Snorkeling on Coco Cay

[terryflorida]

Hi there, Has anybody gone snorkeling recently on Coco Cay and like to tell me about it? I'm going on the Sovereign on 5/1 with my mom and sister, and my mom is 67 and a bit worried about being able to handle it. Please let me know your experiences, thanks!

[Cuizer2]

Hi there, Has anybody gone snorkeling recently on Coco Cay and like to tell me about it? I'm going on the Sovereign on 5/1 with my mom and sister, and my mom is 67 and a bit worried about being able to handle it. Please let me know your experiences, thanks!

 

I haven't been snorkeling on Coco Cay, but I am wondering, wouldn't you enjoy it more if you snorkeled in the water around Coco Cay? :confused:

[flpenguin]

I just returned from a 4 day from March 27-31. My husband and my 10 year old daughter and myself went snorkeling. It is a little rocky when you first leave shore but there are spots when you are out a ways when you can actually stand up. We snorkeled out to the platform next to the airplane reef. That can be a little far and I had to rest for a half hour before I was ready to head back to shore. I'm 41 and have snorkeled many times. The airplane reef was wonderful with plenty of fish. You might want to snorkel to the right of the shore. There is suppose to be a sunken boat reef but I was too tired to go see it. We saw more fish than any of our other snorkel trips. Well worth the try and if it gets too much for your Mom-bring her back to shore and then you and your sister can go back out. Plenty of beach chairs at the shore. Have a great time.

[terryflorida]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. :) If she can walk out there instead of swimming, that would be about the only way she can do it, but she can easily rest on a beach chair! Thanks!

[terryflorida]

:p Great idea!

[terryflorida]

I haven't been snorkeling on Coco Cay, but I am wondering, wouldn't you enjoy it more if you snorkeled in the water around Coco Cay? :confused:

Wow, great idea! :D

[iamkidc]

Here are some pictures from my trip to coco cay last year. I would have taken more, but I ran out of film before I made it all the way out to the other (left) side of the big rock.

 

http://www.mydivebook.com/modules.php?name=Gallery&file=index&album_id=75&action=images

 

Some of the pictures are from my dive in nassau, but most are from coco cay. They are labeled so you can tell which are which.

[LAKaye]

(I don't understand why Cuizer2 posted what they did :( )

 

Are you concerned about your mother becoming tired? If that it so, please buy her a BC --- boyancy compensator. This sounds like just what she needs. Buy one at home before you go so you have it---get it from a local dive shop. No local dive shops? Well get it online, of course. Don't assume they will be there on CocoCay.....they are not expensive.

 

I am a lousy swimmer, and with my BC I can stay in the water as long as I want----I never even have to swim! I just float around wherever I snorkel and watch all the beautiful fish and creatures go by~~

 

Leslie

[iamkidc]

Everyone is required to wear a snorkeling vest at coco cay (if you blow them up or not is up to you). They rent them for $6. Just make sure you blow it up before you get in the water if you think you will become tired.

[Cuizer2]

(I don't understand why Cuizer2 posted what they did :( )

 

Leslie

 

Because I was being a wise guy. And I am only one person, I am not a they. :)

[chorder]

We went snorkling at Coco Cay back in 99 that was a few years back but I am sure it hasn't changed that much. It was a great time we saw many colorful fish also saw a baracuda up close and personal.Also at the time they had dive instructors that would take you out deeper wer we saw eagle rays that were about 8 feet across. As far as your mom is concerned they give you inflatable life vests that you are required to wear and when you fully inflate them you cannot sink so tell her not to worry,if she gets tired she can just float for a few minutes and relax.

[golfer1966]

I have been there several times and I think this is a great snorkel spot. As lomg as its not the middle of summer, you should see plenty of nice fish. If the water is too warm, alot of the fish go for deeper water where is a liitle cooer. At least this was my opinion from past. We were there for Christmas and I never saw so many fish. I saw an eel, a spotter ray and tons of fish. Iseem to draw towards the parrot fish. They are my favorites. I saw a Barracuda too, but he looked and swam away. They said since there are so many bait fish there...no worries. As far as getting tired, as you've seen from other posts, you will have to wear a vest and if you get tired, you can just bob around. The wrecks are cool to see too. Good luck and I am sure you will enjoy Coco Cay. I never get bored of going there.

[terryflorida]

Because I was being a wise guy. And I am only one person, I am not a they. :)

 

I thought it was funny. :D That explains why I never saw any fish before while snorkeling, ha ha.

[renata102]

Cococay was the first time I ever snorkled back in 97. Now I can't get enough. IT is pretty....look for the plane! in the water! Make sure your mom wears her vest so if she does get tired she can float and relax and continue on....

[terryflorida]

Here are some pictures from my trip to coco cay last year. I would have taken more, but I ran out of film before I made it all the way out to the other (left) side of the big rock.

 

http://www.mydivebook.com/modules.php?name=Gallery&file=index&album_id=75&action=images

 

Some of the pictures are from my dive in nassau, but most are from coco cay. They are labeled so you can tell which are which.

 

Thanks, Robbie, very cool pix!

[terryflorida]

(I don't understand why Cuizer2 posted what they did :( )

 

Are you concerned about your mother becoming tired? If that it so, please buy her a BC --- boyancy compensator. This sounds like just what she needs. Buy one at home before you go so you have it---get it from a local dive shop. No local dive shops? Well get it online, of course. Don't assume they will be there on CocoCay.....they are not expensive.

 

I am a lousy swimmer, and with my BC I can stay in the water as long as I want----I never even have to swim! I just float around wherever I snorkel and watch all the beautiful fish and creatures go by~~

 

Leslie

 

That sounds like great advice, thanks! :)

[terryflorida]

Cococay was the first time I ever snorkled back in 97. Now I can't get enough. IT is pretty....look for the plane! in the water! Make sure your mom wears her vest so if she does get tired she can float and relax and continue on....

 

Does this mean you have to go through water that is over your head to get to the snorkeling spots? I was primarily wondering how far you have to wade to get there and how deep the water is along the way and once you are there. Thanks for the info on the vest. :)

[VABeach]

Snorkeling in Coco Cay is AMAZING!! :eek: The water is so clear you can hardly even tell it's there. It's absolutly not to be missed. The water gets to about 30 feet deep where the good stuff is, and the waves can be tiresome. They REQUIRE you to wear an inflatable vest for that very reason, and they have plenty of them to rent. I think they are about $10.00. You don't really get tired wearing the vest. Fins help with that too if you are concerned about it.

 

The island is so small that you can walk around it in 30-45 minutes.

 

I can promise you, it will be your favorite port. Enjoy. :)

[terryflorida]

Snorkeling in Coco Cay is AMAZING!! :eek: The water is so clear you can hardly even tell it's there. It's absolutly not to be missed. The water gets to about 30 feet deep where the good stuff is, and the waves can be tiresome. They REQUIRE you to wear an inflatable vest for that very reason, and they have plenty of them to rent. I think they are about $10.00. You don't really get tired wearing the vest. Fins help with that too if you are concerned about it.

 

The island is so small that you can walk around it in 30-45 minutes.

 

I can promise you, it will be your favorite port. Enjoy. :)

 

 

Thanks Jenny, we are looking forward to it! Sounds great!

[gumballz]

We were just there this past week (April 5th) and it was wonderful! The water was so clear and it was nice and warm (but not too warm). If you want to see the pretty fish and the big schools of fish, you really need to swim out to the airplane. It is a little ways out but I didn't think it was a bad swim at all. I got so caught up in seeing everything along the way that I was at the airplane before I knew it. There's a platform a little ways out, towards the plane, where you can stop and rest if you need to.

 

Once you're out at the plane you can ask the person on the platform to feed them and he/she will. The fish just swarm and gobble up the food and if you happen to be where the food is, they don't care...they just swim around you and rub up against you and all. It wasn't uncommon for them to be within an inch of our face mask. A very cool experience not to be missed!

 

The 'sunken ship' is a little ways away from the airplane. I don't know if I missed it or if what I saw was all there was, but the ship is somewhat in pieces and they're scattered around a little. There weren't as many fish by the ship so if you want to go to just one, go to the plane. We did see some beautiful, LARGE, angelfish by the ship. They were so graceful! They didn't swim up to us like the other fish did at the plane, but that didn't matter. They were so pretty! There is a platform by the ship as well, so if you need to rest you can.

 

Like iamkidc stated, everyone must wear a vest. You can blow it up a little or a lot (or not at all). It's up to you. It's easy to adjust the amount of air you have in it so you can dive or float. Your mom should be ok as long as she takes her time and rests if she gets tired. If the water gets too rough for her, have her swim more to the center (between the plane and ship) and the water is calmer. She won't be able to walk to the plane or ship. She will be able to see a few small (and not so colorful) fish closer to the shore unless there are a lot of people there stirring up the water. The more colorful fish are out in the deeper water. There was some gorgeous fish that were a vibrant blue with a neon yellow color!

 

My advice, get on the island early so it's not so busy and the water is clearer. Plus, it's just a great island to visit so you'll want to be there as long as possible. :)

 

Have a great trip and let us know how your experience with snorkeling went!