Western Car. cruise, best walk in snorkeling

My family and I are leaving in two weeks on Carnival Liberty to Western Caribbean. We're going to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Grand Cayman. We've spent the last two weeks in the keys and my whole family has the snorkeling bug (one of our absolute favorite things to do). We have 3 kids (14, 12, and 8) and they're all great swimmers.

So we are doing a tub trip in Belize but we want to snorkel in the other 3 places. I think we're going to charters a fishing/snorkeling boat in Cozumel. The budget doesn't allow two more excursions so I think I'm going to stick to snorkeling form the shore in either Roatan or Grand Cayman.

Roatan I think we would go out to West Bay.

Grand Cayman I'm not sure. There was cemetery reed, the Eden dive shop, and also the west coast somewhere (can't remember the name).

Can anyone who has been to these places answer a few questions?

1. If you had to pick one of those two places to go offshore and one to snorkel from the shore, which would you pick?

2. Anyplace in particular, even if I didn't mention it?

3. We were leaning towards an excursion on GC mostly because of the stingray thing, doing the a multi-stop trip that goes to the stingrays and then a couple more spots. I'm not sure if it's worth it if the other snorkeling is going to be just as good off the shore. Has anyone done this, worth it?

Thanks so much.

At Grand Cayman, Eden Rock is a good snorkeling place. It's only a few hundreds yard south of the cruise terminal. It has stairs to climb down, and it's pretty good free snorkeling. I had done a good shallow dive there before.

There are also restaurants nearby, with one in particular right by the shore, a few yards from where you'd go down. So for breaks you can sit at the restaurant and order drinks/food, and try the turtle soup.

Cozumel = The Money Bar

http://moneybarbeachclub.com/

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you are looking for doing good snorkeling without going out in a snorkel boat.

In Roatan ...Taybana Beach (west end) is good.

Grand Cayman ... Eden Rock is extremely close and has quite decent snorkeling .

LuLu

~~~

Yes, snorkeling without going out. I am trying to decide which island to go out on a boat and which to snorkel from shore if I had to choose just 1 boat trip. Roatan and Grand Cayman.

Yes, snorkeling without going out. I am trying to decide which island to go out on a boat and which to snorkel from shore if I had to choose just 1 boat trip. Roatan and Grand Cayman.

I would go out with grand cayman. That way you can also go to Stingray city which is a must. Go with Eco adventures and capt. Kevin. He has one of the fastest boats there and you will get 2 stops in addition to stingray city. We had a perfect day with him last Sept.

In Roatan ...Taybana Beach (west end) is good.

Tabyana Beach is part of West Bay Beach. It is not in West End... that is further Northeast and very different. :cool:

I too would like to do snorkeling off the beach but because I have difficulty getting back on the boat. Are there any snorkel/dive boats with a water deck that you can swim onto? I just am too old and stiff to use a boat ladder.:p

I pay good for easy on easy off boat:D

Another recommendation for Money Bar in Cozumel. It's not really a "bar"- they serve food and drinks. You can use their property for snorkeling without any obligation though. They have chairs and tables on a sandy area, but not a real beach. But all it costs is the cost of a cab (then anything you want to buy- their prices are reasonable and their nachos are great).

I think in Cozumel we're doing a 6 hour fishing/snorkeling combo trip. After 3 hours of bottom fishing we're going to the marine park to a few different snorkel spots.

If that falls through for some reason I will definitely check out Money Bar. Thanks!

From reading the posts and looking around I think we're going to take a taxi out to Tobyana in Roatan and spend the better part of our day snorkeling out on the reef. I've seen some of the maps in the other posts with directions about snorkeling through the "kidney" shaped section and seeing the further out reefs and then the drop off. Sounds pretty fun, we'll see.

The main reason we decided to make Roatan our walk in destination and Grand Cayman our excursion is because my wife REALLY wants to see Ray Bay. So we're going to do a multi-stop trip that goes to Ray Bay and then 2 more snorkel spots. I hope the spots are nice, really getting excited, we leave on Saturday.

Another recommendation for Money Bar in Cozumel. It's not really a "bar"- they serve food and drinks. You can use their property for snorkeling without any obligation though. They have chairs and tables on a sandy area, but not a real beach. But all it costs is the cost of a cab (then anything you want to buy- their prices are reasonable and their nachos are great).

We really enjoyed Money Bar last Sept. But I would encourage you to at least buy a drink or something. I just think it would be rude and tacky to plop down and enjoy their facilities without at least purchasing something. Their prices are reasonable, the drinks cold and food good. The waiter also watches your stuff while you're out in the water.

I hope you will let us know how it went when you get back. Snorkeling is our favorite activity on our cruises.

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

Please report back especially about the walk in snorkeling. For the excursion I need to know how the boat is for getting off (I can jump so not so bad:p) but how was it getting back on board the boat. Yes I have a real fear -- I have thought a few times they would have to drag me back on a rope (but that was 20 years ago and now I am smarter to look before I jump:o)

cemetary beach in grand cayman. cemetary reef is right off the beach its a 20 minute cab ride and is remote so no food, drinks, restrooms, etc. just good coral.