When to snorkel?
 

Is it better to snorkel in the morning or afternoon? Just curious if there is any real difference. How about going on excursions? I know to avoid going on excursions to Stingray, Turtle farm when ships are in but is there a particular time when it is better?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this subject.

Much of our best snorkeling has been early mornings. The water's usually calmer and if you're snorkeling at a popular site, the crowds have not yet stirred things up.

For reasons cited by cdt, the earlier the better for me. The few times I have been fortunate enough to have been snorkeling when dolphins appeared, occurred early in the morning.

Not to mention the higher the sun the worse the sunburn. Slap on a bunch of sunblock, I've seen some might bad sunburned backs.

I have found that many more fish come close to shore to feed near sunset. Therefore, that's my favorite time to go.

Good dialogue, here. Some comments. I've found wearing a white T-shirt is best to prevent sunburn while snorkeling, and it avoids suntan lotion from depositing on the reefs, which is happening more due to increased snorkelers. Also, fish activity perks up a bit in the early morning and evening hours because the day fish are returning to the coral reefs for protection, while the night fish are exciting the reefs; they pass each other at shift change, so to speak. This heightened activity also perks up shark activity, so it is never good to splash around on the water surface at dusk or the very early morning hours. Robert

I don't worry much about snorkeling near sunset because there are only nurse sharks in the area where I'm at. The above might be good advice for other areas, however.