Coki is good - could be kinda crowded with folks from the cruise ships.

Secret Harbor may not have as many fish - sometimes yes and sometimes no - but it's a great quiet calm water place to snorkle. There are some really active reef colonies and most times I snorkle there, the fish actually come up to greet you - looking for a handout. A school of them followed me wherever I went one afternoon.

On Coki at one point I was in the midst of a wave of millions and millions of little silver fish...awesome experience. You could dive down into their midst (10 or 11 feet down) and they would part like a curtain right before your eyes! Pretty cool.

Hello Dave,

Coki is good... you'll see lots of fish there, the fish stick around & will approach because they are fed by snorkelers. Secret Harbor beach and Sapphire beach are also good options. You might do two... Coki & Sapphire or perhaps Sapphire & Secret Harbor.

--Islander

i used to take a half a loaf of french bread with me to attract fish when i went scuba diving. do not use a plastic bag to carry it. i remeber one guy got his hand half-chewed off by a barracuda because it thought that the bag was a fish.

I have heard that you should not wear any jewelry when snorkeling because of the chance a barracuda might mistake the flash of jewelry as a baitfish and attack. Is this the case when snorkeling in th VI?

Not too worry. I've kept my jewelry (rings, watch, bracelet, necklance w/ pendant) on snorkeling here for 7 years and had no problems. I hear people mention it all the time and I just giggle. I wouldn't (and don't) worry about it.

Thanks for the info all. Any other known hot spots i can get to without going on a "tour"?

I love Hull Bay. Its a nice local spot. Great snorkeling going out on the left side of the beach. Nice quiet beach with a decent restaraunt. Try the crab lobster burrito, its amazing.

Should I just take a cab from beach to beach? Are any within walking distance of each other? I love the internet and message boards. Anyone have something they consider a don't miss thing to do while there?

Does anyone know if their are lockers close by at these beaches where we would be snorkeling? Is it safe to just leave our beach bags with cameras and wallets and such lying on a beach towel?

If you go to Coki Beach, they have lockers at Coral World. We left out stuff with a local who rents snorkel gear, beach chairs and, obviously, so-called lockers. They were Rubbermaid storage totes with a number on each one. She charged $5 to keep your stuff in one of them. We were alittle leary but she assured us that our stuff would be fine and sure enough it was. No problems at all.

Hello Dave,

You will need to have transportation to get between beaches. You might want to rent a car if you are interested in beach hopping. Most beaches do not have lockers. You should conceal cameras and wallets in your beach bag, under your towel or clothes rather then leaving them out in plain sight.

--Islander

Was on a cruise last year w/ Royal Caribbean and only had 1 day in St. Thomas too. Here is my suggestion. Get off the ship first thing in the morning. Take a taxi to the Ferry either in Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook & take the ferry to the island of St. John. You are going to Trunk Bay. It is rated as the 2nd or 3rd best beach in the world. If you get there early enough, you will be the only ones on the beach. They have a self-guided snorkling trail and the fish were plentiful. Take with you a can of squeeze cheese( those pressurized cans) and a underwater camera ( disposable works good). The fish are attracted to the cheese when you sqeeze it out. Then just relax on the beach. It is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life. I have been to the carribean now 3 times. lorrie

Re: Imdono wrote: "Take with you a can of squeeze cheese..."

🙁

Cheese isn't something fish normally eat (nor is dog food, cereal and all the other things folks try) and while it might seem like a great idea because you get to see more fish consider the consequences to the marine animals & also in the National Park the regulations.

Here is some info. I looked up:

On feeding animals (including fish) in National Parks: "Today, however, such behaviour is not just frowned upon - it is downright illegal in virtually all of our National Parks. This includes our underwater versions in Biscayne Bay, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands, as well as in many other protected areas throughout the United States and much of the world - and with good reason."

Great article discussing feeding fish in the wild: http://www.scubawomen.org/Article,Feedfish,EN.htm

From Divernet.com: Dr David Frape, animal-nutritionist and pathologist, told Diver: "If you feed an animal a diet that's foreign to it, the effects can vary from simple digestive problems to being lethal. Small amounts may do no harm but too much can cause explosive fermentation. It's a question of quality and quantity."
In both southern Corsica and Spain's Medas Islands there are large groupers that have become fearless because divers feed them. But they are given the wrong things, such as frankfurters and cheese. "It's sad that nowadays you have to feed fish if you want to see them close up," said Dr David Bellamy, Diver's marine biology consultant. "I used to be able to dive and see plenty and I didn't need to feed them. Most fish seem to eat anything you give them, but if you do feed them, please give them what they normally eat - raw and uncooked."

There were other articles, many focusing on feeding sharks and some on marine animals in general... overall a debated subject, not on what to feed as it seemed consistant that animals should be fed what they are used to eating naturally but what the consquences of feeding are.

--Islander

I would veto the suggestion about going to Trunk Bay - ONLY from the standpoint that it, like Magens are the two most popular spots that cruise ship passengers will journey to. And, I'm not currently knowledgeable about the fish population out there - I have heard that it has somewhat backed off or disappeared kinda.

If your interest is in lots and lots of fish - the best bet would be Coki. Many of our open air tour buses take cruise ship passengers to visit Coral World...so you could easily hitch a ride with them.

If you want an wonderful, perhpas almost private beach in terms of numbers of folks, try Secret Harbor, a great little neat spot that has good snorkeling. A taxi will get you out there.....the east end of the island just outside Red Hook.

Please don't feel obliged to feed the fish to attract them - at Secret Harbor, as I posted above, they will come to swim with you, WITHOUT any additional stuff that they don't normally eat!

Thanks again everyone. I'm getting really excited about our trip. Not sure where we'll wind up snorkeling. My guess is coki and one other to be determined. Looking forward to finding a place with those lobster/crab burritos.

dave