Originally Posted by
ScubaRoo
I hate wearing sunscreen, especially mixing it with water, so I don't. I use a thin 1mm full wetsuit which works best, also removed the need for a lifevest in calm conditions.
I'm doubtful you saw a mantas whilst snorkelling on the house reef, especially as you only went in once. Do you have a pic?
I wasn't wanting a detailed review of snorkelling at the Hyatt from you personally. What my post on TPG article said was that rather than you claiming "its pointless to snorkel from your water villa at the Conrad" To make a proper qualified & equal comparison of snorkelling at both resorts I'd expect to be able to see a review of the Hyatt as detailed as my ones of the Conrad.
Clearly as many have read my review, they understand I loved snorkeing from our water viila and drifting for over an hour travelling a mile along the dropoff. It was certainly not pointless. Given I did it at every opportunity also backs this up.
The current health of the house reef at the Hyatt sounds encouraging, maybe I'll visit the Hyatt one day as part of a 2 resort stay, they might like me reviewing the resort and my attention to detail.
Worded that poorly, no I did not see mantas while snorkeling. I saw them while at the Conrad, none at PH.
And to clarify, I definitely don't feel that snorkeling at the Conrad is pointless. My point (again, probably worded poorly or not well clarified enough), was that I didn't see a point to snorkeling directly off the room vs launching from other spots on the island. For someone who wants to swim over to the house reef FROM the room, I can certainly see why you might feel that was worthwhile. But it seems the distance from most of the retreat villas to the reef is greater than if you were to just swim from the beach. It doesn't seem like having any type of Water Villa gives you an advantage in this regard, and for me I'd just as soon swim from the beach if it's gonna be mostly sand to the edge of the reef anyways. Your report shows a lot of great things in the house reef itself, but doesn't seem to drive the idea that snorkeling directly off the room itself is any better than snorkeling from the beach. VS at the Hyatt, the Water villas are practically at the edge of the reef already, and vs their Park and Pool villas, they are at an advantage for snorkeling.