New Family Cruiser need Turk Snorkel Tour

We are an adventurous family of 5 cruising Carnival to Grand Turks and need a snorkel tour to accommodate 2 adults and 3 kids. The excursions we have seen do not allow our kids (ages 4,5, & 7) to participate. Our kids are great swimmer and already know how to snorkel.

Can someone point us to a local Grand Turk guide or dive shop?

Thank you,

Craig

There are 2 primary dive operators on Grand Turk. Oasis and Blue Water. Oasis caters to the cruise ships, so by default, they are out. You can google Blue Waters and go to their website and see what their restrictions are.

An alternative may be to head to Bohio Resort and get a day pass and hire a boat out of their resort. Again, google Bohio resort for information.

Getting to either the dive shop or Bohio will cost you a taxi ride of around $5 pp each way. You might be able to negotiate a lower "group" rate with a van taxi at the port.

We are using "grand Turk diving" 2 hour snorkel tour next week. You could try them regarding the kids ages. I'll report back on whether they were any good when we return.

We are using "grand Turk diving" 2 hour snorkel tour next week. You could try them regarding the kids ages. I'll report back on whether they were any good when we return.

hi dreadnought101

could you please share grand turk diving's website and how you booked your tour? how much is it? i am planning to book a snorkeling tour for me and my 6-yr old son. many thanks.

Hi its http://www.gtdiving.com they charged $62 each for a 2 hour snorkel ($55 +tax). (They were my second choice - I wanted blue water divers but they will only take out a group of 4 or more and there were no other people interested on the day we were in port)

In the end it was just my partner and I on the boat. Boat was there on time, our guide was really friendly, its less than a 5 mind walk from the port terminal along the beach)

We went out to an area of coral called the library first of all. There was coral around (but not particularly colourful) and fish. I dove down and found a conch which was empty so I kept it which was cool. A large group of snorkellers were about 100 yards away and they had attracted one of the tame local nurse sharks over towards them so unfortunately we didn't see any sharks or turtles.

Next we went to the second stop overlooking the wall. I have to say that this was quite sparse and visibility wasn't great so didn't really encounter the dramatic drop you read about.

Overall I have to say I wasn't convinced it was great value for money. Can't criticise the company themselves, great service, great communication, clean boat, friendly guide BUT the coral and fish on display weren't that impressive and you could see a similar amount just swimming off the beach in Grand Turk. We saw far more impressive coral and sea life in St Thomas and Half moon cay simply swimming off the beach. You may be better off with blue water tours or doing one of the stingray/Gibbs cay tours (or save your money for a different island and try an excursion elsewhere)

Check out the TripAdvisor site for different destinations to check out the local operators/excursions.

I paid 50% deposit via PayPal beforehand and the rest in cash on the day. They are very prompt at replying to their email.

there is some OK snorkeling right off the beach at the cruise centre.

Hi its http://www.gtdiving.com they charged $62 each for a 2 hour snorkel ($55 +tax). (They were my second choice - I wanted blue water divers but they will only take out a group of 4 or more and there were no other people interested on the day we were in port)

 

In the end it was just my partner and I on the boat. Boat was there on time, our guide was really friendly, its less than a 5 mind walk from the port terminal along the beach)

 

We went out to an area of coral called the library first of all. There was coral around (but not particularly colourful) and fish. I dove down and found a conch which was empty so I kept it which was cool. A large group of snorkellers were about 100 yards away and they had attracted one of the tame local nurse sharks over towards them so unfortunately we didn't see any sharks or turtles.

 

Next we went to the second stop overlooking the wall. I have to say that this was quite sparse and visibility wasn't great so didn't really encounter the dramatic drop you read about.

 

Overall I have to say I wasn't convinced it was great value for money. Can't criticise the company themselves, great service, great communication, clean boat, friendly guide BUT the coral and fish on display weren't that impressive and you could see a similar amount just swimming off the beach in Grand Turk. We saw far more impressive coral and sea life in St Thomas and Half moon cay simply swimming off the beach. You may be better off with blue water tours or doing one of the stingray/Gibbs cay tours (or save your money for a different island and try an excursion elsewhere)

Check out the TripAdvisor site for different destinations to check out the local operators/excursions.

dreadnought101, thank you so much for your detailed info. much appreciate it.

there is some OK snorkeling right off the beach at the cruise centre.

Marysb, thank you very much for your info too.