Snorkel - HMC, Tortola, or St. Maarten

[KMiller]

Cruising Oosterdam 12/19-12/26/04 - this will be the first time to these ports of call and I'm wondering which one to plan our snorkel excursion - Half Moon Cay ( HA's private island), Tortola, or St. Maarten. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[jfishe]

Half Moon Cay has a 'reef' over by the tender docks that they have designated as a snorkel area. When we were there in July of 03 and in August of 04 there were tons of amazing fish. In Tortola, we did a dolphin swim... so we didn't snorkel there. Half Moon Cay is amazing.... absolutely beautiful !

[Glovie]

We had one of our most beautiful snorkeling experiences (out of 10 Caribbean cruises including HAL's private island and St. Maartin) at Smuggler's Cove in Tortola, which is absolutely gorgeous. Brewer's Beach was fine, too. And the Virgin Gorda expedition nearby offers incredible scenery. It's easy to take a taxi, abd the beaches were safe, secluded, and relatively unpopulated.

[KMiller]

Thanks for the ideas. I think we'll probably do a little snorkeling on our own at Half Moon Cay and maybe take a ship snorkel excursion on Tortola. Not sure that's there a lot to do on Tortola. I've been getting a lot of mixed messages from these boards regarding Tortola. And, we love to snorkel, can't get enough of that. I'd like to see the island of St Maarten since we've never been there before. Thanks again for your responses!

[pcs15]

We visited Half Moon and Tortola in January. For Half Moon I would stick with must snorkeling from the beach - it's not great but was better than I expected. It's very easy since you just snorkel from the beach. I understand the water is still stirred up from the hurricanes so the visibility may not be as good and there may not be as many fish.

 

In Tortola we did a very good daysail on a catamaran with Patouche Charters

http://www.patouche.com/ I would recommend them. The snorkeling was great. My only note is that their dock is a good 20-30 minute walk from the cruise ship dock alongside a busy road. If it is hot you may want to take a taxi - it's further than they make it sound.