Snorkeling in Barbados (from shore or via and excursion)

[lawtyger]

My wife and I will be on the Carnival Victory the week of 11/9 and are avid snorkelers (always snorkel the eastern and western caribbean) but never been to Barbados.

 

Is there REEF/Structure snorkeling accessible from shore? I'm not referring to a pretty beach with clear water were people swim a over sandy bottom :). For those avid snorkelers, I've referring to Roatan or Grand Cayman type reef snorkeling.

 

I've seen many, many posts about swimming out from Blue Monkey to see the sea turtles. Some questions I had about this were:

 

(1) Are there also any reefs in the water off Blue Monkey?

(2) How far is the swim out from shore to the turtles (i.e. 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.).

 

Thanks for any input.

[marylandcrab]

We did go and swim with the turtles but before that went to a small shipwreck near by and did some snorkeleing. Lots of yellow fish, nothing spectacular, but fun.

[SueCruz]

We did go and swim with the turtles but before that went to a small shipwreck near by and did some snorkeleing. Lots of yellow fish, nothing spectacular, but fun.

 

Was it a snorkel only tour

[MTV43]

My wife and I will be on the Carnival Victory the week of 11/9 and are avid snorkelers (always snorkel the eastern and western caribbean) but never been to Barbados.

 

Is there REEF/Structure snorkeling accessible from shore? I'm not referring to a pretty beach with clear water were people swim a over sandy bottom :). For those avid snorkelers, I've referring to Roatan or Grand Cayman type reef snorkeling.

 

I've seen many, many posts about swimming out from Blue Monkey to see the sea turtles. Some questions I had about this were:

 

(1) Are there also any reefs in the water off Blue Monkey?

(2) How far is the swim out from shore to the turtles (i.e. 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.).

 

Thanks for any input.

 

I think I just responsed to your other post on Antigua board. I snorkeled every chance I got when we vacationed at the caribbean, all from shore. I have snorkeled at Roatan, GC, Cozumel, Hawai, St. Thomas, St. John, St. Lucia, Akumal. Shore snorkeling at Antigua and Barbados is nothing compared to Roatan. However, I enjoyed few hours at Folkstone ( a little further down from Blue Monkey. There is no reef at BM, but you can swim out to the tour boat to see turtles. The day our ship docked at Barbados, we snorkeled at Folkstone in the morning, then relaxed and swam with turtles in the afternoon. If you want to snorkel from shore, I think Folkstone is the place.

 

MTV

[jessie073]

I think I just responsed to your other post on Antigua board. I snorkeled every chance I got when we vacationed at the caribbean, all from shore. I have snorkeled at Roatan, GC, Cozumel, Hawai, St. Thomas, St. John, St. Lucia, Akumal. Shore snorkeling at Antigua and Barbados is nothing compared to Roatan. However, I enjoyed few hours at Folkstone ( a little further down from Blue Monkey. There is no reef at BM, but you can swim out to the tour boat to see turtles. The day our ship docked at Barbados, we snorkeled at Folkstone in the morning, then relaxed and swam with turtles in the afternoon. If you want to snorkel from shore, I think Folkstone is the place.

 

MTV

 

MTV, this is Jessie (lawtyger's wife). Sounds like you've experienced a similar level of snorkeling as we have (ex. Roatan). We have no problem snorkeling from shore. This will be our first time in Barbados, we are trying to decide between (1) snorkeling from shore at Folkstone and then heading down to Blue Monkey - full day or beach/snorkeling or (2) taking a 3 1/2 hr snorkel excursion, probably with Thriller which visits the turtles, two snorkel spots and a beach for $60 pp. Since you've been there before, in your opinion, what would be the best Barbados experience? Thank you, :)

[MTV43]

Jessie,

 

It was also my first visiting Barbados. We were there for only one day and spent most of our time snorkeling at the beach. I don't think that I have yet experienced the best of Barbados. However, a full day beach experience with OK shore snorkeling and swam with turtles at minimum expense, we were satisfied. Where the ship docks is very industrial, but the drive to the beach is somewhat similar to Grand Cayman, upscale properties, the beach is also similar to 7 miles but shore snorkeling is not on par with GC. If you cruise the Carnival Victory, you are the same itinerary we were. St. Thomas and St. Lucia have better snorkeling spots than Barbados. I would rather spend $$ to take snorkel excursion at St. Lucia than Barbados. If you need snorkeling information for St. Kitts or St. Lucia, let me know.

 

Have fun searching.

 

MTV

[jessie073]

Hi MTV, yes we're on the Victory. Would love any advice you have on St. Kitts and any others as we have not been to these ports. (except St. Thomas and we ended up going to St. John that day).

Here's what we're looking at right now:

 

St. Thomas - looking to snorkel at Sapphire Beach

Dominica - booked an excursion with Bumpiing Tours - visits various falls, champagne reef, etc.

Antigua - not sure yet

Barbados - still trying to decide between excursion and snorkeling from shore at Folkstone and Paynes Bay

St. Lucia - Booked an exursion with Cosol - visiting the banana plantation, fishing villages, shopping, toraille waterfall & botanical garden, volcano, Marigot bay, beach and snorkeling at the Hilton Jalousie Hotel located between the Pitons.

St. Kitts - haven't fully researched this one yet, heard Cockleshell Beach was good.

 

Thank you again! :)

Jessie

[lawtyger]

MTV, your thoughts on snorkeling possibilities have been great. I've finally found time to sit down tonight to respond, but at least Jessie jumped in and pretty much summed up our current situation/thinking.

 

Regarding this Barbados thread, I get the sense we'll find better snorkeling elsewhere and I think we are strongly considering the excursion with Thriller. Blue Monkey sounds like something I can pass on although swimming out to the turtles on our own would be great fun.

 

Jessie's list of spots right now is accurate although I'll add that I was looking at Long Bay or Half Moon for some snorkeling from shore in Antigua. Long Bay seems to be the better choice from what I read.

 

We've heard St. Lucia is an awesome snorkeling spot. But, we've heard nothing but positive reviews about a tour with Consol (a co-worker just went on it in July and currently we're on Consol's bus) and it makes a short stop at Jalousie so at least we'll get quickly in the water.

 

Any St. Kitts from shore spots you know of would be great as I'll start looking more closely at St. Kitts in the coming days.

[MTV43]

Hi Jessie and Lawtyger

 

St. Lucia - my only advice to you is if you really enjoy snorkeling, spend as much time as you could at Jalouisie beach. It offers the best shore snorkeling among the 6 six islands on your itinerary. I spent 2 hours in the water and thought that was not enough. Coral was nice and healthly, good marine life, calm water plus beautiful beach. If weather is nice and good visibility, what else can we expect from shore snorkeling? I haven't not been to Bonaire or Fiji yet, but beside West End (or West Bay, cannot remember) at Roatan, this is the second place where I see it offers the best of both world - sandy beach and good snorkel. If you already visited water fall at Dominica, why see it again in St. Lucia? Anse Chatenet (not sure I spell it right) is also a good snorkeling spot. Cosol received a lot of positive reviews, if you want a little taste of everything, then it serves the purpose. If something I really like, I want a full meal.

 

Talking about Dominica, choose a tour which only stop at one fall. The driving condition is not ideally smooth, try to avoid time on the road as much as possible. On our tour, we visited both Emerald pool and Trafalgar fall, it was a big mistake. One hour drive from port to pool and another hour to fall, we missed our chance snorkeling at Champagne reef.

 

Antigua - Snorkeling at Long Bay is as good as you could find in the area. I don't think any tour excursion would offer better snorkeling.

 

St. Kitts - great port for last minute shopping and price is also reasonable. As far as shore snorkeling, Cockleshell is it. A lot of shade, free pinic table, bar with good food, no venders and water is calm because it is on the caribbean side. Another spot is White House Bay, I think if you take the boat snorkeling tour, it will take you there. On the way to Cockleshell, I saw a road leading to the White House bay, so I guess we can get there by car. However, there is no shade or any type of facility there. A lot of recommendations to take water taxi to S. Frigate beach. Land taxi offers the best view of Atlantic and Caribbean ocean at the same time. It was a nice drive.

 

St. Juan - If you stay extra days, I heard Culebra island offers great snorkeling.

 

If you have more questions, just post, I will try to answer it.

 

Have fun searching,

 

MTV

[lawtyger]

MTV - thank you for the great information. You definitely have us considering our plans in St. Lucia. I know this isn't the St. Lucia board but did you take a taxi to Jalouisie Beach? Also what was the cost to get there. We had read that it was pretty expensive, another factor that contributed to us booking the excursion.

 

Do you happen to have any pictures from Jalouisie Beach? The comparison with West End (Tabyana) really is intriguing.

[MTV43]

Lawtyger - I see a lot of your posts from various ports inquired about snorkeling information. This forum provides great information about cruises, excursions, but when come to just specific shore snorkeling information, there are not too many responses, and most responses are very general (ie. great, amazing, Ok, decent, not interesting.. without detail information). Great for beginner could be bored for expert or vice versa. Weather/sea condition could turn a great snorkel spot to a mediocre. It seems like we have snorkeled almost at the same places. I will try my best to list some detail factors for comparison, hoping that will help you chose the excursion and for someone else who are searching for the same information.

 

Typical caribbean fish that I have commonly seen are: foureyes butterfly; stoplight parrotfish; angel fish, file fish, french grunt, blue tang, ray plus other species such as turtle, squid, eel.

 

By far West End (Roatan) is the best shore snorkeling I have experienced. Fish are every where. Blue tang swim in school of approximately thousand; the biggest stoplight parrotfish I have ever seen; squid in school. Visibility is great, not far from shore, good coral formation.

 

I spent a week land based vacation at Half Moon Bay located between Playa del carmen and Tulum, it called Akumal. Our condo is right on the bay, my lady friends were not impressed because they are beginners, so they did not venture far enough, but their husbands enjoyed. Great thing about this place is the reefs on both left and right sides of the bay and grass area in the middle where you can easily spot turtle.

 

We also spent a week at Cozumel, stayed at a condo North of Cozumel next to Coral Princess. I literally jumped in water and I was in 10 ft deep, fish were all over. I also spent a day at Dzu Hal. One little thing that bothers me is the current tends to shift south, I always end up very far from where I start.

 

Haunama bay (Hawaii) - not much of coral but great marine life, more unique species than caribbean. However water is often choppy as it gets late in the day. So I have to take a rest very often.

 

So based on the above experienced, other places are OK in my opinion.

 

Jalouisie (St. Lucia). Second best after West End, you won't see school of thousand fish like WE but there are enough to keep you busy. Beside the above mentioned fish, I saw a lot of trumpet fish. Very nice purple coral (don't know the name). All of my friends agreed that is the most beautiful beach they have seen in the caribbean. I will try to scan the picture and post it later. However, the driving distance from Castries (where the ship docks) is 1 hour, so you are looking at approximately 2 - 2.5 hours on the road for the entire trip. The road is not scary but there are a lot of turns. I have not experienced Cosol tour, but it has to take the same road. Marigot bay is the closest to Castries, OK for few pictures. Next is Anse Cochon, then Soufriere (I think it is the fishing village, don't waste time here) then right after Soufriere is Jalouisie. Sulfur springs and volcano are even farther. The major factors which weight on my decision of not booking the excursion tour are: how many ships are going to be in port that day? high or low season. High season and more than one ship, tour operators will be busy and your chance of missing the last stop is greater. Beach excursion is always the last stop. When I was at Jalousie, I saw many tours only stayed for a very short time. We had a big group so we booked a private tour with Spencer Ambrose. If you go to St. Lucia port and search Spencer Amborse, you will find the information you are looking for. His price was very reasonable and he treated us very special. I think even with a private tour for two, it is still not much than Cosol. If you can find another couple, your cost will be pretty much the same or little less. If you have 6, you will pay much less for the same tour. He is very personal, provides great information. He will answer all concerns or questions. My other advice to you if you decide to book a private tour. All of these guides are proud of their islands and willing to show you everything from their school to little uncommon grass. Great if you are in sight seen or culture. But if you are really in snorkeling, ask them to head the beach first, you have enough at the first spot, move to the next one if it is one the way and if there is time on the way back, then visit other places.

 

Long Bay (Antiqua) - you will find the same type of fish, not much of coral. Due to the fact it is shallow, you can literally see fish right in front of your eyes as opposed 5-10ft deep or away (great for picture). LB beach bar provides two nice chairs and umbrella free if you make purchase. Otherwise $20, there is no fresh water to rinse off, I am sure the resort has it, but it a short walk from there.

 

Cockleshell (St. Kitts)- You can take taxi there, bargain with them, just don't take their first offer. The reef is at your left, I saw few fish that I did not seen at other islands. Picnic table for free, beach bar with good food, a lot of shade.

 

Sapphire beach is nice than Folkstone but as far as shore snorkeling, I found the two places were very similar. S could be a little better but not much. A tour guide offered us $30 per person to take us on a tour boat to the reef when we was at Folkstone. there are shade at both places, so you don't need to rent chair/umbrella

 

I travelled with bunch of beginners, so something I had to slow dow and waited for them, did not have time to explore other places. Just you and your wife, I am sure you will have time to explore and enjoy whatever you decide.

 

MTV

[lawtyger]

Thanks for the detailed info. Jessie and I are spending the weekend on our boat so only phone access to reply (caught 2 nice grouper and a red snapper). Anyway, more detailed response forthcoming when we are back on land. Thanks again.

[MTV43]

First picture - background is one of the piton

Second picture - background is the other piton, that is where people start to snorkel and farther back.

Third picture - background is one spot of the resort.

 

As you can see, the water is very clear and calm.

 

MTV

[MTV43]

Thanks for the detailed info. Jessie and I are spending the weekend on our boat so only phone access to reply (caught 2 nice grouper and a red snapper). Anyway, more detailed response forthcoming when we are back on land. Thanks again.

 

Yummy, fresh grouper...We live in Houston, can get a lot of seafood but not fresh grouper. My friends' husbands go fishing every often, they caught snapper, king, red fish and flowder but never a grouper. The only times we ate fresh grouper were at Cozumel and Akumal. We bought them right from a fishermen, $40 fed 14 of us.

 

MTV

[lawtyger]

MTV, regarding Jalouisie, how did you get there and what ended up being the cost to get there?

 

The pictures really look great, and the concept of snorkeling with the Pitons towering about is exciting. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but a co-worker raved about the snorkeling there also. We've got 7 week until our cruise so we'll be going back and forth between Consol's tour and just spending the day at Jalouisie. If we do go with Consol I will be doing my best to get the maximum amount of time at Jalouisie as possible.

 

It's nice we have West End in common as a reference. I just tried to put a thumbnail picture of the snorkel trail I created and brought some fellow cruise critic members on while we were there. Even though I had completely hyped up West End to the folks in our roll call, they didn't really understand how EXCELLENT the snorkeling was until they experienced it for themselves.

 

And, I saw you mentioned Dzul Ha. We typically make a point of going to Dzul Ha when we get to Cozumel even though it isn't the same since Wilma (I believe it was Wilma) hit a few years ago. You are right about the current, but I actually like it and usually walk far up the beach before getting in and then just float down back to what is now called The Money Bar. Again though, nothing like it was years ago.

[MTV43]

Lawtyger - I used Spencer Ambrose tour. First we had 15 in our group, He charged us $30 pp plus $5 for sulphur springs and $2 for waterfall. He provided refreshments, snacks and a lot of fruits. He has a nice Landcruiser toyota van seats comfortably 15. Later we added 8 more, his brother drove a toyota van to accomodate the 8. We only wanted the beach excursion, so flat $30 plus tip. At first, I also inquired about Cosol tour $55pp, it is highly recommended on St. Lucia board. But 45 minutes - 1 hour snorkeling at a good spot seems like 10 minutes to me. Then I inquired Herold, he quoted us $50 pp for all sea tour plus $20 for lunch. Almost book with Herold, but ran into a thread about Ambrose, we were lucky to get him. I remembered someone mentioned that he charged a private tour rougly $160 for 2 up to 6. Anse Chastenat and Anse Cochon, I cannot remember which one he advised us not to go there, and one also has a nice snorkeling. We were suppose to also stop there but the "Executive Ladies" friends wasted the time, so we had to skip it. In case you want to contact Spencer, his e-mail is spencerambrose1990@hotmail.com.

 

Hey, look at your cruise history, we almost cruised the same itinerary. We were on Valor last year to Western, Princess to Eastern and short 4 day cruise around Bahamas. Two times at W. End, I envy but we got to snorkel at Dzul Ha before Wilma.=)

 

Have fun searching.

 

MTV

[lawtyger]

Thanks MTV. Jessie and I will be discussing out St. Lucia options :).