West Bay Snorkeling: Excursion or from shore?

[bigrednole]

We are definitely going to be snorkeling when we are in West Bay. We are trying to determine whether we should do a snorkeling excursion or if going from shore is  better. Obviously by boat it appears they will have you out by the big ledge with no issue. I am just not sure how far that is out from shore. We will have the vests if necessary. Being able to snorkel the reef between the big ledge and the deeper part of the reef looks nice. If that is too hard/far from the shore, then taking an excursion may be necessary.

 

Anyone have any experience?

[crewsweeper]

There are small boats along the beach that will for a nominal charge take you out further or even up to West End where the shallow reef has less traffic.  The advantage of an excursion is transportation from ship is included.

Edited April 9, 2020 by crewsweeper

[Guest 2000]

If snorkling West Bay is the goal... choose a day pass with one of the hotels which offer transport included. If you get bored snorkling from shore, (easy to the to the drop off)  hire one of the many locals offering snorkle tours. 

 

This map shows the easy acess to reef snorkling in West Bay. The green flags are in front of Infinity Bay. The drop off is where the 75ft label is. 

 

 

 

[bigrednole]

We have been planning to do Infinity Bay as a day pass. I just wasn't sure how far out that 75 foot dropoff is. I have read you can see clear to the bottom on sunny days. We have 3 plans on what we want to do while there for snorkleing.

 

1. Snorkel the inner reef area where it is shallower (near shore)

2. Snorkel that 20-25 foot deep area (not sure how far from shore that is)

3. Walk up the beach (left in the picture) to the starfish area. I've been told it is maybe a 1 mile walk tops.

[Guest 2000]

18 hours ago, bigrednole said:

We have been planning to do Infinity Bay as a day pass. I just wasn't sure how far out that 75 foot dropoff is. I have read you can see clear to the bottom on sunny days. We have 3 plans on what we want to do while there for snorkleing.

 

1. Snorkel the inner reef area where it is shallower (near shore)

2. Snorkel that 20-25 foot deep area (not sure how far from shore that is)

3. Walk up the beach (left in the picture) to the starfish area. I've been told it is maybe a 1 mile walk tops.

 

I am not good with distance but as a guess it would take me maybe four mins to swim from Infinity to the 75ft drop. 

 

I know nothing about the "starfish area".. I do know that starfish move.. one year there were heaps and heaps in the sandy bottom space shore side of the 20ft mark on the map.  

 

Visibilty has several factors.. one being sunlight another being weather. What time of year is your cruise? 

[bigrednole]

We are going to be there August 6th assuming our cruise sails. I was eyeballing it on Google Maps. It looks like that channel is about 400 feet out and at least 100 feet of it is under 6' deep. We will be snorkeling with fins, so it should not be too big of a deal getting out there and back. I am sure we can even get a boat while there for an hour or a kayak if we want.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I agree with Guest 2000.  Get a day pass and just swim out.  That is what we have done in the past with cruising.  It is by far our favorite beach in the world to snorkel.  We have gone to Roatan several times and just stayed on West Bay for a week or 10 days.