tropicfan1

I think we have a once in a lifetime vacation narrowed down to TCI or Antigua. We have stayed at Iberostar at Riviera Maya and love the service, food choices and beautiful surroundings. It looks like both have the clear water and white beaches that we want. We would like a variety of snorkel excursions where we can see a lot of sea life, especially dolphins and turtles and stingrays...especially dolphins-very important for my daughter. We are totally against them being caged up though. Which place do you suggest?

RoamsAround

Snorkeling is much better around the T&C's (I assume you are contemplating a stay on Providenciales' Grace Bay) than Antigua. Also, you have a better chance of seeing dolphins in the T&C but it's doubtful any will be close enough to see while snorkeling.

Never any guarantees that you'll see turtles or stingrays anywhere on those two islands.

RoamsAround

Meant to say, there is a "Stingray City" excursion available on Antigua:
http://www.stingraycityantigua.com

KVR

You will not find hotels like the Iberostar on either Island. T & C only has 3 AI hotels; Beaches, Club Med and Veranda.

You will probably find better snorkeling in T & C. We did do a sailing day trip in which 2 dolphins followed our catamaran for a little but, but never saw any snorkeling. I acutally found the snorkeling better in certain areas of Mexico like the Sian Ka'an Biosphere about a 1 1/2 outside of Tulum.

You might consider Grand Cayman instead. They have a Sting Ray City and I found the snorkeling much better. There is a turtle farm also, but it's not what you expect. Still no hotels like the Iberostar.

I don't know how old your daughter is, but for a close up experience with plenty of fish, stingrays, dolphins and sharks the Aminal encounter dive at the Sea Aquarium in Curacao is about the best you can get. No scuba certification required. I'm not sure about an age limit. Again, no hotels on that Island like the Iberostar. The closeset you will find is Breezes.

Here's the pics of our dive if your interested.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/572141510pfxUnR

blamona

Snorkel much better in T&C. While no guarantees I've seen plenty of turtles and stingrays. I have seen dolphins, especially on the excursion trips, and they swim around the boat, but only a handful of times.

There is JoJo the unofficial mascot, who I've seen a handful of times.

There are also many giant red starfish, which lately I've seen on every trip, and you also find conch and sand dollars.

Overall, I love TCI more than Antigua. Especially if water is your criteria. TCI has sparkly neon turquoise water with bright white powder sand. Beaches are spectacular. Antigua has a more Caribbean vibe, most beaches are a golden sand, snorkel just okay.

Antigua has better shopping, is a much larger island, and is hilly and more scenic.

TCI is flat like a pancake, dry and dessert.

Yur best chance of dolphins in the wild are probably Abacos Bahamas. Yur next chance of dolphins is paradise island Bahamas. But snorkeling is just okay there.

You can also go to Gibbs Cay Grand Turk in TCI, great version of Stingray City, but it's extremely costly. Requires round trip flight from Provo, but it is possible as a day trip. You still have time to explore all of Grand Turk that day too.

Odin

Although I haven't been to T&C (yet), I would go for T&C because the snorkelling is not that great in Antigua. Stingray city is a great excursion though, best to go in the morning because they feed the stingrays all day. The excursion is inexpensive. Antigua does have numerous beautiful beaches and has a Caribbean vibe because it is in the Caribbean, as opposed to T&C which is in the Atlantic.

Lisa_Tuttle

I have never been to Antigua, but just returned from T&C. We are a family that has done lots of snorkeling all over, and we weren't too impressed with T&C. We went on a snorkel trip one day, and we also snorkeled off the beach a couple of times... neither was all that great compared to places like St. John or Hawaii. I'd say it was even better in Costa Rica and Mexico (near Tulum). We also did not see any dolphins in T & C, but we did see a sea turtle. The beaches and the water were absolutely gorgeous, but the cost of food and drinks was so ridiculously high that I doubt we'll return to T&C.