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We'll be in St. Thos. for just one day on a cruise next week. Having snorkeled at Trunk Bay several times, we'd like to snorkel at one of the other locations in that area this time, or go with a snorkel tour operator that stops at several locations. Since we will need some time to get to St. John, & must be back to our ship in time to sail, we are limited as to what would work. (We can get to Cruz Bay but anything leaving out of Charlotte Amalie would definitely work.) Anyone out there know of any diveshops or tour operators who would be good for this type of thing - like a l/2 day tour that doesn't leave before 9:30 a.m. or so? There will be at least 9 of us. I have seen a mention of Capt. Phil on this sight, but don't know where/how to contact this person. Is there a websight? Ph. #? Anyone know of anyone else? If this idea doesn't work out, we'll probably try to get a couple of cabs in Cruz Bay to go to some of the other good bays on St. John. (All the rental car places say they are booked for the day we'll be there. No jeeps left.) Don't have too much info. on which beaches have snorkeling rental or ammenities, & would like some "reviews" on good spots to snorkel that aren't too hard to reach. Thanks for any help any of you can offer. By the way, this is a great sight. Wish I'd known about it weeks ago!
I don't know anything about snorkel tours out of STT, but Honeymoon Beach near Cruz Bay has wonderful snorkeling. And I have seen several catamaran snorkel tours there.
Captain Phil has 1/2 day tours as well as full day. I know that his full day tours leave Cruz Bay approx. 10 a.m., return approx 4 p.m. You can make reservations through Connections in Cruz Bay. Sorry - I don't have the number handy right now, but they should be in the phone book or in most travel books. I'm not sure how many people he can take on each booking - we had 6 when we went. He sails to various locations. The full day trip stops at two different locations for snorkeling. The locations he chooses depend on the weather, especially the wind. We are recommending Captain Phil to everyone!
I believe that Captain Nautica does a 1/2 day snorkel tour from the dock- they stop at 2 spots, I think. That would save a lot of taxi time! Also what about a 1/2 day day sail to Buck Island? There are several other boats that leave from the harbor- Leylon Sneed, Wild Thing, etc.
Thanks to all of you who replied. Capt. Phil's trips sound perfect, except they leave Cruz Bay at l0:00 a.m. - we MIGHT be able to get there in time, but returning at 4 p.m. would be too late to make it back to Charlotte Amalie since our ship leaves at 4:30. When I called a couple of tour places in St. John, that's the problem I kept running into. One place had the perfect trip - IF we could get to some resort on St. John by 9 a.m. -Probably not.
To Candace: Re: Capt. Nautica, does his tour leave from the dock in Charlotte Amalie? Yes, that would save a lot of time. Do you know if that trip goes only to Trunk Bay or to places around St. Thomas rather than St. John, or what? Our cruise ship does offer the Buck Is, Leylon Sneed & Wild Thing Tours. From reading the particulars on our shore excursion info. sheet, the Leyland Sneed mostly focuses on Trunk Bay (we hoped to snorkel someplace new, though we LOVE Trunk Bay!), & is rather pricey. The Wild Thing's emphasis is more of a party trip, I think, with that sort of focus. I have heard (from a shore excursion dive desk diver) the Buck Is. trip is mostly a lot of staghorn coral & not many fish. that it is NOT the same Buck Island as the nat'l. park near St. Croix. Do any of you know if this is true? This option (also offered by our ship) is kind of under consideration at present.
I have noticed Honeymoon Beach mentioned a few times, & Cinnamon Bay, & a few others near Trunk. So I am still trying to figure out the best way to see some of these places near St. John. Guess I waited too long to look into it. Didn't realize the rental jeeps & 29' boats were taken so far in advance!
Well, thanks again to all of you who wrote. One & l/2 days til we leave, so if any of you want to add anything, I'll check back on this sight . Thanks again for your help!
You can call Captain Nautica at (340)715-3379 and check. They might have some flexiblilty on where they go.
Buck Island off of St Thomas is different from the one off of St Croix. They have some interesting wildlife like garden eels and stingrays.
I mentioned some of those trips because they do leave directly from the ship, saving you time if you wanted to do something else in the afternoon!
Thanks again for the info! We can learn so much on these great sights from one another! Books are great, only you can't ask questions!
