SNORKELING - CURACAO or USVI??
 

Any opinion on which place has the best snorkeling?? We're leaning toward the Marriott in Curacao or Wyndham in STT.

Any thoughts on this???

We stayed at the Wyndham in St. Thomas. Have not been to Curacao yet.

The Wyndham is a huge spread out property. Lots of walking to get from roosm to lobby. There are 99 steps from room level to pool, beach, bar and resturant. The pool area is very nice. The beach was kinda small and rocky. The ocean floor full of seagrass. It was great for snorkeling, but not just to swim. We liked Coki Beach and Trunk Bay on St. John better. We went AI and found the food and drinksto be good. Better than some AI properties we've been to previoulsy.

Of the Islands we've been to, our first pick for snorkeling would be Grand Cayman. You'll probabaly get responses referring you to St. John over St. Thomas if your interested in snorkeling.

We have pics of the Wyndham on our web-page if interested:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn

We have stayed at both of these properties. Are you asking about snorkeling directly off of the properties ONLY? If so, I would choose Curacao. Bigger beach and a wider area to snorkel.

How about snorkeling "all around"?? Which island is better??

Vegas,
STT has spectcular snorkeling. There are all kinds of reefs. My favorite is Coki Point.
Curacao's west coast has excellent snorkeling.
STT may have a slight edge if snorkeling was #1 on my itinerary.

Knowing...

Would you recommend renting a car for either island?? Is STT driving on the left side? What about Curacao, is it left side driving as well???

yes Curacao is on the left side also.

I would definitely rent a car on STT.

We chose not to rent a car in STT. STT is VERY hilly with winding roads.We were with friends and just decided that since the taxi's fares were controlled and posted, we would use the taxi system. We had a driver that took care of us for the week and had a brand new van and it cost us about the same as it would have to keep a car. Plus we were at the Wyndham and doing an AI. So, we left the grounds only three of the days.
On Curacao, the Marriott does provide a shuttle into the downtown area twice a day. We did rent a car some of the time. There are so many things to see and the roads are paved and fairly decent - by Caribbean standards. You can use your own license. The biggest obstacle is that the roads are not well-marked, so we sat down every day and looked at a map BEFORE we left the Marriott. Otherwise you may get lost, no harm if you do. You're on island time. The Marriott does havae a car rental desk. It's cheaper if you rent from home before going though. Hope this helps.