My husband and I love to snorkel.We have now been to St John twice and would like something comparable to it for snorkeling.

Places that we have considered are:

Turks and Caicos
Bermuda
Jost Van Dyke (and maybe Tortola)
Negril,Jamaica
The Cayman Islands

Of these places..which would offer the best relaxation and snorkeling?

Thanks,Christie

Forgot to add by relaxation..I meant which of these choices would be the least crowded but still offer good snorkeling?

We were not happy with the snorkeling on St. John. Our first choice for snorkeling would be Grand Cayman or Cozumel, MX.

We are returning to Cozumel for our 3rd trip next month. Turks and Caicos is on our list.

We have snorkeled at St. John, Provo (T&C), briefly at Cozumel (not in the best areas, I suspect), and some other places not listed.

A couple of comments about Provo: locations for snorkeling from shore are limited, so you would want to take some boat trips. The corals were the most beautiful I have ever seen; very healthy. Fish life, on the other hand, was average.

Virgin Gorda offers a variety of uncrowded beaches and some terrific "off-beach" snorkeling. Add to that hundreds of snorkel sites that are accessible after a short boat ride and you've got the perfect island for what you are seeking. JVD will give you a similar experience.

I'm with the others who say the "off-beach" snorkeling in the T&C is limited if you are staying on Provo's Grace Bay.

We have snorkeled at lots of places (including St. John); the best snorkeling we did was in Grand Cayman, and the second best was Cozumel or Kauai. In Grand Cayman, if you stay on the East End, it won't be crowded. We stayed at The Reef, and it was great. It's now open again after the hurricane.

Samsaf, We are going to GC the first week in November to snorkel. Any advice on good snorkeling sites? We have been to St. John twice so it will be interesting to compare. Thanks, Owa

sam,
We have also been to Kauai..we found the snorkeling in St John to be better than Kauai..although Kauai was a more beautiful island.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
We will probably go to JVD and Tortola or Grand Cayman...I am just researching now for sometime around February.

Of the 2 that I am narrowed downed to..JVD and Tortola are probably the least crowded??Am I right?Thanks again!

Hi Christie, I've been to both Tortola and Jost Van Dyke and these are fun islands, but for snorkeling I'd put my money on Virgin Gorda. Also, I hear Anegada is fabulous. How's that man of yours? Is he all recovered from his vacation?

Hi Mae!Yes he has recovered from the trip. Construction is booming were we live and he is very,very busy now..so I think he will be more than ready for another vacation by around February or March...I know that I will be.

I think that I would be happy just relaxing in a hammock on the next trip being that we are so busy right now.Thanks for the suggestions.

Christie

owa, we snorkeled from the beach at our hotel (The Reef Resort - snorkeling was very good). We also snorkeled at Rum Point (snorkeling was okay). We snorkeled at Smith's Cove (good snorkeling but sort of crowded). We snorkeled at Cemetary Reef (good snorkeling).

The best snorkeling we did was the day we chartered a boat for the 5 of us. We went to Stingray City, a place where we saw lobsters, and the best snorkeling was along a reef (don't know the name -- it was sort of near Stingray City). That was the best snorkeling we've ever done anywhere. We saw a shark and tons of fish and coral. It was money well spent, and we really enjoyed our day.

Christie, I've never been to St. John, but knowing how much you loved it there and for the reasons you love it, I think a trip to the BVI should be your next choice. The BVI really are more of a "whole package" with beautiful beaches, beautiful topography, easy island hopping from one to another, a great West Indian vibe, enough cool beach bars for chilling and mixing with the locals, and many great places for snorkeling.

During our stay on Tortola in July I was much more impressed with the underwater fauna vs the flora. We saw huge, colorful fish, octopi, squid, lobster, sea turtles but most of the coral looked dead or dying (I guess technically coral is more of an animal than a plant, but you know what I mean).

We took a daysail that took us to The Baths on VG and snorkeling off the coast of Cooper Island. Both of these were excellent opportunites for snorkeling--the coral and sea fans surrounding Cooper Island in particular looked vibrant and thriving. And our daysail guys from Patouche told us that it's even better off several beach on VG and around the Indians and the Dogs.

I don't think you could go wrong staying on Tortola or VG, with day trips to Jost and Anegada.

Jamaica is a truly lovely place to visit and I long to return there, but snorkeling is unfortunately not one of the reasons for going there.

As you know, Grand Cayman and Provo have similar topography to Aruba, so as much as you love St. John (and Hawaii), you might as well travel someplace with a topography you're drawn to, rather than one of lower lying islands, despite their fine snorkeling.

But half the fun is in researching and planning, isn't it? And no matter where you choose for your next trip there will still be a long to-do list for your travels.

ej,
Thanks for your reply..and yes part of the fun is the planning.I will further check on Tortola or Virgin Gorda as a "homebase" with atleast 1 daytrip to JVD...it sounds too relaxing to pass up.

Take care,
Christie

owa,

We did the Sting Ray City boat excursion with Soto Cruises. They took us to Coral Gardens and the Barrier Reef to snorkle, then to Sting Ray City to swim with the Sting Rays. They did a dvd of our trip which we loved. I agree with Samsaf, that was the best snorkling we've done to date.

We also snorkeled on 7 mile beach across from our hotel. Didn't even need snorkle gear to see the fish swimming around us. The water was that clear.

KVR and Sam, Thanks for the information. Sounds great. Owa

We've been to Cayman a number of times and have enjoyed the various places previous posters have mentioned. Curious, though, that no one's mentioned what we think is the best of all on Cayman, viz., Eden Rocks. More awesome than all those other places, in our opinion. And more awesome than anything we've seen on St John, where we've vacationed 4 or 5 times also. We much prefer St John, by the way-- a much morehandsome island. Nothing especially handsome abt Cayman (beaches are nice).

poss,
I also prefer the mountainous islands like St John. But I love to snorkel and cannot help but wonder if Grand Cayman would be the place to go for snorkeling..I have heard so many people rave about it.I guess I could stand a scrubby island..if the snorkeling is awesome!

Christie

Christie: I'm not sure what sorts of places you like to stay when you visit the Caribbean, but in Cayman, I strongly suggest renting a condo on the beach. It's very crowded in the middle and lower section of 7-mile beach, a mixture of condos and hotels, mostly hotels. the upper end of 7-mile beach is much much better (in our opinion). For one thing it's less crowded, for another, the snorkeling is better. We rent one of the condos (usually at Discovery Point) up near the cemetery-- where one can easily swim from right out front of the units (they also have a tennis court, by the way) right up to the waters off the cemetery, where the snorkeling is quite good. there are a number of condo complexes up at that end. Still--Eden Rock is even more spectacular (tho can be awfully crowded). (Don't stay around there-- but be sure to snorkel it.)

Hello Christie! If I were you I would definitely go to Grand Cayman!! While you are at Grand Cayman make sure you visit Queen ElizabethII Botanical gardens and also go see the turtle farm and Stingray City. 7 mile beach is the best beach in Grand Cayman and if you really want to have a lot of fun there is a nightclub on 7 mile beach called LEGENDZ. Great place!!!! Shop at GRAND HARBOUR CENTER downtown while you are there also.When you tour the QEII Botanical Gardens make sure you see the floral Garden.Awesome!! In Granbd Cayman I would HIGHLY recommend TURTLES NEST INN.Hope this helps.

poss,
Thanks for the condo recommendation..we also like to stay at less crowded hotels,inns or condos..also being only steps away from snorkeling sounds perfect.

Christie