lprisr

Hello,

I am looking for some great location to snorkle in Bahamas. All the world-travelers out there, do you have any suggestions, on which charter company runs the best snorkling trip, or if there are any off shore beach location we can simply drive to?

Thank you very much in advance,

Jan

A_Traveller

Sorry to sound abrupt but the Bahamas consists of over 800 islands and cays. You'll find good snorkeling on a great many of them. For us to offer any type of real assistance it would help if you identified the island or islands in the Bahamas chain which you will be visiting.

lprisr

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply! I will be on Paradise Island. I am hoping there are some off-shore beach (best if not crowded by tourists like me), where I can just drive there and snorkel on my own.

Also if there are great snorkeling area not to be missed, but only reachable by boats, can you recommand where and I would love to find a tour boat that goes there.

Thanks very much,

Jan

jeannetb

We just went on a snorkeling tour with Stuart Coves and had a great time...third stop is with sharks...awesome!!

www.stuartcove.com

Robert

Iprisr: I've done many reef fish surveys off of New Providence, including Nassau and PI. Most of the great diving is done just off the southwest shoreline of New Providence. JeannetteB mentioned Stuart's Cove, which is located on the sw shores. They will pick you up and deliver you back to your hotel. Here is a fantastic wall which goes into the deeps of the Tongue of the Ocean, and yes, there are many sharks in that vicinity. Likewise, just northeast of Paradise Island is a series of cays have grown with coral and created a colorful coral reef, rich with sea critters. It's a shallow area that has prime locations for snorkelers. I would advise you NOT to rent a boat and snorkel by yourself. Barracuda Shoals lies a short distance from PI in about 20 feet of water with lots of colorful sponges and coral. Dive ops frequently go to Thunderball and Cannonball Reefs, just north of Rose Island and close the Barracuda Shoals. Once again only 20 feet depths and great for snorkelers. Several James Bond films were made at this site (Thus, the name). So many places close to PI! I would recommend Angelfish Reef as well because it's sheltered (If you decide to go it alone, which I wouldn't advise). I love Angelfish and Grey, Queen, and French Angels plus my favorite reef fish, the Rock Beauty, frequents this site. You'll also see many sting rays, barracuda along with large elkhorn coral. Definately snorkel at the Fish Hotel, just ne of PI. Thousands of Blue-Stripped and French Grunts light up the reef by the sun reflecting off their colorful scales. Hundreds of soft coral, mainly waving sea fans, cover this reef and the grunts hide in them. Bahama Divers is a nice operation, and they frequent these reefs, all just offshore from PI. You can call the dive ops around PI and Nassau to see their schedules and when they usually go to these places: Bahama Divers- 800-398-dive; Divers haven- 242-393-0869; Stuart's Cove (sw on South Ocean)- 800-879-9832; Dive Dive Dive-800-368-3483; Nassau Scuba Center-800-327-8150; Sun Divers-800-331-5884. I would not recommend renting a boat and snorkeling on your own, unless you are very experienced. Hope this helps. Robert