FlyingXplorer

We love snorkeling. But we prefer to do it from the shore or beach without having to take a car or boat ride.

What places or specific hotels have great snorkeling within an easy walk from the hotel?

I post this in the Caribbean forum, but I'm eager to learn about places worldwide. Having said that, we live in Houston, so something easily accessible from there would be a great plus.

lhgreengrd1

Caneel Bay on St. John. Sheraton Black Rock on Maui are a couple that spring to mind.

TheHawk2002

St. John is fabulous. My favorite island of all. I don't consider StJ easy to get to from IAH.
Search for shore diving and you'll find shore snorkeling. My caveat below is no night life except underwater!
Roatan, Honduras - easy direct flight from IAH - has Cocoview which truly caters to divers but there a number of return snorkelers there as well. Huge front yard for snorkeling. Amazing front yard.
Curacao - Go West apartments has amazing snorkeling in front of apartments. They have a deal that includes car rental with apartment. Lots of places for easy snorkel. However steep steps to water usually. Amazing island with amazing people. Best stewed goat.
Wakatobi, Indonesia - high end - best of all worlds. Good shore dives with boats as well. High end price. Amazing service. Amazing protected reef. The most abundant life I've ever seen.
And if you want to learn to dive in Houston, I can give you some excellent recommendations.

FlyingXplorer

Thanks! This is most helpful!

Djlawman

Consider the Westin in Grand Cayman. Great snorkeling right off the beach. Or, take a quick short bus ride down to Cemetery Reef for some additional snorkeling (although it's a bit off-shore).

hosian

Just got back from Cancun/Riviera Maya area. There are tons of resorts/hotels that fit your criteria. I also live in Houston and there are direct flight to Cancun. Resorts are all-inclusive and you can get some really great deals.

We stayed at the Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe and we woke up every morning and head to the beach which was our backyard playground. We snorkled and saw tons of fishes and turtles.

FlyingXplorer

Thanks! Great tips. I can't wait to go snorkeling again.

jjc781

Good place is right next to the el cozumeleno, walk to the beach from the hotel take a left which is south, then walk to the playa azul hotel have breakfast at the restaurant on the water, get nice and full walk about 200 feet to a nice cove and let the current take you back to the el cozumeleno. Great snorkeling and enjoy the ride.

VickiSoCal

Curacao- Marriott and Hilton (right next to each other)

Traveljunkie8

Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain on St. Lucia. 20 feet off of the beach is the best snorkeling I've ever done. In fact it ruined me. I later did more snorkeling like at Black Rock in Maui or Molokini crater, and these were wastelands compared to Anse Chastenet beach.

RichSchieber

St. John is fantastic for snorkeling from shore, but to really enjoy the best spots--even the good ones--you need to drive a bit and get away from the hotels. We're snorkel fanatics--love it so much that we created & published a snorkeling guidebook for Maui--so we hit "all" the spots while in St. John. Loved it. An all around great place to snorkel.

Maui also has great snorkeling from shore. You can access nearly everything, except Molokini, without hopping on a boat. As far as hotels within easy walking distance, I'd have to say anything along the Wailea Beach Path. There are several snorkel spots along here with great snorkeling. Another great spot is the Makena Golf & Beach Resort. It has fantastic snorkeling. A lot of people will point to Black Rock at Ka'anapali. I'm not a huge fan. It's an interesting snorkel, but suffers from overcrowding. However Kahekili Beach is a short walk away.

If you decide to head to either St. John or Maui, send me a PM and I'll pass along a few favorite spots.

ironmanjt

Several years ago I did some amazing snorkeling in Bonaire. It was a 5 minute boatride from shore, but everyone told me it was also great from the shore.

Just in case it's in the back of your mind, I finally got off my butt and got Scuba certified a few years back and regret not doing it sooner. If you have an inclination, I'd highly recommend

CanfordCliffs

My vote is Wailea, Lanai, Fiji (very very good at the latter but you might need a small boat trip for the best bits of snorkling). I've reviewed my favourites on my blog. I reccommend Four Seasons Wailea, Four Seasons Manele Bay or Tides Reach Resort in French Polynesia.

SAT Lawyer

The Hilton Moorea, in my opinion, has the best snorkeling in the world, from right off the deck of your overwater bungalow.

slawecki

when i dove town pier in bonaire 15-20 years ago with dee scarr,http://www.touchthesea.com.. she was the only guide back then, , we were the only ones diving the pier that week.. appears to have been discovered. http://www.scuba-diving-smiles.com/s...n-bonaire.html

this is a very shallow, shore night dive. can be snorkeled. but is better with tanks.