Snorkeling at HMC

[MsJ]

Hello...we are sailing on the Zuiderdam 2/19...our first cruise with HAL...we are in Cabin 5077...I booked this about 9 months ago,its finally almost here....we are avid snorkelers and have snorkeled in Bonaire...Cozumel..Grand Cayman...St John...and other places.....can anyone tell me if the snorkeling of the beach at HMC is any good?....or should we take the excursion?....is the reef they go to worth the trip?...and most importantly....on the excursion do they make you wear those yucky yellow life vest? Also I know HAL owns the island..but are there any independant snorkel trips available? Thanks Marianne

[jeffanddawn]

we love snorkeling.... sorry to tell you i don't think HMC is the place for snorkeling... save it for some of your other ports

btw bonaire is awesome (i'm sure you know) no name island (i think thats what its called if i remember correctly) is the best we've been to... the tour was called 'samur sail and snorkel'

[Ziggy7]

The snorkeling at HMC is better on the excursion, we did not go on it as we had a cabana but our shipmates did and they had a great time and bragged how many fish there were on the excursion, we just snorkeled off the jetty walls which was good to so-so, just off shore is nada :)

[Stevesan]

Beach snorkeling is very poor (sand bottom with some fish along the rock wall), but the boat snorkel was better than I expected.
There's not a reef, but only a few hundred yards off shore is a coral garden with a fair variety of fish. The snorkeling doesn't compare to Nassau, Grand Cayman, Coz, etc - but it's better than twiddling your thumbs.
It's a very convenient trip - the snorkel boat leaves directly from the tender dock and because the snorkel spot is so close the total trip is only a couple hours. Give it a try.

[crockea]

Where exactly does the excursion take you? Can we swim to it on our own?

[MsJ]

Thank you to everyone who answered my question....I think the excursion is what we will do.....Marianne

[Stevesan]

Where exactly does the excursion take you? Can we swim to it on our own?

No, you couldn't swim there. There's no beach or land access. It is, however, within sight of the anchored cruise ship.
Book the tour. It's not expensive.