Went on our own to Eagle BEach later--gorgeous!!! Calm water. Beautiful wide open spaces. Few crowds
Snorkeling Rating: Not Rated
Best tour. Wonderful sailing trip to two snorkel spots. Helpful staff. My first ever snorkel on a shipwreck and the fish were fantastic. It was the highlight of the trip for me.
Went to Sapphire Beach. Got there around 11. Very crowded but were able to get chairs after some ppl left. Snorkeling off of the beach provided some great fish sightings but water was very rough. At first I was afraid to go in but I wore a snorkel vest and felt more secure. Watch your feet--there is coral on the beach and I bashed my toe. The reef is very shallow in places and my husband badly bruised his stomach on it. Despite this, the fish were very good and feeding them some salmon pellets added to the excitement. My son who is a great swimmer went to the point and saw some eels, some large fish and many schools. I would say the beach itself was just OK--not the wide open space I would have hoped for.
Went on our own to Dawn Beach. Very crowded. It was Christmas and many ships in port. Tried to get umbrellas through the Mr Busby's staff and they said there weren't any, but we walked down the beach and found another guy who set up an umbrella for $5. No chairs but after a little while people left theirs and we go them for free. The beach was narrower than I would have liked and the water was a little choppy. Windy day. Had to go out a ways to be on the reef. It was nice snorkeling but not terrific. Other islands were better. Mr Busby's was only place with a bathroom and it was pretty disgusting.
Beautiful town. The colors of the buildings were amazing. Got a nice tour on the taxi on the way to the beach. Very windy when we arrived. Info desk told us that we should not go the snorkeling spot we intended b/c we might not be able to get a cab back so we went to the beach near the Seaquarium at her recommendation called Cabana Beach. There were many beaches attached to one another and we walked to the third one before we could find options for chairs and umbrellas. The beaches felt very narrow b/c they were all crammed with chairs and lounges. Not a bit of breathing room. But the good news was the water was sheltered by a rock wall so the snorkeling was calm, accessible, and beautiful. You could snorkel all along the rock wall for ages and see schools of fish feeding. Saw amazing rainbow fish and many many others.
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