Looking for the Best Beaches..

We are going on the Star in a couple weeks to Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. I have read all the reviews on each port. My question is out of these 3 ports, which one has the clearest water to snorkel and has the best beach? Everyone says each port is great, but I want to hear how you would rate them (i.e. #1, #2, #3). I might only have one day to enjoy the beach/snorkeling so I want to make sure I do it at the best place. I don't want to end up at a beach that has seaweed/seagrass. If you could rank these islands in your order I would greatly appreciate. Any personal comments on them would greatly be appreciated. Thank You!

I can not rate them for you because I have not been to the other two. What I can tell you is when I was researching snorkle locations, Roatan came up time after time. There are very few places one can snorkle a reef system from shore. West Bay Beach on Roatan is one of those places. The reef system is second only to the Great Barrier.

I would be very surprised of people who have snorkeled all three do not say Roatan is the best easy access reef snorkeling they experienced.

These are pics from West Bay.

Hands down, Roatan has the best with Belize a close second. The reefs at Cozumel are good but you have to take a boat trip to the good ones and they are deep. The reef at West Bay is shallow and close to shore. There are several independent boat tours that will take you to a split in the reef and to a shipwreck.

Yep, Roatan is tops!

Roatan is definitely the best of the 3. I would use Costa Maya and Cozumel more of a relax at the beach kind of day. I was in Costa Maya last January and we had no luck with snorkeling off of the beach. As with mother nature there are no guarantees on the condition. When we were in West Bay in January the beaches were a seaweed mess. In the 6 times I've been there that was a first. We were able to get out and snorkel some during our time there. To tell you how much we love snorkeling from West Bay beach we spent 10 days there for Spring Break 2013. We are going down for 7 days in October. It's perfect.

Roatan for sure! :D

Tabyana Beach on Roatan if you want to just walk into the water and have some of the best snorkeling you will ever see. Little French Key at Roatan has a terrific snorkel excursion as part of one of their packages. Both have a huge variety of fish, coral and sea fans. Roatan is my very favorite place to snorkel and my Husband and I "swim with the fishes" at any place it is available.

We love snorkeling in Roatan. We always book a private driver - Ronystours.com We really like the flexibility of changing our plans as we go. Our kids also like ziplining and playing with the monkeys. I also like to stop for photos if I see something interesting. Rony is great - we've used him many times!

We are debating about French key and west bay beach. We have a family of 14 ranging from 7 years old to two elder adults (67 and 75) .

Would love to just snorkel off the beach with the kids while grandparents enjoying the beach. Which should we pick?

We are debating about French key and west bay beach. We have a family of 14 ranging from 7 years old to two elder adults (67 and 75) .

Would love to just snorkel off the beach with the kids while grandparents enjoying the beach. Which should we pick?

Little French Key is on the windward side of the island and one would have to take a boat out to snorkeling.

If from the beach reef snorkeling is the goal, West Bay beach just past Infinity's L shaped dock where the Tabyana Daypass resort is..is the answer.

If the grandparents what to be able to see the snorkelers, your best bet for a day pass is Tabyana. Bananarama has day pass as well but the snorkelers would have to walk down the beach to the boat free reef snorkeling.