best snorkeling excursion- help us decide!

Hi :)

We are a german couple going on our first cruise end of the month!

It is a caribbean cruise with princess and we are already really excited about it.

We would love to go snorkeling as grand turk is famous for its reefs- but we dont know with which company!

We are both experienced in snorkeling and could bring our own equipment if required.

What we are looking for?

-great snorkeling spots (wall/and at least one more spot)

- enough time in the water

- beach time included would be a nice plus but not mandatory

- not over crowded boat or snorkeling spots

- we are not interested in a conch demonstration

- we would like to include sting rays if possible

- not spending extremely much (like at some of those private tours...)

Please share your experience with us!! :)

I would like to see some responses too! I was looking at Bohio Resorts for their snorkeling package but I don't know if it is worth it.

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Blue Water Divers handles all the cruise ship excursions. Any one of them that goes to the Wall will be good, but may be crowded and as typical, more expensive than private vendors.

Two private vendors with good reputations and reasonable prices and small groups are:

Oasis Divers http://www.oasisdivers.com/eco-adventures/ultimate-snorkeling

and

Grand Turk Diving http://www.gtdiving.com/

Bohio Resort at Pillory Beach has snorkeling excursions as well. Not sure if they are readily available to cruisers. Most of Bohio's amenities are for staying guests first.

Papa J's right at the cruise port, a short walk along the beach from Margaritaville toward Jack's Shack, also offers snorkeling tours. He's a great guy and does fishing charters, but snorkeling is a relatively new business for him. http://www.papajtours.com/

Just curious, when did Blue Water Divers start taking over the cruise ship tours?

Following....trying to decide the same thing!

Just curious, when did Blue Water Divers start taking over the cruise ship tours?

Old post, my bad. Sometimes get BW mixed up with Oasis Divers. Oasis does the cruise excursions. Blue Water does private.[emoji17] [emoji17]

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We just snorkeled off the beach. Grand Turk is amazing. We got off the ship, walked through Margaritaville, and got chairs and an umbrella on the beach. The ships are right there and the snorkeling was amazing. Just a low key kind of day. Can't wait to go back! And we didn't have to pay for an excursion.

We just snorkeled off the beach. Grand Turk is amazing. We got off the ship, walked through Margaritaville, and got chairs and an umbrella on the beach. The ships are right there and the snorkeling was amazing. Just a low key kind of day. Can't wait to go back! And we didn't have to pay for an excursion.

Brigette - We're stopping at Grand Turk next month. So did you just bring your own snorkeling gear? And you just snorkeled right from the beach?

Doug

Oasis is now ran by Chukka, according to their site q @ a. We did the Chukka snorkel the last time and booked thru the ship. It was crowded, the snorkeling was rushed, and we only saw one stingray. I thought we were going to the wall, but we only went to a little reef area, and then the island where the stingray showed up.

After the trip, they drop you off on the beach---right in front of a Chukka ran restaurant. We had conch fritters, which were really good, but the service was super slow.

We will be going again in November and I am looking for a different company and booking privately.

Several years ago my roll call got together and we did a charter with Grand Turk Diving. They were great. We went to one location that was decent, then the wall, then we went to Gibbs Cay and saw the sting rays. There was plenty of time after for a stop at Jack's Shack and/or the beach. If you don't have enough people for the Charter - their regular tours are similar.

I have snorkeled right from the shore (brought my own gear) - both in front of Jack's as well as off the southern tip of the island. You don't need to spend the money on an excursion - but if you choose to do one, go private (not through the ship) and it's a reasonable cost for the value.

Brigette - We're stopping at Grand Turk next month. So did you just bring your own snorkeling gear? And you just snorkeled right from the beach?

 

 

 

Doug

YES! Sorry just seeing this.