Would like to book a snorkel tour through the island, not the ship. Any suggestions?

Hi all. We usually save a lot of money by booking snorkel excursions at the island, not doing the ship excursions.

Any recommendations for a good, reliable snorkel operator in SDt, Martin?

Thanks,

Marina

St. Martin is not noted for its snorkleing so you might have a hard time with this. However, you can do Pinel Island on your own for minimal cost. Pinel Island has some of St. Martin's best snorkeling, although it is considered marginal by other island standards.

Is it difficult to get there from the cruise ship pier? I mean will the taxies take you there? I had a tough time getting one to Marigot a few years ago because they want to fill a van and there were only 2 of us wanting to go there. That completely turned me off go around the island on my own on subsequent visits.

Consider the Lord Sheffield Tall Ship Adventure.

Although Pinel has decent snorkeling, it's off the beaten path and getting a taxi might be a bit of a problem. You'd have to get up to near #36 on the map, and then take the small boat out to the island.

If you had a car you could do it easily.

gtaylor- have you taken the Lord Sheffield trip. I was interested and the tour operator was very helpful but I have not been able to find one review of this day sail/snorkeling trip.

anything you have heard/experienced would be greatly appreciated:)

Cheers,

No, we haven't done the trip. That's why my comment was a suggestion that they consider the activity. It's close to the pier, which most other options are NOT.

I became aware of them through a posting over on Travel Talk OnLine. You can check out their website. It sounds like a great trip.

Thanks for mentioning the Lord Sheffield. I booked it for Nov 9. Got a quick confirmation and they only take a $7. deposit. Will report when I get back.

Check out Scuba fun:

http://www.scubafun.com/dutch.html

They are located by the same marina where the Lord Sheffield is docked (which is right next to the cruise ship pier. no need for taxis. hooray!). They do a 2 hour scuba tour for $30. I don't know if that includes the use of equipment. You can e-mail them and check.

You can also check: www.stmaarten-activities.com