snorkeling

We'll be cruising in April to Nassau, St Thomas, and San Juan. We love snorkeling. What are your recommendations for each of the above ports. I've heard you can take a water taxi to St. John and snorkle at Trunk Bay. Do I need a tour for this or can one handle that on their own? TIA!!

[Donna]

Hi Rina,
Yes, you can do that yourself.....here is the link to the ferry schedule:

http://www.st-thomas.com/week/ferries.html

if going to trunk bay, go clear down to the left, facing water, great snorkling there. i personally think cinnimon bay is to windy, hawksnest to hard to navagate thru the coral. i personally like big maho bay, easy in easy out. park car walk ,cross the street and your on the beach, go clear to the right while snorkling and out around the corner. seen about every think i can think of there. shallow water for about 5 to 10 feet out. if u have time and are strong, try haulover bay, walk down the little path, dont know how far, but watch out for the barbed wire on the ground, no sand on the beach, hard to get in and out, but its an awsome sight, even staghorn coral over to the left. i go straight to st john, st thomas isnt near as pretty. never heard of any snorkling in san juan, not so sure the water is that clean. maybe soemone can correct me on that part.

Thank you Donna and Marina. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

I think the water is more rough in SanJuan & not as clear, not known for snorkeling. We never made it to St.John but we heard it is much better than St.Thomas. We went to Coki Point & snorkeled & it was easy, calm & clear water & had nice fish to see - easy snorkeling. Didn't care for Nassau in general but went to Rainbow Reef off of Pinel Island & it was nice - good coral & nice colorful fish & many LARGE fish to see.
Enjoy!

Mark&Deb

How to you get to Rainbow Reef ? by taxi?, walk?