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The Best Snorkeling
The Virgin Islands offer some particularly outstanding sites, but there are many other great places for snorkeling in the Caribbean.
Antigua: This is a snorkeler's dream. Most of its lovely beaches open onto clear, calm waters populated by rainbow-hued tropical fish. The marine life offshore is particularly dense, including colorful sea anemones. The rich types of different elk and brain coral make snorkeling particularly rewarding.
Bonaire Marine Park (Bonaire): All the attributes that make Bonaire a world-class diving destination apply to its snorkeling, too. Snorkelers can wade from the shores off their hotels to the reefs and view an array of coral and a range of colorful fish. In particular, the reefs just off Klein Bonaire and Washington-Slagbaai National Park receive rave reviews.
Stingray City (Grand Cayman): Stingray City is an easy 4m (13-ft.) diving site that can also be seen while snorkeling. It's an extraordinary experience to meet the dozens of tame, gentle stingrays that glide around you in the warm, crystal-clear waters.
Curaçao Underwater Marine Park (Curaçao): In contrast to Curaçao's arid terrain, the marine life that rings the island is rich and spectacular. The best-known snorkeling sites, in the Curaçao Underwater Marine Park, stretch for 20km (12 miles) along Curaçao's southern coastline, and there are many other highly desirable sites as well. Sunken ships, gardens of hard and soft coral, and millions of fish are a snorkeler's treat.
St. Martin: The best snorkeling on the island lies on the French side, where the government religiously protects the calm waters, which are populated with schools of brilliantly colored fish. Find a tiny cove and explore the shallow reefs along its shores, especially in the northeastern underwater nature reserve.
The Grenadines: Every island offers great snorkeling possibilities right off magnificent white-sandy beaches. In most places you'll have the waters to yourself. A reef stretching for 1.5km (1 mile) along the island of Canouan invites snorkelers, and the waters are filled with beautiful brain coral and rainbow-hued fish. The snorkeling is also good at Palm Island and Petit St. Vincent.
Tobago: Enormous colonies of marine life inhabit the shallow, sun-dappled waters off the coastline facing Venezuela. Buccoo Reef on Tobago is especially noteworthy, and many local entrepreneurs offer snorkeling cruises.
Provo (Turks and Caicos): Although this island is known primarily as one of the world's best dive sites, it also provides a number of snorkeling possibilities. The government has established snorkel trails at Smith's Reef and Bight Reef, right off of Provo's spectacular Grace Bay Beach. These reefs are right off the shoreline, and they provide easy access into the fragile but stunningly beautiful world of coral gardens, the most dramatic in the vast area immediately south of The Bahamas.
Coki Point Beach (St. Thomas): On the north shore of St. Thomas, this beach offers excellent snorkeling, especially around the coral ledges near Coral World's underwater tower, a favorite with cruise-ship passengers.
Buck Island (St. Croix): More than 250 species of fish, as well as a variety of sponges, corals, and crustaceans, have been found at this 340-hectare (840-acre) island and reef system, 3km (2 miles) off St. Croix's north shore. The reef is strictly protected by the National Park Service.
Cane Bay (St. Croix): One of the best diving and snorkeling sites on St. Croix is off this breezy north-shore beach. On a clear day, you can swim out 140m (450 ft.) and see the Cane Bay Wall that drops off dramatically to deep waters below. Multicolored fish and elkhorn and brain coral abound.
Trunk Bay (St. John): Trunk Bay's self-guided 205m-long (670-ft.) trail has large underwater signs that identify species of coral and other items of interest. The beach has showers, changing rooms, equipment rentals, and a lifeguard.
Haulover Bay (St. John): A favorite with locals, this small bay is rougher than Leinster and is often deserted. The snorkeling is dramatic, with ledges, walls, nooks, and sandy areas set close together. At this spot, only about 180m (600 ft.) of land separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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