Shore snorkeling?

[sloper12]

Are there any good snorkel beaches where I could bring my own snorkel equipment and snorkel from shore?  

[OCruisers]

Way best to take a catamaran excursion which includes snorkeling.  

[PORT ROYAL]

13 hours ago, sloper12 said:

Are there any good snorkel beaches where I could bring my own snorkel equipment and snorkel from shore?  

 

12 hours ago, OCruisers said:

Way best to take a catamaran excursion which includes snorkeling.  

 

Consider the beach off Port Charles Marina.

[JohninDC]

Admission to the Boatyard and some of the other beach clubs on Carlilse Bay includes a boat trip out to snorkel over a ship wreck (lots of fish), and swim with the turtles. 

[Mud_Shark]

You can snorkel from shore at Carlisle bay.  We did it.  We walked to the beach from the ship.  It took about 25 minutes.

At the beach, we walked beyond the Boatyard and rented 2 chairs and an umbrella from one of the many vendors.  We then just snorkeled from shore. but you have to go out quite a ways to see anything, and it is mostly just the turtles that you see.  We just swam out to where the boats were all anchored and joined right in with the turtles.  It looks relatively far, but takes 10-15 minutes to get out there.  The good news is - the ocean water makes you very buoyant,  so it is easy to stop and rest if you need to.  I would not hesitate to do it again.  Very low cost option for a day at the beach.

 

Don

[mcmarya]

You can go to the Folkestone Marine Park near Holetown if the sea is fairly calm.  There is a roped off area for snorkeling and restrooms.  There is a fair amount of mostly dead coral and decent fish population.  If you are thrifty like us, you can take the local bus from the Princess Alice Bus terminal (fairly short walk from the pier (#1 to Speightstown) for $1 US each. To get there, take a left just after Pelican Village and you are there.  There are also unofficial minibuses on the same route for the same price leaving from the Cheapside minibus terminal behind it the bus station.  Otherwise, I think a cab is around $25 each way.   If you are interested in old churches, the St. James Parish Church, the oldest church in Barbados, is right next to the park. 

 

After snorkeling at Folkestone, we walked south along the beach until we saw the catamarans--they were in front of Surfside, just south of Mango Bay.  They were very close to shore so we were able to see turtles there.  Afterwards, we walked out to the street and caught a bus back to town.  Going back we caught a minibus which was an adventure in itself.  On another trip there we went to Carlisle Bay but it was a bit windy and we saw very few fish.  We have been to Barbados 3 times but conditions were only OK for snorkeling once, even on the "calm" West side.

 

I realize this is probably way too late to help you but might be useful to someone else.

Edited June 29, 2019 by mcmarya

[jean87510]

20 hours ago, mcmarya said:

You can go to the Folkestone Marine Park near Holetown if the sea is fairly calm.  There is a roped off area for snorkeling and restrooms.  There is a fair amount of mostly dead coral and decent fish population.  If you are thrifty like us, you can take the local bus from the Princess Alice Bus terminal (fairly short walk from the pier (#1 to Speightstown) for $1 US each. To get there, take a left just after Pelican Village and you are there.  There are also unofficial minibuses on the same route for the same price leaving from the Cheapside minibus terminal behind it the bus station.  Otherwise, I think a cab is around $25 each way.   If you are interested in old churches, the St. James Parish Church, the oldest church in Barbados, is right next to the park. 

 

After snorkeling at Folkestone, we walked south along the beach until we saw the catamarans--they were in front of Surfside, just south of Mango Bay.  They were very close to shore so we were able to see turtles there.  Afterwards, we walked out to the street and caught a bus back to town.  Going back we caught a minibus which was an adventure in itself.  On another trip there we went to Carlisle Bay but it was a bit windy and we saw very few fish.  We have been to Barbados 3 times but conditions were only OK for snorkeling once, even on the "calm" West side.

 

I realize this is probably way too late to help you but might be useful to someone else.

Thx! I'm having a difficult time getting a car rental here and would rather not do the tours since it will be my 4th time here

[PORT ROYAL]

8 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Thx! I'm having a difficult time getting a car rental here and would rather not do the tours since it will be my 4th time here

 

Oaky,  here's the newly discovered best way.  

Spend the day at Rico's By The Sea, rent beds (with padding) and umberella.  Good food and drinks.  Wait until the ship's catamaran snorkel trips arive and start the feeding (sometime 2 per day) to attract fish.  Walk 30 yards North and swim 50 yards out.  Fish a plenty.  Sometimes the Turtles pass bay.

 

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Oaky,  here's the newly discovered best way.  

Spend the day at Rico's By The Sea, rent beds (with padding) and umberella.  Good food and drinks.  Wait until the ship's catamaran snorkel trips arive and start the feeding (sometime 2 per day) to attract fish.  Walk 30 yards North and swim 50 yards out.  Fish a plenty.  Sometimes the Turtles pass bay.

 

I'll have to check it out!. Husband has free diving fins so he resembles aquaman in the water with his speed. We will be able to do 50 yards easily.