Ironically, as many times as I have been to St. Thomas, I have never done a beach snorkel there. I have hung out at Magen's Bay, but there is NO snorkeling there - just a very nice beach that can get crowded on cruise ship days.<BR><BR> I have talked to some dive masters that recommend Sapphire Beach as the best beach snorkel. Coki beach would be second according to them. E-mail some of the dive shops down there to get their opinions.
Pam,<BR><BR>Sapphire has some very good snorkeling off the beach. I don't recall it as being overly crowded.<BR><BR>you may want to consider a day trip (via ferry) over to St. John. Rent a jeep for the day and explore hawknests, trunk and Waterlemon Cay. all have excellent snorkeling.<BR><BR>janet
Coki is highly regarded, as is Honeymoon beach which you need to take a boat to.<BR>Ditto to taking the red hook ferry over to st johns. <BR>My son lives there and that's what we do when we go.<BR>You can snorkel off Magens too, but it's not as great as the others. That said, every day is different.<BR>Enjoy
Coki beach - hubby is a diver, and snorkels as well. At Coki Beach, nearby is Coral World, and from what I understand (since I don't dive / snorkel or swim) that the underwater life is even better (and for free!) than at Coral World.<BR><BR>Coki Beach also offers Snuba - combo of Snorkeling and Scuba - check it out.<BR><BR>Hubby said other than that, St. John and Buck Island out by St. Croix are the great (in the USVI) for snorkeling; he LOVED the British VI's for snorkeling even better tho.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.
Pam-<BR>There is a nice beach at Secret Harbor resort and the water is very calm. The snorkeling is OK and there are lots of fish near the concrete pier. The water there is not very deep either. I was hovering over a flounder in about 3 feet of water. It usually does not get crowded and the Blue Moon cafe there is a great place for a meal.
We stayed at Sapphire and snorkeled from shore at Sapphire, Coki and Secret Harbour. Coki had the best snorkeling but gets very crowded with cruise ship people. We had a fantastic snorkeling experience there at about 8 am.<BR><BR>Secret Harbour is the least crowded but only average snorkeling, in my opinion. Sapphire was very good, medium crowded, less sheltered.<BR><BR><BR>
