Bahamas or the Keys for snorkeling?

[amm91]

Hello to all! I am starting to plan my next vacation for the last 2 weeks of April. I am actually hoping to get pregnant before then, though, so I need to choose someplace that has good snorkeling if I can't dive, but also decent diving if I am not pregnant. I already have one child, so I won't be diving or snorkeling more than 3-4 days total most likely (spend the rest of the time between the beach & pool). Does Grand Bahama Island or the Florida Keys sound reasonable? Would anyone recommend one over the other? I appreciate your help. [I thought of these 2 locations given the short flights with a child from the East Coast, but I'm open to other suggestions. I've been to Caymans and Turks & Caicos many times, so looking for something different] Thanks! Anne

[lprudhomme]

Hello to all! I am starting to plan my next vacation for the last 2 weeks of April. I am actually hoping to get pregnant before then, though, so I need to choose someplace that has good snorkeling if I can't dive, but also decent diving if I am not pregnant. I already have one child, so I won't be diving or snorkeling more than 3-4 days total most likely (spend the rest of the time between the beach & pool). Does Grand Bahama Island or the Florida Keys sound reasonable? Would anyone recommend one over the other? I appreciate your help. [I thought of these 2 locations given the short flights with a child from the East Coast, but I'm open to other suggestions. I've been to Caymans and Turks & Caicos many times, so looking for something different] Thanks! Anne

I have about 20 dives out of Key Largo in the Keys. Nice diving but doesn't compare to Cayman, Cozumel, or Molokini in terms of visibility. Best vis I had was on a dive of the wreck of the Duane. Had 105' of vis at 105' down on the wreck. But most of the dives are easy and fun and diverse. The Keys, at least the area around Key Largo, is not best known for snorkeling. It is also not much of a "resort" area. Mostly dive shops with nice hotels for divers and a few really great seafood restaurants. Really laid back but no real beaches. Mangroves along most of the shore. Amy Slates Amoray Dive Resort is a nice place that I have frequented and it has a small (really small) beach on the Bay.
Haven't been to the Bahama's cause I could always drive to the Keys and driving to the Bahama's was a bit more difficult. But I'll bet the snorkling and "resorting" would be better in the Bahama's

[archman]

Some of the best snorkeling in Florida can be had at Looe Key. It's quite a jewel of a bank barrier reef. The Dry Tortugas are said to be even better, but that's secondhand info.

Regarding the Bahamas, I've snorkeled off Bimini and Eleuthera, and received detailed reports from Andros. They're not so hot relative to the Lower Keys. Too much overfishing and algal overgrowth contribute to crummy looking reefs and very low fish populations. Don't know about Grand Bahama however, maybe it's better.

[Divingnthedark]

Looe key gets my vote! Lots of life and color. Viz has been decent every time I went there. Also depths are shallow...30feet max. and better for snorkeling than diving...I've done both there. I have also been to the Dry tortugas which was nice but is not always easily accessible by boat from Key West depending on time of year and ability to get reservations, one time we ended up taking a puddle jumper and it was a little costly.... A tour of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas is a neat experience if you go there. It's a big fort on a tiny spit of sand surrounded by a moat that you can wade in...
Loretta

[archman]

A tour of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas is a neat experience if you go there. It's a big fort on a tiny spit of sand surrounded by a moat that you can wade in...

It's ranked as "the largest masonry structure in the western hemisphere."

[keyshunter]

It's ranked as "the largest masonry structure in the western hemisphere."

True. Sixteen million bricks, last time I counted!

[blawler1]

I would have to rate the diving off of GB a little better due to the more consistent visibility and reef sharks at several of the sites. Also, the boat rides are typically alot shorter as the dive sites are closer in than those in the Keys. The problem with GB right now is that it took a pretty good hit from the hurricane in Sept and so many of the Freeport hotels were affected. Also, its more expensive to get around as rental cars are expensive and they drive on the left and cabs get expensive after a while. On the upside, they do have casinos, but I don't know if they were hit by the hurricane.

The Keys have plenty of good shallow diving sites and snorkeling, but the visibility can sometimes drop quickly in spring time due to shifting winds and the diving and snorkeling sites are five to six miles off shore (long boat rides). Key Largo, Marathon and Key West all have good dive and snorkel sites (many are dual purpose because they are shallow)

The Dry Tortugas ( 70 miles west of KW, a two hour ferry ride) as mentioned earlier, have some of the most pristine waters of the Keys and as they are so isolated, typically aren't affected by the fronts that impact the other Keys. I have snorkeled around Garden Key (Ft Jefferson) and the Windjammer wreck in the Dry Tortugas and loved it. If you do go to Key West, I would do the day trip out to the Tortugas as, besides the outstanding snorkeling around Ft Jefferson (the biggest and most abundant barracuda I have seen anywhere), plenty of stingrays as well as occasional nurse sharks and turtles, its a really cool trip as Ft Jefferson is an incredible testament to early American engineering.

The bottom line is that both GB and the Keys are fun destinations for snorkeling or diving so you can't really go wrong.