Best snorkel in Cayman?

[sokz]

Hi, My g/f and I are looking for a snorkeling excursion in Grand Cayman that Carnival offers. I have been to stingray city before and we want to do something other than that. Carnival offers many snorkeling excursions at various times lengths and prices. Anyone have any reccomendations?

 

Thanks

[Ron_L]

I'm surprised that no one has answered. We did a combined stingray city/snorkeling/beach excursion with NativeWay and they took us to the barrier reef near stingray city. The water was very clear and the coral and fish were beautiful. I didn't look at Carnival's excursions so i don't know if they have a barrier reef choice.

 

Also, i talked to a couple who were on Valor with us and they walked from the port to Eden Rock. It is just a few minutes from the dock and they said that the snorkeling right from shore was great. Apparently one of the Carnival excursions takes folks to that same spot. The Eden Rock Dive Center is right there and they allow snorkelers to use their access for snorkeling and will rent equipment.

 

http://www.edenrockdive.com/

 

We'll probably do this if we go back to GC.

[UCF50s]

Great video! I noticed that you snorkeled at all 4 ports. Which did you prefer and why? Where did you see the best variety of colorful fish? Did you do any excursions with Carnival, or all arranged on your own? Your underwater pictures were fantastic! Mine always seem to miss the fish!!!:rolleyes:

[back to the islands]

What did you use? Your pics are great! I'm looking to buy something to take under the sea!

[Ron_L]

Great video! I noticed that you snorkeled at all 4 ports. Which did you prefer and why? Where did you see the best variety of colorful fish? Did you do any excursions with Carnival, or all arranged on your own? Your underwater pictures were fantastic! Mine always seem to miss the fish!!!:rolleyes:

 

Thanks! My preference, in order...

 

Fins and Flippers, Roatan

Barrier Reef, Grand Cayman

Chankanaab Park, Cozumel

Goff Caye, Belize

 

My wife's preferences, in order...

 

Fins and Flippers

Chankanaab Park

Barrier Reef, Grand Cayman

Goff Caye, Belize

 

Snorkeling at F&F in Roatan was amazing. Access is off of a long pier with a ladder into the water. Then you swim through a channel in the coral out to the dropoff. Lots of nice coral and fish.

 

I liked the barrier reef at GC because of the variety of coral. The fish were nice but not amazing. My wife preferred Chankanaab Park because she loves Parrotfish and we saw several very large, very colorful Parrotfish there.

 

belize was the only port where we booked through Carnival and it was a mistake. The little island of Goff Caye was beautiful, but the snorkeling was a mad house with over 100 people in the water at once and we were herded around in a group. The fish saw us coming and swam as far as they could. I did see a couple of cuttlefish, but I was away from the group and the guides were yelling at me to get back.

 

What did you use? Your pics are great! I'm looking to buy something to take under the sea!

 

I used an Olympus 1030SW digital camera. I bought it off of Overstock.com Auctions refurbished from Olympus for about half of the retail price. If you buy any underwater digital get extra batteries and extra memory cards.

[sokz]

looks like we might do the Eden Rock snorkel, now we have to decide to book it through Carnival which is 34 pp for four hours or just go ourselves and rent the equipment and such...any suggestions?

[Ron_L]

looks like we might do the Eden Rock snorkel, now we have to decide to book it through Carnival which is 34 pp for four hours or just go ourselves and rent the equipment and such...any suggestions?

 

It's an easy walk from the dock. It will cost you $14/person for the equipment rental and $5 for a locker if you want one. That's a pretty good savings. Search this forum for "Eden Rock" and you'll probably find a lot of information about doing it yourself.

[Wicketsmom]

looks like we might do the Eden Rock snorkel, now we have to decide to book it through Carnival which is 34 pp for four hours or just go ourselves and rent the equipment and such...any suggestions?

 

I've been to Grand Cayman several times and we always dive at Eden Rock. I wouldn't spend the $$ to book it through Carnival. It's just a couple blocks walk from the cruise ship port and if you bring your own gear, snorkeling is free, and diving there is very inexpensive as well. I'd buy my own mask, fins, and snorkel and bring them with me on the trip. Do you really want to rent something that someone else had in their mouth??:eek:

[MrsCoach95]

We are going to book straight through Eden Rock while there instead of Carnival. I emailed ER to find out about water conditions and how kid friendly their place was. Within hours I had a nice long email detailing their business and they seemed very welcoming. The price through them is almost half the price through Carnival. The person emailing me warned me to make sure I was at ER before renting equipment because there's another tour operation that tries to pass themselves off as ER and that is who the cruise ships use but it's not the Eden Rock Dive. Make sure you follow the exact directions on their website if walking there. www.edenrockdiva.com