Best Snorkeling- St. Thomas or St. John's?

[Waywrd1]

Because I am a fish freak, I am looking for a private tour operator to go snorkeling with. (I don't want a huge tour and avoid the crowds if at all possible.) My idea of great snorkeling is Belize and French Polynesia- yes, I'm a bit spoiled. :D

Any operators that you would recommend that go off the beaten path?

[momofslg]

I booked with rumbaba charters after reading their excellent reviews. Capt Bobby and I have emailed back n forth.(he even called my home to book as I was having trouble with email) He will tailor a sail to meet your expectations. They only sail with 6 passengers, serve wonderful food (reviews all rave about the food) Capt Bobby said he avoids the crowds and will take you to other snorkel spots. The cost is a little high at 125pp (if paying w/cc) and 115 pp cash. heres a link www.rumbabacharters.com

[erniesband]

We sailed with Captain Kathleen on High Pockets, another sail boat charter, 6 people max, and had a great time, and great snorkeling. She was very responsive to e-mail, and I spoke with her by phone a couple of times, too. I'd highly recommend her. We've snorkeled at several places on St. John now, on our own and by boat - including Cinnamon Bay, Waterlemon Cay, Honeymoon and I forget the name of the other place Kathleen took us to. Waterlemon is the most remote - we did it on our own, but I wouldn't do that again because of transportation issues. It was originally recommended to us, via e-mail, by one of the day sail operators. Kathleen could easily take you there if you ndicated you especially wanted to snorkel there and the weather was favorable. She offered to take us back there, but we opted to let her pick the spots, and she did a great job. http://www.usvinow.com is a great resource to find the charter operators.

 

Jodi

[David (and Julie)]

St. John is way better than St. Thomas for snorkeling. But do not go with a sailboat if you want to snorkel more than one bay. The sailboats are too slow. Try to rent a small powerboat (one of those ones with the twin outboard motors).

Also, either leave directly for St. John from Charlotte Amelie or look into using the bus to/from Redhook. The taxis are way too expensive, and the bus is almost as fast.

[David (and Julie)]

You might also look into snorkeling on Bonaire. That is the only island in the eastern caribbean that might be similar to either Belize or Tahiti.

 

As for more exotic snorkel adventures, there are two spots in Hawaii where you can snorkel with dolphin in the wild: Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island and La Perouse Bay (about 1/2 mile off shore) on Maui.