Snorkeling in Antigua

Hi... I think I've narrowed beaches we may like to visit down to Jolly or Dickenson....just wondering though, do either of these have snorkeling? Do you have to have a day pass to rent equipment? Thanks for any input...any other words of wisdom for a day in Antigua are appreciated!:)

jolly has beautiful but milky blue water, no snorkeling. never been to dickenson..we did a snorkel catamaran thru the ship last month..we never go with the ship but the cats were right there..they go to a "reef" which is the deadest reef i have ever been to, jump in one lap around and back on the cat..weird..they didnt point out anything just weird. but they pop the sail for a ride to a beach, ft something it was. the locals come out of the woodwork to try and sell their wares. clear water no coral..

my pals did the circumnavigate with eli and loved it.. i think darkwood has snorkeling too...

there is no snorkeling at dickenson :( the water has tiny little pieces of sand or coral floating in the water so you can not see through it at all

monkey beach is the best for snorkeling. Trust me. I will never forget it and it was 3 years ago - sea turtles, and all kinds of beautiful fish. beautiful reef.

We just did the Waddali Cats 2 weeks ago. Granted it wasnt the best snorkeling but it wasnt bad either. We went to Green Island and saw a sea turtle, a stingray and a wide variety of fish. I guess it is either hit or miss.

Hi... I think I've narrowed beaches we may like to visit down to Jolly or Dickenson....just wondering though, do either of these have snorkeling? Do you have to have a day pass to rent equipment? Thanks for any input...any other words of wisdom for a day in Antigua are appreciated!:)

Jolly and Dickenson Bay don't have snorkelling (I live on Jolly Beach). The water is always not clear.

Long Bay is probably the best place for walk off the beach snorkelling. If you are close to Jolly, then Turners is also ok, but not great. You can swim out to Pelican Island.

There is also good snorkelling in Carlisle Bay. I work at the SubCat office which is on Carlisle Bay Beach (in Old Road) and you can stop by and I can point out the good snorkelling, or if I am on the sub, speak with my wife Jamie who is always at the beach hut.

Ron

Jolly and Dickenson Bay don't have snorkelling (I live on Jolly Beach). The water is always not clear.

 

Long Bay is probably the best place for walk off the beach snorkelling. If you are close to Jolly, then Turners is also ok, but not great. You can swim out to Pelican Island.

 

There is also good snorkelling in Carlisle Bay. I work at the SubCat office which is on Carlisle Bay Beach (in Old Road) and you can stop by and I can point out the good snorkelling, or if I am on the sub, speak with my wife Jamie who is always at the beach hut.

 

Ron

Thanks for the info. regarding the earlier post, is Monkey Beach good snorklelling in your opinion as a local or is that beach one and the same as Long Bay?

Jolly and Dickenson Bay don't have snorkelling (I live on Jolly Beach). The water is always not clear.

 

Long Bay is probably the best place for walk off the beach snorkelling. If you are close to Jolly, then Turners is also ok, but not great. You can swim out to Pelican Island.

 

There is also good snorkelling in Carlisle Bay. I work at the SubCat office which is on Carlisle Bay Beach (in Old Road) and you can stop by and I can point out the good snorkelling, or if I am on the sub, speak with my wife Jamie who is always at the beach hut.

 

Ron

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the info. Here is what I'm interested in. Maybe you can guide me. I would like a beach for our friends that has good snorkeling and then a restaurant or bar connected to it with facilities. One that is easy to get to. The Long Bay beach and Carlisle Beach sound good. Is one better than the other? Is one closer than the other or easier to get to? Do they both have restaurants or bars connected to them? Facilities? Are there any fee's to go? Any info. would be great. Thanks.

How do you get to monkey beach?

Where is Monkey Beach - how do we get there? How far from cruise ship port? Any amenities there? Thanks for your help.

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the info. Here is what I'm interested in. Maybe you can guide me. I would like a beach for our friends that has good snorkeling and then a restaurant or bar connected to it with facilities. One that is easy to get to. The Long Bay beach and Carlisle Beach sound good. Is one better than the other? Is one closer than the other or easier to get to? Do they both have restaurants or bars connected to them? Facilities? Are there any fee's to go? Any info. would be great. Thanks.

Carlisle Bay Beach is absolutely gorgeous. It was really quiet when we visited and we drove, brought drinks and chairs so I can't help you with the information that you are asking for but I have been to many beaches in Antigua and Carlisle is my favorite hands down. I can tell you that it was free and we turned in this little road that looked like a dreiveway right before the Carlisle Bay beach resort enterance. They did not let us into the resort. My husband said that Long Bay was his favorite beach. In all fairness, we went to Long bay on a grey, cloudy day and visited Carlisle on a perfect beach day.

what about half moon bay? heard that it is beautiful and snorkeling is good

what about half moon bay? heard that it is beautiful and snorkeling is good

Yes it is a beautiful beach as well. My eldest daughter thought that it was the nicest beach that we visited in Antigua. I recall it being a long beautiful beach with very little shade, some nice wave action without being too much and some ok snorkeling near the rocks to the far left of the beach when you face the water. When we visited in 2007 there was no chair rentals or facilities which may have changed. I would think that it would be about 30 minutes from the cruise pier by taxi and arrange to be picked up at a certain time.

Check out this website, looks like place called No Such bay would be great for snorkeling, but no facilities:

http://www.paradise-islands.org/antigua.htm

I snorkelled at Long Bay Beach last month...there is some great snorkelling off to the right of the bay, with excellent shallow reef snorkelling, hundreds of fish in water that is just a few feet deep. Haven't snorkelled on other beaches though, so cannot say if Long bay is the best, but it was very good. Long Bay is such a pretty beach too.

carlisle bay, longbay and monkey bay beach sound good to me for snorkeling. but i'd like to know: do they all offer facilities? is there any snorkeling set for tental? where can we see sea turtles, reef and fish more? any sea star can be found?

I would greatly appreciate any information vis-a-vis the above beach with regard to chair rental, and mode and cost of transportation to and from the beach from the pier.

Thank you.

Jolly and Dickenson Bay don't have snorkelling (I live on Jolly Beach). The water is always not clear.

 

Long Bay is probably the best place for walk off the beach snorkelling. If you are close to Jolly, then Turners is also ok, but not great. You can swim out to Pelican Island.

 

There is also good snorkelling in Carlisle Bay. I work at the SubCat office which is on Carlisle Bay Beach (in Old Road) and you can stop by and I can point out the good snorkelling, or if I am on the sub, speak with my wife Jamie who is always at the beach hut.

 

Ron

To Ron at Subcat office,

Hello.

We were thinking about the Subcat excursion with NCL in March. Can you tell us how long we are actually down there and if there is anything else to do nearby once that trip on the Subcat is over?

Thanks,

Karen

How about Valley Church Beach compared to Carlisle Bay Beach? Thought I had my day in Antiqua planned until I read about Carlisle Bay. Any tips or thoughts would be helpful.

Anyone know how far Long Bay Beach is from Falmouth? Or the cost to get there!! thanks

Will be there in a week and having a hard time deciding which beach.

Valley Church Beach fits the bill because we can take the bus to get there and get a massage on the beach, but then I heard about how great Carlisle and Long Bay beaches are. Can we get to those beaches by bus also?

And, we like to snorkel.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Any new info to report on snorkeling at Longbay?

Have the beaches changed at all since the start of this thread or are they still the same?