Seeing seahorses in St. Thomas snorkelling?

Does anyone know if its possible to sea seahorses in St. Thomas, prefer snorkelling but would be open to scuba diving. Years ago a woman who dove out of the same shop I used told me there were seahorses all over a dock she dove in St. John. I'm hoping I might find something similar in St. Thomas. I've always wanted to sea a seahorse that's not in an aqaurium tank. I realize there is no guarantee of seeing any sea life on a dive but was hoping there might be somewhere in St. Thomas where there's a good chance I might spot one. Prefer snorkelling but if the only seahorse sightings or more likely by scuba diving I'm open to that too. Or even that underwater scooter thing I saw on another thread. Are equipment rentals reasonable/easy to locate? Might bring my mask and snorkel but the fins are huge, and well we all know about flying with luggage and keeping things to a minimum! We'll be on the Emerald Princess if the cruise line makes a difference but we prefer not to stick with a ship sponsored excursion.

The only place I have ever heard of seahorses in the wild was the old dock at Frederisksted on St Croix. Coral World has a seahorse breeding program and repatriates them into the wild, but I have never seen any. You might check with Coral World.

Yup, I saw my sea-horses in St. Croix, in Frederikstad. Under the pier. They hook their tails around a piece of coral, and just sway in the current.

I've done snorkeling in St. Thomas, but have never seen sea-horses there.

Hmmm. Well maybe it was the dock in St. Croix! It was so many years ago all I remember was a dock in the US Virgin Islands and it wasn't St. Thomas! I had a 50% chance of getting that one wrong!

Seahorses are extremely hard to locate because of their superior camoflage capabilities, they blend into the coral they hook onto. I've been diving with a DM who pointed to the seahorse and it still took me forever to identify the thing:eek: They are that good! So make sure you REALLY look through that coral. You almost have to take someone who knows exactly where they are before you can see them. If you run across them by accident, I'd say it's almost a miracle! But good luck anyway.

On the issue of seahorses (I would LOVE to see one as well while snorkeling and haven't yet)...do they only hook on to coral in "calmer" water? Or is there a chance of finding them toward the shore where there is coral and the waves are a little more rapid and splashing?

I'm just wondering because on one of the trips to Cozumel at Chankanaab, right by the entrance there was a lady that came out of the water and was walking up the steps that told me to turn around the the rock behind me because there was a black sea horse on it. I looked for what seemed forever and could not find it. :( I just thought it was odd that it would be in that location because the water gets a little rapid there at the entrance with the waves splashing against the rocks and back.