Castaway Cay - Sharks?

[HooKooDooKu]

I don't know official policy, but when we were there Oct 2013, you didn't have to wear them. The only people we saw snorkeling (as well as us) did NOT have them. Nobody said we couldn't snorkel or that we had to have a life vest if we wanted to snorkel. There are not lifeguards at Serenity Bay.

When we asked at SB about snorkeling, we were told there was no snorkeling there and snorkeling was at the family beach. I knew I'd read here about people snorkeling at SB, so we just went out on our own and went to where others were and found some neat things to see!

There is nothing specific that Disney has done to attract people to snorkeling in Serenity Bay. But unless the waters are closed for some reason, you can snorkel at SB if you want. And no, there are no life guards to force anyone going into Serenity Bay to wear any sort of vest.

As for whether you want to snorkel off of Serenity Bay or not... it just depends upon what the natural wild life is current like. I know the 1st time I ever snorkelled in Serenity Bay, we saw lots of huge star fish, lobsters, conk shells, and the sea floor was littered with sand dollars. But then Castaway Cay took direct hits from two hurricanes. We snorkeled Serenity Bay the following year and the see floor looked sterile.