snorkeling St Thomas---what's available?

[GloriaF]

Following also...

 

Please, those of you on cruises soon, remember us and come back to post pics and conditions!!

 

Cruising on Regal Princess Jan 21-28.

 

THANK YOU!!!

[amitje]

following

[sunny2runner]

This tour company is up and running. This is the comapny we are going with for a December cruise. http://thevicat.com/

[joeyjeremiah]

St. Thomas scuba and snorkel is also up and running. I asked them about the conditions and they emailed me some pictures from a trip they took yesterday. Snorkel conditions look great. They said the hurricane didn’t do much damage to the coral and under water and the snorkelling is still great with lots of sea life to view.

 

 

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[Hlitner]

As a long time snorkeler and sometime diver we have a few thoughts. The hurricanes will have zero impact on the water clarity within a few weeks of the storms, so that is not an issue. Coral Reefs around St Thomas and St Johns have been severely damaged and eroded over many years. For example, most of the coral at Coki Beach has long been dead (or ruined by humans touching and breaking pieces of coral). But every large storm does add to the destruction of reefs, especially those that were on the most exposed side off the island. The good news is that these severe storms have very little impact on sea life except to the extent that reefs (which have food) are damaged. We have our own favorite snorkel spots around St Thomas...none of which include the too popular Coki Beach. Even relatively quiet beaches such as Morningside and Lindburgh Bay....have snorkel spots if you know where to look, I am curious about Saphire because that beach used to have a decent snorkel area in the shallows on the far left side....but it has suffered a lot of damage over the past decade. The hurricanes this year had to add to the damage and must have also had negative impact on St Johns and the underwater National Park (which already had a lot of dead reef).

 

As an aside, we were just (last week) on Bonaire and did some snorkeling off a small beach out near the Salt Pier. I was delighted to see some healthy coral (which is becoming rare in the Caribbean), The ABC Islands are fortunate in that they are South of nearly all the severe storm tracks and they still have some of the best diving and a few decent snorkel places. There is more reason then ever....to travel down to the ABCs.....which remain unscathed from all the hurricanes.

 

Hank

[cruzinstephie]

Following. Cruising on Regal 12/10.

[drvmywifecrzy]

following

[aliciam]

Following as well - headed to St. Thomas in two weeks. Still wondering what to do.

[Hlitner]

It is difficult to get accurate information on the island's recovery. But we do know that Magan's Bay (very popular with many cruisers) just reopened on Friday (Nov 11). Emerald Beach is open, but suffered significant damage so not sure if any of the beach facilities (or chair rentals) are even operational. One irony is that despite all the damage, the island needs the ships and tourism since its such an important part of their economy. On the other hand, we are tourists are supposed to go about our tourist business and ignore the fast that the island is devastated. I have previously been in St Thomas when the island homes were covered with Blue Tarps (to replace missing and damaged roofs). The island needs the tourists to boost their economy while they work on recovery. But as tourists it can be hard to ignore what has happened and go on with our tourist activities. There is no simple answer to this dilemma so we cruisers go about our business I have no answers but have previously felt the unease of the situation. And now, the cycle happens again.

 

Hank

[blue_water]

Do heed the water test reports on the different bays for pollution of both STT and STJ, last week more were cleared for swimming. The VInow Recovery blog has helpful updates.

[Sandy1975]

We just returned today from our cruise smd stopped in St Thomas on Thursday. We went to Magens Bay and had a great time beach was beautiful and water amazing. Vegetation is not as it used to be but many palm trees were planted and many more wre staged to continue the planting process. Sections of tge beach were been worked on (planting and rebuilding of Beach bar).

 

There were food and drinks for purchase in a temporary pavilion. Chairs and umbrellas were also available.

 

Some people reported some decent snorkeling all the way to the left side of the beach. Other passengers went to Coki Beach and said it was good snorkeling but not sure about the beach in general.

[moresun]

Thanks for the info, we will be there in Feb. and really appreciate any and all info,especially on the beaches :)

[goldie099]

Thank you for the update! Glad to hear that things are beginning to return to normal. I am very much looking forward to our visit Dec 21!

[rykaydad]

Does anyone know the snorkeling conditions for Turtle Bay / Buck Island excursion?

[sun0712]

Does anyone know if Coki beach is open?

 

 

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[debr]

Also interested in conditions for snorkeling at Buck Island and conditions at Honeymoon Beach.

 

Debr

[O2B@Cagain]

If you mean Honeymoon Beach on Water Island, both Dinghy's and Heidi's are open.

[debr]

If you mean Honeymoon Beach on Water Island, both Dinghy's and Heidi's are open.

 

Thank you!

 

Debr

[aquidneck1]

Does anyone know the snorkeling conditions for Turtle Bay / Buck Island excursion?

 

Bumping this to the next page as I am also interested in this area.

[kaswife]

Is snorkeling on St. Thomas the most popular activity? We will be there on January 23 and I'm unsure of what activity to plan for the day. While Celebrity has updated our itinerary, they haven't updated the excursion options (the website still lists options for St. Maarten).

[legion_ninja]

Just got off the Gem, we went to Magens Bay, they did a good job prepping it for visitors

 

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[Ziggy7]

Is snorkeling on St. Thomas the most popular activity? We will be there on January 23 and I'm unsure of what activity to plan for the day. While Celebrity has updated our itinerary, they haven't updated the excursion options (the website still lists options for St. Maarten).

Beach, Snorkeling & Shopping are popular in St. Thomas :)

[goldie099]

I have contacted VI SNUBA St Thomas and they have said they will be open for SNUBA Dec 21 (when we are in port), though they said Coral World may not be open, Coki Beach would be. SNUBA isn't quite snorkelling, just thought I'd drop a line here about my research, perhaps it will help someone!

[JaniceB]

Is snorkeling on St. Thomas the most popular activity? We will be there on January 23 and I'm unsure of what activity to plan for the day. While Celebrity has updated our itinerary, they haven't updated the excursion options (the website still lists options for St. Maarten).

So far we only have 4 excursions available. I just spoke to Celebrity rep and she isn't sure if any more will be added. I am not sure why they switched us to this port.

[aquidneck1]

We will be there on the 24th of January on Celebrity and we have 17 excursions listed. It does not make much sense unless there are other ships in port that have taken the excursions.