Hi there,
You really don't need a lesson but if we are available that Sunday (pm me closer to the day) we can meet and we'll give you a few tips. But in the mean time you can always pratice at home in the bath tub, at least the breathing part 🙂 First of all, before getting in the water check your mask. Put it on - without the strap around your head - and take a deep breath through your nose,if it sticks to your face you'll be good in the water with the strap in place, remember though if you have alot of hair, once it's wet the fit may loosen so wet your hair first. Remember to spit in your mask, rub it around (I know, I know) then rinse it out once, this stops the mask from fogging up. Once you have your "gear" on -off you go. Put your hands by your side and gently move your legs -remember the less splash you make the more fish you will see 🙂 Just remember do not step on the coral. One of the best beach to start at, might be Maho - at either side - as its very easy and usually calm. To identify the fish you can always get one of the little plastic "fish identifying" cards available on-line or in one of the stores in town. Have fun.

I agree with Pia in that you really don't need a lesson to snorkel. I imagine if you got your equipment from your local dive shop, they fitted you properly with a mask. Does your husband have a mustache? If so, bring some petroleum jelly (vaseline) along or get a container of silicone grease at the dive shop to seal the mask to his upper lip. I also areee that a fish ID card is great if you want to know what you're seeing.

crickett : )

Kraushaus, if you have the chance, do take Pia up on her offer, we know her and her husband and they're great people who won't drown you! I second what Pia told you- 1) get info from a local scuba shop or on line on properly fitting a mask (really the only snorkle issue that's annoying and needs 1 minute of instruction. 2) wear a t-shirt or tons of sunscreen as you will burn in the water 3) as Pia said, don't step on the coral,also don't sit on it (I did accidently and it ain't fun!) 4) if you don't rememberfrom before, the water magnifies the view and it looks much,much deeper than it really is. You'll get used to this via experience
As to boats with lessons, most of the charter boats head out first thing in the morning I think (don't quote me). We did a full day with Limnos in November which included a long snorkle at Norman Island, not a party boat atmosphere at all despite the free flowing liquor, some families were on it but the boat was very roomy and the staff were excellent. If you call them directly, they will tell you if one of them will give you instructions, but as Pia said, you don't realy need it, just time in the water.
From shore, she's right again- Maho is wonderful, at the campground beach, not the separate Big Maho beach. Go to the Francis Bay beach first though, which becomes the campground Maho beach, waters are very calm and as you paddle around the rocks off the beach between Francis and Maho or at the far right end of Francis, you'll love what you see (including sea turtles!).Don't get hung up on a Sunday thing, just melt into Island time and you'll get your snorkling adventures for sure.

If you have floated on your stomach in a pool before and opened your eyes, it is'nt much different...except now you can keep your yeyes open longer and stay under for as long as you like. The only tricky part comes on free dives where you hold your breathe and then blow out the tube like a whale when you return to the surface. This is an easy technique to pick up but certainly not required to take in what STJ offers. If you pick it up great, but it won't ruin anything if you don't.
Regardless if you go it alone or take up Pia's offer, I would strongly urge a day with Captain Phil. He takes the time to work with you, teaches free dive and takes you to great sights.
You have purchased from a dive shop so I assume they took the time to fit you with the correct mask and advised how to keep it fog free.
You're going to love it!!

Pia -How nice of you to offer to meet up with us. We may need more than a few tips though.

We did get fitted for our mask like you described. They gave us some stuff in a little bottle to defog our mask but if it doesn't work I'll try good old spit. I was thinking of actually going to the high school pool during open swim to practice.

Several people responded and suggested Mayo Beach as a good place to start so I think we'll choose that beach. I read about another boat, High Pockets with a Captain Jenny, on the Mayo Beach Campground website. Have you heard of them? They run some sailing camps for kids. If she can teach kids how to sail then maybe she would be willing to teach a couple of adults to snorkel.

I think our problems in Jamaica where one, the mask was not fit for us, two, we kept exhaling through our nose, and three the waves kept coming up and putting water in the snorkel. No one taught us how to blow the water out so we kept spitting the snorkel out and tipping it over. I am a good swimmer so I ditched the snorkel, took a deep breath, held my mask to my face to keep it from leaking and dove under for as long as I could hold my breath. I had to let go of the mask to swim back to the surface and by the time I got to the top my mask was half full of water. I just lifted it off my face to drain the water. I'm sure that mask was way to big for my face. They had a one size fits all snorkel set that we grabbed out of a bucket. The snorkel trip was included with our resort stay and we didn't know any better at that time.

My husband got frustrated and didn't enjoy the snorkel much at all because he is not a strong swimmer and can't hold his breath that long. I want him to feel comfortable snorkeling so I figured if I got a lesson along with a boat trip he wouldn't give up as easily as he may if we were just on the beach. (Although, we spent a lot of money on our snorkel stuff I think he may not give up just because of that. He's an accountant and hates to waste money.)

We got everything, a mask, the special snorkel tube with the closing valve for going underwater and a bottom drain, a neon yellow blow up float vest, fins, long sleeve rash guard shirts and a bag for all of it to go into. I also got a special mask strap because I have long hair that can get tangled in the regular one. The mask strap doubles as a protective bag for the mask when you turn it inside out.

We live in Wisconsin and went to a dive shop that services people who like to dive in Lake Michigan. We probably paid more than we should have but we got very personnal service from the owner.

...no wonder why you are so worried about snorkeling. Your first experience was horrible.

Maho Bay is a great place to learn as there are no waves and the water is shallow and clear. It's also one of the easiest beaches to get to on STJ. You can get to Maho Bay beach right along the main road or Francis or Little Maho up near the campgrounds (you'll have to get directions).

Seriously, your bad experience has made you very worried and stressed about snorkeling again. You really have to relax. It's very important to relax as it makes it much easier to feel comfortable breathing through the snorkel. If you are this worried now, you'll be waaaaaaaaaayyyy too stressed once you try it again.

Take Pia up on her offer. She'll take you somewhere great that she's already familiar with and help you relax.

We snorkled once in Jamaica in the one spot they raved about and it was awful,if it was my first snorkling experience I'd never do it again. STJ is AALOT different as you can snorkle from shore and there really is coral to house all the fish etc. Hubbie will love it, promise. (just don't snorkle on a rough day, which there aren't too many of luckily)

I am going to disagree with everyone. I do think if you are uncomfortable with the idea of snorkeling, it is a good idea to have someone show you how to do it right!! If I read correctly, you are staying on St Thomas. It would make a lot more sense to do your first tour there! One of the "six-pack" boats, namely Lou with Captain Max or Night Wind with the Marshes comes to mind. Call ahead and tell them your dilemma. Most folks love to introduce people to the wonders of the ocean! Some of the east end condos have watersports centers and might be able to help you right off the beach!

just because I have a horrible thought about my digestive juices getting anywhere NEAR my eyes. The commercial defog you got when you bought your gear should work well. *Edited to add: If the shop you purchased the gear from didn't tell you this already (and as long as it's not a No Fog brand mask) you will need to use white (paste) toothpaste to get the fine film left over from the MFG process off the inside of the mask lens - it won't matter HOW much defog you use if you don't take that step first...you mask will fog unmercifully!

Best idea - as long as you are comfy in the water....find a low provile beach (starts shallow and has a really gradual drop off)....where if you get antsy, you can easily stand up. Mask on, face in the water....with or without fins...then let your feet float up behind you. VERY easy.

Donning fins while you're still feet in the sand can be tricky - I would recommend waiting until you are in at least chest deep water, then use yer good ole snorkel buddy to help balance...THEN put fins on, crossing one ankle across the opposite knee (called a "figure 4" because that's what your legs look like).

Most dive shops will have the Humann Fish ID books in case you don't have anyone to help ID the animals for you...There are several key points to identifying fish - PM me if you want a few pointers (I am fairly good at fish ID)...or if you want a snorkel buddy. Even though I dive (and for a living too!) I still enjoy snorkeling. No need to get up early to make a day sail if you don't want to.

Cheers and happy bubbles!

If you go to the top of the page and move your cursor over St Thomas or St John you'll see a section called daysails. Click on that and have a looksee. I know a few of the captains and mates and they will all do whatever they can in their power to make sure you have a good experience snorkling and sailing. The boats based on STT will even come over to STJ and pick you up. It's about a 6 hour day and you get to sail, swim, snorkel, have drinks if you want and have lunch. The boats that take no more than 6 passengers are a great way to get individualized attention. The mate will help you with all of your gear and show you how to use it properly and personally snorkel with you making sure everything is okay and taking you to the best spots and pointing out a lot of things you may miss while snorkling on your own. The boats all have "noodles" or other flotation devices to make staying afloat much easier if you aren't a strong swimmer.
Also, a drop or 2 of baby shampoo in each lens of your mask will keep it from fogging. It works just as well if not better than the anti fog stuff and is much cheaper. And if you have your mask too tight, it will leak as much as if you have it too loose.
Have a great trip!

Thank you East Ender for giving my the idea of leaving from St. Thomas. I wanted to spend some time on St. John so I had started looking there. Both boats you suggested mentioned on their web pages that they will provide snorkel instruction if needed.

I checked out a few others that were listed under St. Thomas Daysails and found Captain Pat of Ike Witt. He sails to the National Park in St. John. He is so into fish that he has names for some of them according to his web page. Captain Pat called me back right away and said he would dingy us out to a beach and give us a lesson before the snorkel stop in deeper water. He described how he has taught others which sounded like exactly what I was looking for. He agreed to change his start time to later morning for us without doing a private charter, which I thought was also nice. Turns out he is from Wisconsin!

I'll post a trip report when we come back.

Manta - thank you for the tip about the tooth paste. The Dive shop didn't tell us about that. I will also forever remember the figure 4 advise when putting my fins on.

katetastrophee - The dive shop gave us the anti-fog stuff for free. They told us to make sure to rinse our stuff from the salt water and use dish soap to clean it.