Turks and Caicos in March: snorkeling

[Bocephus]

Hello, I have a trip booked to Turks and Caicos March 7th and Im staying at the Condos at Coral Garden on Grace Bay I believe. I want to do some snorkeling while I am there and had a few questions:

How far off the beach do I need to go to see good activity?
Should I rely on the rental equipment or spend the $ on fins, mask, and snorkel of my own?
How warm will the water be in march?
Do I have to worry about sharks or rays bothering with us?
Anything else I need to consider for my trip?

I am looking forward to doing some snorkeling and I appreciate any help you can give me about TCI as a whole.

Thanks

 

[allistoy]

Your in luck you just happen to be staying at the best snorkeling spot on the island about 30 feet from the steps to the beach right in from of your hotel. Matthew is the watersports man at your hotel and he has good rental gear and can also do a discover scuba tour with you on the reef if your interested.
The reef has great fish activity on it and it is all roped of so you can not get lost. The temperature of the water is usually around 80 on the surface at that time.
Another good reef to snorkel is Smith's Reef by the marina a nice 30-45 minute walk from your hotel along the beach well worth the walk. Matt can tell you how to get there.
Try snorkeling the reef in fromnt of Coral gardens at night just rent a light from Matthew you will see an entire different world at night. The reef varies fron 2 foot by shore to about 25 feet deep at the farthest point out which is about 150 yards from shore.

 

[allistoy]

I think the gear is free for snorkeling if you are a guest of the hotel but I'm not sure

 

[jarhed]

Coral Gardens is the best snorkeling experiance I've ever had. Don't be afraid to venture out 150 yds or so, I was there over christmas and spent 3 days snorkeling. Check out my pictures, all the turtle and eagle ray pics were from snorkeling at the coral gardens. I estimate that over 3 days my wife and I saw ~50 turtles and 10 eagle rays. Once we saw 8 turtles at once.

Lots of great fish and coral too, easy, fun and steps away from the bar!

John

 

[Damselfish]

I'm sure you could manage with the snorkel gear there just fine but you might want to treat yourself to your own stuff. What you buy would probably be nicer than what they have and make it more enjoyable. Always nice to have a mask and fins that fit right, and a snorkel lots of other people haven't been chewing on.

It's really easy to spend a long time snorkeling and get burnt to a crisp on one side, so cover up somehow or use lots of sunscreen. Some people will wear a tshirt but the backs of your legs can still get burnt.

 

[lazyturtle]

Unless you're going to use the snorkel gear alot later, I'd just rent.
I think a better term will be how COLD will the water be: about 75-77 or so (brrr). You might want a shortie.
Smiths Reef was always a great, shallow place to snorkel. I'd say it was 100 feet or so from shore (close). You will definitely want to go out on a boat once or twice to see the much more developed reefs off shore. You could also 4-wheel (or mtn bike) out to the NW point, nice snorkeling off shore there.
Do the day trip over to middle or north caicos, it's nice. Afterwords it'll be hard to deal with the 'hustle and bustle' of provo (just kidding, provo is tiny!)
You really have to watch out for the man eating rays.....just kidding. You'll see southern stingrays, eagle rays, reef sharks and possibly Jojo (of IMAX fame) the dolphin. None of them will bother you if you don't bother them.....
Here's a good Carib tip (though I think you'll be missing the season for it): if you see BILLIONS of litte brown jellies, be moderatly aware. They don't sting, but they do irritate some peoples skin. If you get out after swiming around them and see lots of little red welts (like mozzie stings) get some hydrocorozone BEFORE bedtime, they can get ITCHY. Not all people are affected by them though, so don't freak out about it...
On Provo a cool couple of places to eat: One is down by little Jamacia, you'll know it when you see it...The goat stew is awesome. The other is on the hilltop above Turtle Bay called Dornas, open REAL late (the later the more locally it gets) has great stew fish. Both are very casual dining.

 

[Bocephus]

Thanks everyone so much for the info so far, we are looking forward to our spring break trip (University of Georgia Students). I have spent some time in dive shops lately looking into our own gear. The shops have a snorkel package for about $75 that has everything you need but if there is adequate gear there we may save the money for a boat trip like suggested ($85). Does anyone have a suggestion for a pay snorkel trip? I am definately interested in the night snorkeling. Thanks again and keep the recommendations coming. We also do a good bit of cycling so any mtn biking info is appreciated. Thanks again.