Excursion/Snorkeling

[bearsnut84]

I am going to St Thomas and Grand Turk on Carnival Miracle and want to snorkel.

Which place has best snorkeling?

Also what location at that place should we look into?

Edited October 18, 2018 by bearsnut84

[evandbob]

Look at excursions for each rather than try to snorkel from shore.  Grand Turk still has some awesome snorkel opportunities that a boat will take you too.  Coral Gardens, The Wall, sting ray encounters in the wild, etc.

Corals in St Thomas. IMO, have suffered lots of bleaching over the last 15 yrs.  But if this is your 1st snorkel adventure you may not mind?

Check out the port of calls thread to determine what excursion, cruiseline or independent, would be best for you.  Enjoy your cruise.

[coevan]

Coki Beach in St.Thomas is awesome, on the same beach as Coral World, food, shopping, and restrooms. You do not need a shore excursion. Cabs are readily available and also waiting at Coral World to bring you back to the ship. 

[GradUT]

We prefer private excursions as opposed to those offered by the cruise ship, but in September we did a Carnival snorkeling excursion due to a unscheduled stop in Grand Turk.  (Our Bermuda cruise was diverted due to Hurricane Florence).   I must say that we were pleased with the excursion—Reef/Rays/Beach—and thought that it was well done and well-priced.  So if you decide to take a Carnival excursion, take a look at this option at Grand Turk.

[GMRPHRN]

Appreciate the answers. I am looking to snorkeling in St. Thomas, also. I am a beginner.  I don't mind a private excursion, but since I am going solo, would prefer not to just cab to the beach but an organized trip.  I've done kayak, hike, and snorkel and it was enjoyable but the snorkeling was my favorite so I am looking for a more focused trip.  That was a small group, too, which I've read some of the ship snorkel trips are like "cattle calls". My cruise is not until Feb, so I'm still looking.

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

As already mentioned, Coki beach in St. Thomas is really nice to go snorkeling from the beach, with lots of things in the area.

 

While you don't have to take a tour, there are tours offered that would bring you around a bit of the island and also allow you to go to the beach for a few hours. I would certainly suggest something like that, if you have never been to St. Thomas before. Be sure to look at the "port of call" threads on this site. You will find suggestions for private your operators for St. Thomas as well as all your stops.

 

hope this helps...have a great cruise

[Amanda B70]

You might want to look at St. Thomas Adventure Tours. My sister and I did a small group snorkeling excursion booked directly through them in May.  We paid a bit extra to be picked up/dropped off right at the port. Excursion was excellent!  My sister was struggling a bit with her equipment and Michelle, owner/guide was very patient and helpful.  😎

[Pellaz]

I'd suggest a snorkeling excursion at St. Thomas -- since there are no beaches or snorkeling opportunities right by the cruise pier anyway -- and maybe some casual snorkeling fun at Grand Turk since the beach is right there by the pier.  

 

I brought my own gear and snorkeled right off the beach at Grand Turk near Margaritaville, and saw quite a lot of fish (and I also free-dived to around 30 ft. out where the bottom drops out).  I saw a bunch of small squid and also an octopus hiding in his hole.  You'll need to go out by the safety line, depth around 15 ft., to see all of this.  

 

Here's a link to my Grand Turk snorkeling video playlist on YouTube; this is from last week:  

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRBeGca8BgGGg7kR3otbkdau8-zhhtFtc

[K&RCurt]

I would do an excursion for snorkeling at Grand Turk.  Snorkeling off the beach you will see very little compared to what you will see snorkeling the reefs that can only be reached by boat.  Grand Turk is a world class destination for snorkeling and diving and the way to see it is from a boat.  The cruise line uses Oasis Divers and they do a great excursion.  You can also book independently through Blue Water Divers.  Either way you will see much more than you can off the beach at Margaritaville.

[coevan]

We used Blue Water Diver, 5 people and a dive master. The Carnival dive boat had at least 20 people of all dive levels.