Snorkeling in Half Moon Cay?

[faithmp5]

Can you snorkel right off the beach in Half Moon Cay?  I know you can do an excursion taking a boat to go to a snorkel site but I would much rather just snorkel right off the beach if possible.  

[CruiserBruce]

It is very commonly discussed here that snorkeling at HMC is really not all that good. Depending on your cruise and stops, I would definitely be looking to snorkel elsewhere.

 

If you are an experienced at snorkeling,  you might think about going south of where the tenders drop you, but that is only for the more experienced.

[PMD1215]

While the water right off the beach is very nice, you won’t see much of anything there.  There are no rocks or reefs to bring in much sea life. There are some smaller fish closer to shore and we did see a small stingray while out there, that was it. 

 

You can can snorkel just to do it, but I wouldn’t count on seeing much.  It’s a great beach (one of my favs in the world), just not a snorkeling location. Lol

[faithmp5]

Thanks for both the responses.  I tried searching and did not find much but I find the search function here is useless.  I thought the case was that it is not good for snorkeling but figured I would double check.  

[topspot]

We have done the snorkel by boat trip at HMC.  Don't waste your money on this.  Not much to see.

 

[cb at sea]

The water is pretty clear..you can stand knee deep and see everything!  No actual "snorkel" needed!  There's not that much to see, but whatever is down there is clearly visible!

[canadianbear]

We take our own snorkel gear as we love being in the water exploring.  Agree with others not much to see but we go over to the rock area and see several kinds of fish and the octopus-I love  taking underwater photos when I’m there.  

[RW_MI]

On 11/24/2018 at 6:09 PM, canadianbear said:

We take our own snorkel gear as we love being in the water exploring.  Agree with others not much to see but we go over to the rock area and see several kinds of fish and the octopus

 Great shots!  I'll be there in February (and I recognize your ID from our roll call!), but haven't been before.  Are you talking about the rocks that I've read are on the far left side of the beach (facing shore)?   I don't have high expectations for snorkeling at HMC, but it's always fun to be active and be able to snorkel from the beach, so I'd like to know where it might be best to try.  Oh, and I've never seen an octopus while snorkeling, so that possibility would be great.

[canadianbear]

41 minutes ago, RW_MI said:

 Great shots!  I'll be there in February (and I recognize your ID from our roll call!), but haven't been before.  Are you talking about the rocks that I've read are on the far left side of the beach (facing shore)?   I don't have high expectations for snorkeling at HMC, but it's always fun to be active and be able to snorkel from the beach, so I'd like to know where it might be best to try.  Oh, and I've never seen an octopus while snorkeling, so that possibility would be great.

I’m going with a girlfriend in January and she’s never snorkeled but bought equipment for the same itinerary my husband and I are doing in February!  I told her she can try it out at HMC to get used to it before we snorkel in Bonaire and Curaçao.

 

As to HMC, we found the octopus (if you are facing shore it was to the right rock area).  

 

In February our son and dil are coming so if they do the horseback riding we may not snorkel at HMC but watch them.  They also want to do the stingray excursion at HMC.  We did that last time and enjoyed it and the photos we took.  

 

I haven’t been on our roll call lately-we just got back from the 10 day Eurodam Mexican cruise and snorkeled in La Paz with whale sharks!!  Now that was fun!!

 

 

 

 

[RW_MI]

19 hours ago, canadianbear said:

As to HMC, we found the octopus (if you are facing shore it was to the right rock area).

 

Thanks, that's so helpful!  I hope your friend has a great time snorkeling.  Snorkeling with the whale sharks looks amazing.

[canadianbear]

7 minutes ago, RW_MI said:

 

Thanks, that's so helpful!  I hope your friend has a great time snorkeling.  Snorkeling with the whale sharks looks amazing.

If we meet on the ship or at HMC, my hubby is 6’4” and I will be wearing a red BB cap-you are welcome to join us snorkeling to look for the octopus.

 

The whale shark experience was amazing.  Hoping to go again one day when the seas aren’t as rough. 

[RW_MI]

3 hours ago, canadianbear said:

If we meet on the ship or at HMC, my hubby is 6’4” and I will be wearing a red BB cap-you are welcome to join us snorkeling to look for the octopus.

 

Thanks!  I'll keep an eye out.  I'm going solo, and if I'm out snorkeling will be wearing a pink snorkel vest.  

[canadianbear]

8 minutes ago, RW_MI said:

 

Thanks!  I'll keep an eye out.  I'm going solo, and if I'm out snorkeling will be wearing a pink snorkel vest.  

Hopefully our son and dil will also be with us.  If they decide to do the horseback riding we will take photos of them then come back to beach area.  I’ll watch for your pink snorkel vest!  It’s quite shallow and usually very calm there but we will take ours too (yellow though).  

[Orch at Sea]

If you want to snorkel just from the beach @ Half moon Cay, can you hire snorkel gear ? I don't have my own,& don't want to do an excursion. 

Many thanks.

[canadianbear]

1 hour ago, Orch at Sea said:

If you want to snorkel just from the beach @ Half moon Cay, can you hire snorkel gear ? I don't have my own,& don't want to do an excursion. 

Many thanks.

I honestly am not sure as we take our own.  It’s best to phone the cruise line and ask.   You could always just buy a pair of goggles to be honest to use at HMC. 

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, you can rent your gear.

[Orch at Sea]

Perfect, thanks CruiseBruce.