Snorkeling--Grand Turk, San Juan. St. Kitts, St.Maarten?

Going on Carnival Sunshine July 31. Wife and I have snorkeled a number of times, but kids, 12 & 13, have not, only in swimming pool. These are our four ports, all new for us (yeah!). San Juan is probably out because my wife was a Spanish major and now teaches English as a Second language-she is looking to take in the culture there. I've read all the relevant threads from the last 6 months. What I've seen is Grand Turk may be our best bet. St. Maarten gets mixed reviews here. Haven't really found anything on St. Kitts. So what is best? And do you have recommendations for specific venders? Or places to snorkel from shore? We have had good success using external providers rather than ship excursions, but I would take specific Carnival suggestions as well.

No one?

San Juan is out, there's no nearby snorkeling/diving.

Grand Turk is good. There're several dive ops, all on the same street by the Osprey Hotel. They usually charge $40/p, with minimum of 4, to go out boat snorkeling. G Turk has clear water, good coral growth, and good diving/snorkeling. If you can, try to get some local conch salads, they're tasty. After the snorkeling, ask if they'll take you (on their boat) back to near the pier. That'll save the taxi cost back.

Diving in Grand Turk was very good. Went with the ship's tour and the dive shop was right behind Jack's Bar on the beach.

On St. Kitts there is actually decent snorkeling very close to shore in the vicinity of the Shipwreck Bar on South Friars beach, pretty easy to reach by cab. There are some other spots a little farther from town, as well.

We did the snorkel excursion through Carnival in Grand Turk this past May. Water was beautiful, coral was nice. Not sure about the other islands but like you, I have heard St Maarten is "ok", nothing spectacular. Besides, in GT you will find the excursions are probably less crowded since there aren't a lot of places for multiple ships to dock. In St Maarten, we had the Oasis, a Celebrity ship, us, and the Carnival Sunshine... So figure around 12-13K people.

Snorkeling is our favorite thing to do in the Caribbean

St. Kitts we used Javin with my island tours

In T&C we used gtdiving.com

St Maarten we used capt Bob cass

All the above day were wonderful and exceeded our expectations.

They all included snorkeling

We have booked White Sands in Grand Turk. Based on reviews seem to be good with inexperienced snorklers. Our cruise has the same ports and Grand Turk should be the best for snorkeling.

On St. Kitts there is actually decent snorkeling very close to shore in the vicinity of the Shipwreck Bar on South Friars beach, pretty easy to reach by cab. There are some other spots a little farther from town, as well.

I agree with this if you are looking for something you can get to from the shore. We got chairs at Carambola Beach Club and were pleasantly surprised at the snorkeling that ran parallel to the shore between Carambola and Shipwreck....there are wild monkey's at the end behind Shipwreck too that your kids will love. It was $4pp cab to get to Carambola (we chose that over Shipwreck)and $30 for two padded, nice beach loungers and an umbrella for the day. They also have a really nice bathroom and changing area at Carambola.

Of the four ... Grand Turk would be my choice! ;)

Last month we were in st kitts. we went to shipwreck beach bar at friers beach. the right side of the beach is for snorkling and the left for swimming. This might be a good start for your kids. it was 4 $ each way for the cab and 10 $ for 2 chairs and an umbrella. there was also a floating dock part the way in the water. I also just did the power snorkling in grand turk. You take a short bus ride to a resort. they explain how to use the power snorkler ( its like a torpedo that has a fan on it and it will pull you thru the water as you snorkle.) then you take a very short ride out to the great barrier reef and you snorkle there for a little bit then you power snorkle all the way back to the beach. Both were wonderful excursions.