ScubaBoard Newbie - snorkel travel request

[amyeunice]

Hello Everyone!
I joined yesterday and thought I'd get into the swing of things by writing a post.

The background: My spouse and I have been snorkel traveling since 2003. We now are geared up as almost-divers = full wet suits, etc. just no tanks. I fully look like a "dorkler" - it is what it is. We prefer shore access since we can spend multiple hours in the water, which makes the usual boat tours impossible (impossible for the other people on the boat 'cuz we won't get out of the water!). I like to spend time below the surface but have not perfected free-diving techniques by any stretch of the imagination. For health reasons we haven't gotten into diving but hope to sometime in the future.
We've been snorkeling off of Caye Caulker, Belize; Bocas del Toro, Panama; Bonaire (except for Klein Bonaire, highly disappointed after hurricane Omar in 2008); and 2x to St John (favorite spot = the deep side of Waterlemon Cay!).
We're looking for a future retirement home so we're sticking to the Caribbean, testing the waters - so to speak...


The question: Can anyone help me find a new snorkel destination for this winter that will live up to the beauty of Waterlemon Cay? It must be Caribbean, healthy coral and diverse underwater wildlife, preferably shore access (see above), coral visible within 20 ft., not wildly expensive, laid-back vibe, and awesome street food available. Is that too much to ask? Any suggestions?

I've thought about Tobago - will that stand up to my criteria? What about Anguilla? Turks and Caicos? Roatan seems too expensive for flights...So many places, I need help!

By the way the street food is a bonus rather than a must-have. I must say that the best things about Bonaire was the goat stew at Rose's in Rincon and the Indonesian street food down at the wharf.

I look forward to all of your responses,
Enjoy!

[Testudo]

St. John was my first love for snorkeling and long time favorite, I have now found the North Side of Grand Cayman to slightly exceed it. Like St. john, Grand Cayman is not cheap, but you can get affordable accommodations by the best snorkeling spots, since they are not near the prime tourist areas. I have info on my blog as well as links to many of my photos there as well. You can snorkel from the shore until you prune up. Snorkeling sites on other areas of the island have definitely seen better days.

[smellzlikefish]

My parents took me to Jamaica when I was in second grade. The food was amazing and the snorkeling I remember to be out of this world! Two years later we hit up St Marten and I recall similar experiences. However that was 21 years ago and I hear the Carribean coral has been hit badly by hurricanes, disease, and a lack of urchins. I doubt the resort I stayed at in Jamaica, Trelawny Beach Hotel, even exists anymore. I remember both had lots of street vendors selling all kinds of yummy BBQ'ed street food.

[BeckyTV]

WOW, Testudo your blog is so wonderful. We have never considered the Caymans before because of price but your site has inspired us to look further into this wonderful island. Have you ever been to the Cayman Reef Resort in Colliers Bay? if so do they have decent beach snorkeling?

[diversteve]

Places to "test"

Curacao
St. Croix
Antigua

I've read that St. Croix is considered one of the best snorkeling locations in the Caribbean. The best is supposed to be Antigua. Never been to either one.

We dove a week on Curacao and I spent several surface intervals snorkeling there also. There are a lot of nice sandy beaches with good snorkeling just offshore - at sites like Playa Jeremi, there are ironshore cliffs on either side of the beach with really interesting stuff underneath them. Tugboat, one of the best "dives" on Curacao, is 20' deep. At several dive sites there were houses lining the beach so good snorkeling would be right there. Curacao is the same reef as Bonaire, it's just further out in some places. Nicer entries though, most are beaches rather than ironshore. With 10x the people, there's more infrastructure there to support retirement options. It's also grittier than Bonaire, esp. around the port/refinery downtown. But the west side is pretty quiet - and remote.

I was just on Provo (T&C) for a couple of days, it seemed very expensive - a local told us every single thing is imported.

[Testudo]

WOW, Testudo your blog is so wonderful. We have never considered the Caymans before because of price but your site has inspired us to look further into this wonderful island. Have you ever been to the Cayman Reef Resort in Colliers Bay? if so do they have decent beach snorkeling?

Hi BeckyTV,

Happy the blog was useful. I would have never considered a visit to the Caymans since I don't dive and the landscape is nothing to write home about. But after my wife visited solo and raved about the snorkeling she "dragged" me there the next year. Glad she did. We ended up buying a home there.

The Reef Resort on the East End (as opposed to a condo complex on Seven Mile Beach with a similar name) does have fairly good snorkeling right off its beach. It is also situated near many of the "better" sites covered in the guides. It is a solid 3* resort and probably one of the best values on the island, especially during low season. It is far away from the amenities of Seven Mile beach (one reason why many people like it), so you'd need to factor in a cost of a rental car for your stay. They do have kitchen suites available that would help offset any expenses if you're not opposed to cooking-in on vacation. Another hotel to consider is the Turtle Nest Inn in Bodden Town. It also has very good snorkeling off its beach (not as nice as the Reef's wider, sandier beach).

Depending on time of year, the water off the East End by the Reef Resort can be choppy, especially in late winter and very early Spring.

[altarose]

Vieques & Culebra both have excellent shore snorkeling with lots of road-side food vendors

We also found great shore snorkeling on Roatan & Utila

[Dave C]

I agree with Altarose concerning the recommendation for Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. It has very easy, calm snorkeling right off the beach at several different spots. See my reply to this older post:
Shore entry snorkel destinations???
This contains a link to a bunch of photos I took, both below and above water.
One thing about Culebra that may or may not be to your taste is that there is very little "upscale" accommodation on the island. Most of the places to stay are guest houses that are not on the beach.
I also went to Curacao this year, and very much liked it. The visibility was great, although I found the growth of coral in snorkeling depths to be a little sparse. There were a lot of non-snorkeling things to do on the island. Here are some pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3148609...507257/detail/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3148609...737638/detail/