Kayak & snorkeling: CocoCay, St. Thomas, or St. Maarten?

[DukeASUGirl]

I'm looking through shore excursions (both through Royal and outside companies) and trying to decide logistics.

 

I know we're going to want at least one just lazy beach day, and one snorkel/kayak day (or maybe those are separate).

 

Which islands would you do which activity on?

[RZDBS]

You could flip a coin on any of these for kayak/snorkeling but for me personally the lazy beach day should be at St. Maarten or St. Thomas. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I prefer to find the most desolate beaches I can and relax in peace. At Coco it’s a wave of people everywhere you look. 

[Husky1987]

Our go-to places are Coki Beach on St Thomas and the Rainbow Cafe in Grand Case on St. Maarten.  But honestly, there are so many places on each island you can't really go wrong.

[xtremegk]

We've had good luck with organized snorkeling and helmet diving excursions in St. Maarten. In St. Thomas, we love Magens Bay for a quiet beach day.

[firefly333]

32 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

Our go-to places are Coki Beach on St Thomas and the Rainbow Cafe in Grand Case on St. Maarten.  But honestly, there are so many places on each island you can't really go wrong.

I can remember a week after we were at coki beach there was a shooting out by the street attributed to gangs. For a couple years cruisers stayed away. Guess now the incident forgotten. ..more than 10 years ago. 

[Husky1987]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I can remember a week after we were at coki beach there was a shooting out by the street attributed to gangs. For a couple years cruisers stayed away. Guess now the incident forgotten. ..more than 10 years ago. 

My wife and I have done the Discover Scuba deal twice at the Coki Dive Center...both pre-2017 Hurricane Irma.  Back once since then and we're planning on it again in September.

[poocher]

We had a great day at Great Bay Beach in St Maarten.  Rented chairs & umbrellas and the people who rented them brought us buckets of water/soda/beers for $10 then brought menus from the nearby restaurant took our orders & delivered the delicious food.  All told we spent $122 with tips for the whole day and it’s close enough to walk to & from the ship.  And local shopping close by.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.  It was our best port day.

[George C]

There is a ferry from st Thomas to St. John and St. John has a snorkeling trail on trunk bay beach.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, DukeASUGirl said:

I'm looking through shore excursions (both through Royal and outside companies) and trying to decide logistics.

 

I know we're going to want at least one just lazy beach day, and one snorkel/kayak day (or maybe those are separate).

 

Which islands would you do which activity on?

I would laze on Coco Cay, do the kayak on St. Martin, and snorkel at St. John from St. Thomas or Magens Bay in St. Thomas.  If you have your own equipment for snorkeling, you can also snorkel in St. Martin when kayaking.  We did it in December and it was a hidden gem.  Cost us 1/2 the price of the speed boat tours and was the best snorkeling we had in st. Martin ever.  These are pictures from pinel island and a little island we visited while kayaking.  

[DukeASUGirl]

7 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I would laze on Coco Cay, do the kayak on St. Martin, and snorkel at St. John from St. Thomas or Magens Bay in St. Thomas.  If you have your own equipment for snorkeling, you can also snorkel in St. Martin when kayaking.  We did it in December and it was a hidden gem.  Cost us 1/2 the price of the speed boat tours and was the best snorkeling we had in st. Martin ever.  These are pictures from pinel island and a little island we visited while kayaking.  

That sounds like a great idea.

 

Do you remember what company the St. Maarten kayaking was from? Or would I just Google "pinel island kayak" and find something that way?

[jean87510]

5 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

That sounds like a great idea.

 

Do you remember what company the St. Maarten kayaking was from? Or would I just Google "pinel island kayak" and find something that way?

Caribbean Paddling.  1000x better than the speedboat tours.  I have done the highly recommended ones and this is so much better.

[DukeASUGirl]

1 minute ago, jean87510 said:

Caribbean Paddling.  1000x better than the speedboat tours.  I have done the highly recommended ones and this is so much better.

Coincidentally, right after I asked, I went ahead and Googled, and the first thing I saw was Caribbean Paddling. The price is definitely right, and your review seals the deal! Thank you!

[jean87510]

45 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

Coincidentally, right after I asked, I went ahead and Googled, and the first thing I saw was Caribbean Paddling. The price is definitely right, and your review seals the deal! Thank you!

We loved it so much we are doing it again in December.  We are starting to get tired of the cookie cutter speed boat tours in sxm as there is no difference.  This was our 15th time to the island and 1st time doing this.  We were starting to avoid cruises that went here as we couldn't find decent snorkeling, hate sitting at beach bars all day and have rented cars, done speed boat tours, St. Barts, Anguilla...  This was our favorite thing.  We like hiking, kayaking and snorkeling.  Make sure you hike around pinel island as well.  Just amazing.

 

As an edit, husband is 58 and Im 57.  We had no difficulty at all with this.

Edited April 7, 2022 by jean87510

[DukeASUGirl]

Awesome, thank you everyone!

 

This is for me (45), husband (50), and two kids (10 and 12). My parents are going with us on the cruise, but they won't be kayaking or snorkeling. Just lazing around the beach and maybe a city tour.

[BuckeyeMark]

St. Maarten looks amazing ... but not going there.  Sad face.  Tips on snorkeling at Coco Cay?  I know it's not going to be great but where is the best place to try and see something?