snorkeling

[razorbackG]

Can anyone help me with snorkeling on St Maarten or St. Thomas?:confused: I would like to go on our own and not do a tour. Can we get equipment easily and get to locations with out to much trouble?:confused:

[jimswims]

Can anyone help me with snorkeling on St Maarten or St. Thomas?:confused: I would like to go on our own and not do a tour. Can we get equipment easily and get to locations with out to much trouble?:confused:

 

There is really good snorkeling at Coki Beach in St. Thomas. It is right next to Coral World. They do have equipment to rent there but we brought our own. Clear water, nice reefs to explore and tons of fish. We were there last week.

[Miss Vickie]

Snorkeling is MUCH better on St. Thomas than St. Maarten. Coki Beach is an option on St. Thomas. Our favorite spots are on St. John, which is easy to get to on your own from St. Thomas. Many people go to Trunk Bay on St. John, we prefer Cinammon. Both have gear rental, if you need it.

[The Islander]

Good snorkeling from the beach on St. Thomas at Sapphire, Coki, Secret Harbor, Cowpet. Mask/snorkel rentals available at each of them; at Coki from vendors or dive shop, at Secret Harbor from the dive shop and at Sapphire and Cowpet from the watersports booth.

 

--Islander

[jessie073]

We were in St Thomas and St Marteen and found the snorkeling to be much better in St Marteen. St Thomas/St John we went to Trunk Bay, nice beach, but the snorkeling we was not good here, too much damage to the reef. In St. Marteen we rented a 4-wheeler and toured the island - a lot of fun. We stopped at several beaches on the istland, one in particular.... the beach behind the Westin Hotel was beautiful and experienced some great snorkeling right from shore!

[Head Shot]

We were in St Thomas and St Marteen and found the snorkeling to be much better in St Marteen. St Thomas/St John we went to Trunk Bay, nice beach, but the snorkeling we was not good here, too much damage to the reef. In St. Marteen we rented a 4-wheeler and toured the island - a lot of fun. We stopped at several beaches on the istland, one in particular.... the beach behind the Westin Hotel was beautiful and experienced some great snorkeling right from shore!

 

Can you elaborate some more about the 4 wheel rental aspect ?

 

Auto insurance and incidental cost , rules of the road, risk of having fender benders, and such.

 

I really like this idea of yours, stopping by different beaches and snorkle.

[jessie073]

Head Shot - we rented a 4-wheeler from ****m at Nasa Car Rental (nasacar@caribserve.net). They were recommended by a friend who did the same type of trip. My DH and I road on the same 4-wheeler but I can see your concern, some people get crazy on these. You ride right on the road, but we felt pretty safe and just pulled off to the side of the road from time to time when there were several cars. ****m will give you a map of the island and some suggestions on places to go. We researched some of the famous beaches on cruise critic before we went and hit them all. We went at our own pace and were able to ride around the entire island during the time were were in port. If you email ****m and don't hear from him check your junk mail or email again, we had a few problems receiving email from him. I think we paid $80 for the 4-wheeler for the day and I can't remember for sure, but I think we did take the insurance (cost was minimal). You will need to put gas in it when you return. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Head Shot]

Head Shot - we rented a 4-wheeler from ****m at Nasa Car Rental (nasacar@caribserve.net). They were recommended by a friend who did the same type of trip. My DH and I road on the same 4-wheeler but I can see your concern, some people get crazy on these. You ride right on the road, but we felt pretty safe and just pulled off to the side of the road from time to time when there were several cars. ****m will give you a map of the island and some suggestions on places to go. We researched some of the famous beaches on cruise critic before we went and hit them all. We went at our own pace and were able to ride around the entire island during the time were were in port. If you email ****m and don't hear from him check your junk mail or email again, we had a few problems receiving email from him. I think we paid $80 for the 4-wheeler for the day and I can't remember for sure, but I think we did take the insurance (cost was minimal). You will need to put gas in it when you return. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Thanks for that info jessie073, I will in fact look into it.

 

Quite a number of posts have comments of the snorkling experience, but very few about the route expereince to get there.

 

Would you say that parking and access is rather difficult to the more beautiful snorkling sites ?

 

We are planning to bring our own gear. I will also be bringing my camera and video gear. On this cruise we would like to immerse ourselves into the local scene, and your plan is a great one.

 

Thanks in advance

[jessie073]

We just pulled the 4-wheeler right onto the beach where ever we went. The best snorkeling was at the beach behind the Westin (Dawn Beach I think it was called), this was actually our first stop along the island. We spent quite a bit of time out there. Some reivews I read said you can find large schools of squid there too, but I never got to see them. We ventured on to some of the other beaches.... Orient, Friars etc and stopped as some sites along the way to take pictures but most of our time was at the Westin Beach. Did not have any problems getting to to any of the beaches with the 4-wheeler.

 

Check out:

http://www.thescubashop.net/shore.htm

for some info on snorkeling from shore...

[Head Shot]

Good snorkeling from the beach on St. Thomas at Sapphire, Coki, Secret Harbor, Cowpet. Mask/snorkel rentals available at each of them; at Coki from vendors or dive shop, at Secret Harbor from the dive shop and at Sapphire and Cowpet from the watersports booth.

 

--Islander

 

Would you recommend renting a vehicle to cruise around the coastal region in order to reach these spots in good time ?

 

Are there any other recommendations and pointers you might give for an enjoyable snorkeling and video materials ?

[Head Shot]

Check out:

http://www.thescubashop.net/shore.htm

for some info on snorkeling from shore...

 

Thanks for the link- it got me daydreaming . . . had to snap out of it :D

[The Islander]

The four beaches mentioned are all on the east end of the island, so you could beach hop on your own with greater flexiability if you had a car. If you are trying to get good underwater video then maybe start at Sapphire. There is both seagrass bed environment and coral/rock environment and a nice diversity of fish along the shallow rocks and out around it toward the penisula where there is more coral and bigger fish. Out by the penisula its deeper and there is a current. Depending on how much time you spend there you can then decide which beach to move on to next.

 

--Islander

[Head Shot]

The four beaches mentioned are all on the east end of the island, so you could beach hop on your own with greater flexiability if you had a car. If you are trying to get good underwater video then maybe start at Sapphire. There is both seagrass bed environment and coral/rock environment and a nice diversity of fish along the shallow rocks and out around it toward the penisula where there is more coral and bigger fish. Out by the penisula its deeper and there is a current. Depending on how much time you spend there you can then decide which beach to move on to next.

 

--Islander

 

Thanks for the excellent post.

 

I know I will benefit with information such as this. I have some time to collect all this stuff for my future cruise. I am totally going this route.

 

Thanks all of you that helped me out.

 

Your depth of knowledge should never be kept silent.