Looking for St. Thomas excursion recommendations.

[Jack15129]

Hi,

DW and I will be on the Jan 20, 2024 Fantasy and currently we have booked the
St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail & Snorkel (ST21).

Now after reading some unfavorable reviews, we are not so sure.

We are interested in snorkeling, so are there recommendations for excursions on St Thomas?

If there are any other “glad we did it” excursion opinions out there, we’d love to hear them!

Thanks in advance!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We went to Magens Bay. I brought my own snorkel equipment. Saw a bunch of sea turtles and some fish. We ordered a pizza and sat at the bar to eat. We had a great day. Is it the most amazing placeto snorkle ? Probably not, but I was hoping to see turtles and I got my wish

 

[Princess Merida]

The Kon Tiki beach tour was so much fun! There’s a live band, limbo, and excellent rum punch. The beach they take you to is beautiful. I don’t remember there being any snorkeling gear though so you’d have to take it with you if you are looking to snorkel.

 

[BStieers]

Would you mind sharing where you found the unfavorable reviews? This excursion was on our list for summer 2024.

 

[Joel0917]

megans bay will be crowded. look at private catamran. there is a fun pizza catamaran that you can book and goes out to different bays and visits the pizza boat as well for lunch.

 

[anricat]

We booked a snorkeling with sea turtles + kayaking with St. Thomas Adventure Tours and had an incredible day. There were so many sea turtles and the beach we went to was so quiet.

You could probably take a taxi there on your own if you brought your own snorkel equipment. But I also do recommend St. Thomas Adventure Tours. They were fabulous.

 

[foolish-mortal]

We went to Magens Bay. I brought my own snorkel equipment. Saw a bunch of sea turtles and some fish. We ordered a pizza and sat at the bar to eat. We had a great day. Is it the most amazing placeto snorkle ? Probably not, but I was hoping to see turtles and I got my wish

Can I ask where you were on Magen's Bay? Which restaurant were you at?

 

[RedHead0186]

I did that excursion a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Curious what the unfavorable reviews would be, as I had no complaints!

 

[allashore]

we did this excursion this past July, all 7 of us enjoyed it. The crew was great, and other passengers from our cruise on the catermeran were fantastic. We would defiantiley book this again. We have found that taking these excursions with an enthusiastic crew, is part of what makes it a better excursion, of course you don't know this until you are on it.

 

[Jack15129]

Would you mind sharing where you found the unfavorable reviews? This excursion was on our list for summer 2024.

Hi!
There was a thread from August/2023. Here is the link.
Thread 'Review of St. John snorkel excursion.'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/review-of-st-john-snorkel-excursion.3927512/

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Can I ask where you were on Magen's Bay? Which restaurant were you at?

We took the Disney excursion. There is only one place to eat at that location. it is beach food-pizza, hamburgers etc. https://magensbayauthority.org/

 

[RebelScum]

Hands down . . . I Trunk Bay (quick ferry to St John). World famous beach with nice snorkeling.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

For a non excursion based option, DW & I have caught a taxi to the Red Hook ferry from Havensight pier (super easy) and a 15 minute - ish ride later we were on St John at Cruz Bay. Another cab and a whole host of amazing beaches with walk up snorkeling are available. We've done Hawksnest Bay which is about a 5 minute taxi drive from Cruz Bay.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Picture of Hawksnest Bay

 

[Jack15129]

We went to Magens Bay. I brought my own snorkel equipment. Saw a bunch of sea turtles and some fish. We ordered a pizza and sat at the bar to eat. We had a great day. Is it the most amazing placeto snorkle ? Probably not, but I was hoping to see turtles and I got my wish

Thanks for the reply! Magens Bay looks huge and beautiful!
Why do you say it might not be best to snorkel?
We do not have Snorkel equipment, so plan to rent (if not provided in any excursion). Do you know if equipment is for rent at the beach? Are fins needed/available as well as the mask and snorkel?

 

[Jack15129]

Hands down . . . I Trunk Bay (quick ferry to St John). World famous beach with nice snorkeling.

Thanks for the recommendation!
How long about it the ferry ride?
Did you do it on your own or with Disney?
Was snorkel gear provided?

 

[Jack15129]

We booked a snorkeling with sea turtles + kayaking with St. Thomas Adventure Tours and had an incredible day. There were so many sea turtles and the beach we went to was so quiet.

You could probably take a taxi there on your own if you brought your own snorkel equipment. But I also do recommend St. Thomas Adventure Tours. They were fabulous.

Thanks! We will check this out. Was there enough snorkel time?
Besides the awesome sea turtles, was the snorkeling good to see other sights like fish and coral/rock formations?

 

[Jack15129]

Hi,

Parents visited Sapphire Beach about 18 years ago and they said it was the best beach for snorkeling.
Anyone have a recent opinion on Sapphire beach in general and also how the snorkeling was?
TIA!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Thanks for the reply! Magens Bay looks huge and beautiful!
Why do you say it might not be best to snorkel?
We do not have Snorkel equipment, so plan to rent (if not provided in any excursion). Do you know if equipment is for rent at the beach? Are fins needed/available as well as the mask and snorkel?

I saw some fish there,but not a lot. I didn't explore everywhere though. My goal was the turtles-which I saw. I don't know about the rentals. I brought my own mask and snorkel-they are pretty inexpensive on Amazon. I did not use fins at this location.

 

[Calantha]

Why do you say it might not be best to snorkel?

Agree with PP. I would not snorkel there, its shallow-ish and mostly sand/no fish. A great place to just play in the water and relax. We did our intro to scuba class at Coki Bay and as another PP said, I bet Sapphire is nice too.