

So are these!:p

They're fully grown Sea Turtles. Harmless, though. They're fully adapted to human snorkelers and are merely looking for a handout which your tour guide will provide.

 

"looking for a HANDOUT".....yeah, that's what we were afraid of with the size of their mouths!:eek: We were worried if we put our 'hand out' too far through that fence, we'd loose it! We were actually given fish to feed the turtles in Curacao, but we were careful to only put the fish through the fence, not a finger or two. Is the guide the only one feeding the turtles in Antigua, not the snorkelers?

[figmentdj]

laura29 - thanks for the insight. We were going to rent scooters. I think I'll start a thread and see if others had similar experiences.

[laura29]

BrynnP,

Only the tour guy fed the turtles, but there were little pieces of food floating around for them to gobble up. They did warn us not to dangle our fingers in front of the turtles because they might confuse it with food, but it wasn't a problem at all....you will really enjoy it!!! It is a great experience!!

[BrynnP]

Thanks for the info. This sounds like an awesome experience. I'm sure it would make for much better photos than the ones I have with a chain link fence in front of the turtles' faces!

[Alebd]

Thanks to all for the info- looks like I will snorkel with the turtles in Barbados and hit the beach in Antigua...

[saru96]

Which cruise line did you use when you went to Barbados? and which was the ports of call you visited?