St Thomas - Snorkeling with Turtles - Help me pick the right excursion

[Sev1020]

We are sailing on the Icon July 2024. St Thomas offers 2 Snorkeling with Turtle tours.

One to Magen's bay: Amazing Magens Bay Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

One to an unnamed beach:   Beach Escape and Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

I know that Magen's bay is the most famous beach - but we would like to pick the excursion with the best chance to see Turtles.

 

Thank you!

 

[OCSC Mike]

I suggest looking at independent excursions on a site like TripAdvisor. You're likely to find more options with better prices going outside of RC.

We are looking at doing something similar in St. Thomas on March but it won't be through RC.

[Sev1020]

Thanks Mike - we have a pretty short day. Ship leaves at 3 pm - so I am assuming all aboard will be 2 pm.

That has me a little concerned about doing a non RCCL tour. I looked on Viator and the excursions were pretty long. But I will check Trip Advisor. Plus Wow - 5 Cruises on the Wonder! Enjoy - that sounds amazing.

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, Sev1020 said:

Thanks Mike - we have a pretty short day. Ship leaves at 3 pm - so I am assuming all aboard will be 2 pm.

That has me a little concerned about doing a non RCCL tour. I looked on Viator and the excursions were pretty long. But I will check Trip Advisor. Plus Wow - 5 Cruises on the Wonder! Enjoy - that sounds amazing.

That makes sense. Everyone should do what they feel comfortable with and I agree the early departure makes things different and problematic. I have a few of those early departures booked in Costa Maya. There's an all-inclusive beach club we really enjoyed there a while back and would love to return to but I'm not going to bother if we have to leave right after lunch.

We have a weird St. Thomas docking time of 12:30-8pm next March and have been looking at an independent catamaran snorkeling with turtles excursion as well. Fortunately they work around the cruise schedules so they have a morning sailing and then an afternoon one that will leave us plenty of time to get back to the ship. I'd rather go in the morning but what can ya do?

And thanks. I refuse to drive to South Florida b/c we live an hour from PC so we pretty much just sail whatever ships are there. Wonder is a bit overpriced but we loved our first cruise on her in June so I'm not complaining (too much). I'd happily sail an older Oasis class ship again but I do like that Wonder has Mason Jar, Playmakers, and El Loco Fresh... plus the large enclosed Solarium was very nice.

I'm frugal but everyone has their preferences and skipping the extra 3 hour or so drive each way (plus gas) is worth it to me.

Sorry for rambling and not being more helpful. Hopefully someone can chime in with info on your original question.

[CrznTxn]

We were at St Thomas this past week and we caught a truck/cab at the port to Magens Bay with other folks just as you get off for $12 each/each way. The entrance to the park is $5 pp. The water is amazing and we saw turtles, squid, stingrays and tons of fish. We snorkeled the entire day over the whole bay which is quite large. Did not have any problem getting back to port as the taxi's are all around and they go back and forth throughout the day. About a twenty minute ride and they drop you off at the shopping area right across from the ship entrance. We bring our own snorkel gear but you can rent it there at the beach. They also have food available. We got there as soon as we could and got a picnic bench under a tree for shade all day to the right of the entrance for my granddaughter who did not want to snorkel as much as her brother, dad or me.

[Sev1020]

Thank you CrzTxn. That sounds amazing

[Cruisetraveler949]

I agree to book directly with tour operators.  The cruise ship excursions have large groups.  There's a similar tour with only 6 people on the tour for $89 

[cruisefam86]

Look up oceansurfari. They were amazing! Provided transportation to and from the ship. Take you over to St Johns to two different snorkeling spots. After snorkeling its open bar. We had maybe 10-12 people on the boat with us that held 40

[Obdave]

Did a private snorkeling tour with Stthomasadventures this past May.  Just our small group, at an off the beaten path locals beach I’m not allowed to mention. The folks were wonderful and accommodating and mentioned we had dodged a bullet by booking privately as the large cruise excursions all go to the same places and flood the area with so many folks the turtles and fish leave the area. We saw many turtles, including juveniles, octopus,squid,rays, tons of fish and had a cooler of beer ready for us at the end of the day. The only amenities were a couple of food trucks, shrimp pates so good, and a “rustic” bathhouse and outdoor showers.

Wouldnt hesitate to book with them again

[Sev1020]

Thank you. Sounds Amazing