Best port for snorkeling

[Honeymooner15]

Hi all. I was wondering what everyone thought was the best port for snorkeling. We will be going to Labadee, Haiti; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Willemstad, Curacao and Oranjestad, Aruba. Thanks for your input!

[Clarea]

I can't tell you the best port, but I can tell you that snorkeling at Labadee would be a waste of time compared to the other 3 ports.

Edited February 16, 2014 by clarea

[bumbletigger]

I went snorkeling in Aruba last summer. Saw some awesome fish, but the water was rough that day. It is hard to snorkel when the water is rough, which is most days in Aruba due to the wind. I was a da Palm Island. Nice resort type day.

 

 

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[Hibiscus13]

Our favourite on that list would be Bonaire. We've been diving and snorkeling in Aruba but we enjoyed Bonaire more.

[GMoney]

Bonaire is well known for diving and offers some very good snorkeling options. I'd focus on your research there, and then secondarily on Curacao. Some people rave about the snorkeling there, particularly from the beaches, but I wasn't too impressed. However, given your ports, Curacao is still a good option. Check Trip Advisor forums for specifics.

[Daisy May]

Bonaire followed by Curacao.

 

Sherry

[iambumbo]

I've snorkeled at each of the ABC islands, and all are better than most any other ports you'll find, but if you're only going to do one of the three, I'd pick Bonaire.

[PSCruiser]

Last trip to Aruba we rented a jeep, and headed north, toward the California Lighthouse. Just the drive is a great excursion in itself, but when driving along you will see snorkel excursion boats at various spots along the shoreline, some very close to shore. You can beach snorkel at those same spots and see some great coral and fish.

When you've had enough of snorkel, drive to the lighthouse and then do a bit of driving on the "wild" east coast.

[Hoopster95]

Hi all. I was wondering what everyone thought was the best port for snorkeling. We will be going to Labadee, Haiti; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Willemstad, Curacao and Oranjestad, Aruba. Thanks for your input!

 

There's lots to do and see in Curacao and Aruba... barely anything to do in Bonaire. But Bonaire is world famous for diving and snorkelling (Klein Bonaire)

 

Google The Woodwind... one my favorite excursions ever in the Caribbean, highly rated on Tripadvisor, snorkelling was almost 2 hours in the water, great catamaran with drinks and lunch included, very inexpensive compared to other tours I've been on. We swam with turtles, my photos are amazing. On board pro photographer charges $25 for CD (yes, not a typo. not $125!). I can't say enough good about the captain and hosts on board. I was there Nov 2013 so this info is relatively recent.

Have an awesome cruise!:D

[Hoopster95]

Last trip to Aruba we rented a jeep, and headed north, toward the California Lighthouse. Just the drive is a great excursion in itself, .....then do a bit of driving on the "wild" east coast.

 

I fully agree! Rent a convertable jeep right at the pier ($75 + insur = aprox $100 for the day) Aruba very easy to get around. Driving the coast up to the lighthouse, and then aliong the beach/sand to the natural bridge was an awesome day!!!! We did the entire island that day which even included a 1 hour tanning stop at baby beach on the entire opposite side of the island.

 

http://www.insightcruises.com/pdf/Aruba-Interactive-Map.pdf

http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/islands/ar/armap.shtml

[obnurse]

Klein, Bonaire is the best snorkeling we have ever done. We sailed over to the island then drift snorkeled around the island. It was incredible. I felt like I was in an episode of "Sea Hunt." We walked down the beach a ways, and entered the water at an area where we could cross over the coral reef, floating. On the other side of the coral reef the water dropped off and the beauty was on the outer side of the reef. Simply beautiful!!

[Honeymooner15]

There's lots to do and see in Curacao and Aruba... barely anything to do in Bonaire. But Bonaire is world famous for diving and snorkelling (Klein Bonaire)

 

Google The Woodwind... one my favorite excursions ever in the Caribbean, highly rated on Tripadvisor, snorkelling was almost 2 hours in the water, great catamaran with drinks and lunch included, very inexpensive compared to other tours I've been on. We swam with turtles, my photos are amazing. On board pro photographer charges $25 for CD (yes, not a typo. not $125!). I can't say enough good about the captain and hosts on board. I was there Nov 2013 so this info is relatively recent.

Have an awesome cruise!:D

 

 

Wow that sounds absolutely amazing.

 

Thank you everybody. I'm surprised there isn't any good snorkeling in labadee. Kind of a bummer since everything else on labadee seems too much money for what you get.

 

 

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[jcl410]

Wow that sounds absolutely amazing.

 

Thank you everybody. I'm surprised there isn't any good snorkeling in labadee. Kind of a bummer since everything else on labadee seems too much money for what you get.

 

 

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There isn't any good *free* snorkeling locations at Labadee. I took the RIB snorkeling excusion the last time I was there, and they took us to a small island off the coast of Haiti. There was a very live reef there, with tons of coral, fish, and octopi (or squid, I forget...)

 

Aloha,

 

John

[Hlitner]

Ok, we do have a few thoughts. DW and I love to snorkel on Aruba, and we usually take the local bus all the way out to Arashi Beach (there are no facilities here) where we snorkel out to the same reef used by many of the boat tours (which cost a lot more money). This is only for those with their own equipment who are comfortable in the water and capable of swimming (hopefully with your good fins) about 1/3 of a mile.

 

We also love doing drift snorkeling on Bonaire....primarily between Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. We normally do this by booking (online) a tour on the local boat called the Woodwind which is operated by a wonderful young lady (hi Dee). A drift snorkel is quite easy since you exit the boat, drift in a pretty strong current (no effort) and the boat stays in front of you so you can simply get out of the water when you are finished. Dee (and her boat) have been running these tours for many years and have lots of happy customers.

 

Hank