My daughters and I havent seen much of the Caribbean. We love to snorkel and snuba, but we also love nightlife and great beaches with clear beautiful water. We have been to Bahamas and St. Thomas already. We narrowed our next trip in September down to either Aruba or St. Martin. All we want to do is lay on the beach during the day, take a snorkel trip maybe once or twice, and dance to some good live music at night. Can anyone advise which island would be better for what we want or does anyone have any other suggestions?

In Sept. I'd choose Aruba----gotta watch those hurricanes!

Aruba has better nightlife. IMO, neither is as good as the Virgins or Bahamas for snorkeling.

Have not been to St. Martin. We love Aruba. There are so many restuarants, bars and entertainment. We thought the snorkeling was good, but the water not as clear as some destinations. DePalm's private Island has a great variety of parrot fish. Baby Beach is full of fish. Take a snorkel trip to Arashi Beach and the ship wreck.

I wld also pick Aruba to avoid hurricanes in Sept. ( And, no stray dogs!! )

I am not sure how KVR defines good snorkeling but basically St. Martin and Aruba are non-snorleling islands. There is no reef system that is alive to attract a resonable amount of fish and sea anemones. The nearest good snorkeling is on Curacao on the WEST END or Bonaire. Both of which can be a day fly-in and fly-out outing with Bonaire being the fare better choice assumuing you select Aruba. As for night life. Aruba has many restauranrts and bar/lounges willing to take your money. St. Martin has a number of good dining places and a very laid-back night life,in our opinion.

Another vote for Aruba. Always a good breeze which is nice in September, outside the hurricane belt, great beaches, calm water, good restaurants and lots of fun things to do like Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus, MiDushi or Jolly pirates snorkel cruise with rope swing, 4x4 excursion to the rugged side of the island just to name a few.

FYI..you will see stray dogs in Aruba but no more or less than other islands. It's sad to see those poor skinny pups

We love both islands. Aruba is out of the hurricane zone so it might be a safer choice in relation to weather. I can't swim so we don't haven't done snorkling or snuba. I can't give an opinion there.

"I am not sure how KVR defines good snorkeling but basically St. Martin and Aruba are non-snorleling islands."

That is not a true statement and I have pictures to show it. Yes, there is no reef system in Aruba, but plenty of fish to see while snorkeling. I didn't say Aruba was the capital snorkeling destination of the Carribean. I said we found good snorkeling there. We've been to Curacao also. Saw more fish snorkeling in Aruba than in Curacao. After all the recommendations that Curacao was a great Island for snorkeling, we were highly disappointed.

i've been to aruba twice, and there seemed to be a great deal of snorkeling in fact.

There is GREAT snorkeling off of DePalm Island. Take a day trip out there from Aruba. Very short boat ride.

Snorkeling over the Antilla wreck is very cool.

Maybe my definition of "GOOD"QUALITY" snorkeling is somewhat different than others. Enjoy.