stt: secret harbor(seldom crowded), coki (but often crowded, esp. when cruise ships are in), sapphire (sometimes crowded; large beachside bar/grill)
stj: trunk (can be crowded; nice set-up w. informative signs on seabed about flora/fauna b/w red, white and blue buoys), cinnamon, waterlemon (somewhat less accessible than others)

Time of year makes no difference, as the clarity of the water and abundance of sealife doesn't change. The temp of the water does, but very little. In regard to places to snorkel: In the water!! haha! Anywhere there is a reef there will be loads of coral and tons of fish, so there is great sorkjeling everywhere. Paces that you don't want to snorkel are places that have sandy beaches. If you go to a sandy beach, go to the end of the beach and swim out and there is a usually a reef there and you will see lots. You can go to very busy places, like Coki, or you can go to empty places, like Scott Beach, where you will be the only one there. You could go to one that is hardly populated, like Hull or Dorthea, or to places where you might want to catch lobsters (not gonna tell you where though! Haha!). You could also rent a boat and find some spots of your very own, or go to an uninhabited cay and be the only person there, like Has Lollick, Inner Brass, Outer Brass. You could drive to the West End where there are only homes and snorkel at a place like Fortuna Beach. It's really up to you. What exactly are you looking for?

STJ
We liked Francis Bay and Fungi Passage, just West of Waterlemon Cay. Cinnamon Cay is also a good excursion close to shore. If you have the time and extra money, I really recommend a day sail with one of the local charters. You can use one of the bigger ones if you are into a party as well or stick with the 4+ smaller outfits. We used Wayward Sailor out of Cruz Bay and he took us to Lovango Cay just North of STJ. We were blown away by the snorkeling.

I have a question/comment........I thoroughly enjoyed snorkeling in STT and STJ but couldn't help but be alittle disappointed. Everything (the places where I snorkeled) looked the same. We never saw any large fish. We wanted to see turtles but had no luck. I couldn't help but wonder if all the people snorkeling and flopping around wouldn't scare things away. Would it be better to find places to snorkel with just a few people as opposed to 20+?

We did see a flounder and star fish once. And we saw a sea turtle swimming by the power boat we were on with Captain Nautica.

Was I expecting to see to much? We were told we might see baracuda, octopus, turtles and sting rays. NO LUCK!!!!

We returned from SJ 2 weeks ago. I miss it so much I haven't been able to read this board until today.

We had the best snorkel day sail I have ever experienced on SJ with Capt. Clark and his lovely boat White Wing. It sails out of Coral Bay which had never done before and highly recommend. We have been to SJ ten times over the years and have sailed with all the usual suspects (who are all good) but White Wing is the nicest, fastest, funnest day of sailing we have ever had and the best snorkeling by far. Incredible sea life, incredible landscape. Absolutely amazing! Capt. Clark is a doll and very sweet. He lets you sail the boat and in high wind when your not sure if your going to stay upright,that is a total blast. He also keeps a fishing line out and if your lucky you can real in a "big one". Highly recommend White Wing.

Roka
I can't believe you did not see any turtles or rays. To answer your question...yes, fewer people are better. This is particularly true with Trunk where you need to snorkel before the cruise crowds come in.
Not sure where you went on STJ but several areas are 'can't miss' for certain sightings. Turtles can be scarce but they were frequesnt at Francis and Lameshur Bays. If you want to see larger fish or larger schools, it is best to take a day cruise to get off shore and away from the crowds.

Deb,

Do you have a website for White Wing? (Capt Clark)

Thanks,
Grace

Grace - I found it at http://stjohnlinks.com/Charters/White_Wing/
I wrote to him last nite and he already replied, We are considering 3/29, 3/30, or 3/31 for the 3 of us.

Deb - which itinerary did you follow?
Thanks for your post - I've been wondering which daysail to chose and your post helps narrow the choices.
Also considering one of the motorized/power boat daytrips because maybe they can cover more ground - any input on those?
Your post made me think that sailing from Coral Bay might be able to cover as much as a power boat from Cruz Bay or Red Hook (we will also be on STT for afew days).

The itinerary we followed was a full day sail in usvi waters only. We sailed out to Flanagan Island for a wonderful hour of snorkeling. I thing there was maybe 3or 4 other people in the water. The coral life was some of the best I've seen. Then we sailed to some cove on the south shore of SJ. I'm not sure exactly where, but it was also absoluely beautiful. It was a long wall of a reef that just kept going much longer than we would have wanted to go. Clark told us to go as far as we wanted and he would pick us up in his dinghy when we were ready to come back to the boat. That is what we did, and it really gave me a little sense of security to know that he was watching out for us. I would not have gone that far from the boat if he had not done that. Sometimes you don't realize there is much of a currant until your swimming againist it.

We also did a motorized trip to BVI on Breakway (owned by New Horizions people)
It was a very nice boat, large, fast, great crew. The water was very rough that day and we were not able to swim into The Baths, we hiked in. We were also not able to snorkel that day due to the conditions. All ank all it was a fun day, and I would recommend it. Clark also does a BVI trip but I don"t know the details. I assum it would be fantastic, since he is such a great sailor and his boat can really move.

this was my first sail out of Coral Bay and it was much more beautiful than I expected.
The web site pictures don't do it justice.

Deb - Much thanks for reply. Some indicate clearing customs has become a time issue when trying to do the BVIs - true?

Our trip was at 8:00 am. and we had no problem at all. We stopped at I think it was Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda and the crew cleared customs for us while we used the restroom and looked at the shops for 15 min. or so. I was expecting a long ordeal and it was a breeze. I was told that by being one of the earlier boats to arrive was a big time saver. Also, I was led to believe that there could be a long wait clearing customs on the return. We had no wait at all. They just dropped us off at the Nat. Park pier, and were on their way to St Thomas to unload the other passengers.