St. Maarten or St. Thomas??

[JettaGirl]

Hello all! My SO and I love snorkeling. We have snorkeled in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Belize. All were beautiful places. This August we are going to St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Which do you think has the best snorkeling?

 

Also, what companies would you recommend to do a snorkeling excursion with at either island?? I do not like going through the ship and would much rather go privately with less people! Thank you for any advice you can give me!!

[Hilary]

I would strongly recommend snorkeling St. Thomas over St. Maarten. I'd actually suggest that instead of trying to snorkel in St. Thomas that you go over to St. John and snorkel there. You can do your own thing by taking the ferry over and snorkel at Trunk Bay, or one of the other beaches there.

 

A couple of years ago we booked the catarmaran sail and snorkel to St. John through the ship and had a fabulous time. We loved the sailing over to St. John and the view of St. Thomas along the way. We made sure we were on a REAL sailing catamaran instead of one of those motoring ones with the little sails that do nothing.

[dsclark]

The best snorkeling in St Matin is at Dawn Beach. It is cheap and easy to get to. The beach is quiet, pretty and when I was last there two years ago, they'd walk up to as you laid on your towel on the beach and offer a cold carribe beer for only $1. Snorkeling there wasn't bad. There were a good number of fish, but variety was lacking.

However, Trunk bay in St. John was way, way better. I have seen a few negative posts about Trunk Bay snorkeling. Here's my advice-

If you want to snorkel there, as soon as the ship drops anchor, RUN, don't walk, off the ship! Get to Trunkl asap!When I first got there, the place was rather empty and I swam through schools of fish so dense, that I couldn't see the ocean floor, even though the water was only 12 ' deep! However, as the day went on, lots of tours/people showed up. Many of these people appeared to have no snorkel experience and were floundering /splashing all over the place (the fish don't like that!).

On my next cruise, we are going snorkeling at both places. I consider St. Martin a good "warm up" for Trunk Bay. FWIW, I have snorkeled in Grand Caymen and Cozumel and Trunk Bay was my favorite.

[slk230red]

Just returned from St. Maarten on the Mariner of the Seas...Yes, the Carribe beer at Dawn Beach is still a bargain. 75 cents at the bar. Snorkeling is just so so, but the waves were great. My wife and I took our boogie boards and had a great time. Dawn Beach is still our favorite destination in St. Maarten.