Serious Snorkel Devoted Charters-Need Suggestions ASAP

[casco]

I’m on island now and in need of some suggestions for good snorkeling. We’re staying down by Ditleff and were hoping the gate would be open so we could snorkel the point for what is supposed to be good snorkeling.

Because the wife is nervous about the roads and protesting making what she thinks to be death defying trip trip to Coral Bay to snorkel the good spots we have read about (Lameshur, Haulover, Tektite/Beehive), I’m considering trying a snorkel trip that can get us to the good places by boat.
Are there any small outfits that will take 2 people to the Coral Bay side or some good places like Ditleff? If not, any suggestions for other cruises that are focused on serious snorkeling and not the rum punch boat trip with a couple of casual mediocre snorkel stops.

Went to Solomon and Honeymoon today and really nothing too special. We are going to try Cinnamon Bay and Waterlemon tomorrow so any suggestions for other North Shore snorkel places that are real good would be appreciated.

[baseball0717]

TRY LION IN DA SUN 340-626-4783

[lazylane]

You are missing most of what I think is real "island" if you don't head over to Coral Bay - what's to be scared of????? The roads are fine and it only takes 25-30 minutes. Francis is another North shore beach easy to get to.

[UF Prof]

Centerline road is a paved two-laned road. Your top speed will be maybe 20 mph. Just remember to stay on the left! It is not bad at all.
I agree with lazylane, you will miss a lot of the island including Coral Bay, the East End, and Salt Pond road. Depending on the weather, sometimes the North Shore beaches get some wave action that stirs up the sandy bottoms and makes snorkeling visibility poor. In that case, the beaches like Salt Pond and Little Lamster will likely have great snorkeling. Also, on the East End is Vies beach. Ms Vies has a food place there where you pay $2.00/person for entry to her beach. Try her fritters! They alone are worth the trip!
Also, on Salt Pond road there are some good places to stop and eat after snorkeling. My wife swears by the lobster rolls at the Tourist Trap.

Go for it! You and your wife will not regret it!

PS. The right side of Waterlemon and Maho are both excellent, both coral and fish wise.
The south shore beaches tend to be slightly to extremely rocky and reef shoes are nice to have.
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Its been a hell of a ride, destination still unknown!

[Chris @ Work]

With all due respect to your wife, she needs to wind down and go on vacation. Of all the rough roads you might come across, going to Lameshur is the only one but to be honest, going from Ditllef to Cruz can be interesting with the switchbacks. roads to many of the places are nothing serious and as mentioned the speeds are under your control. Go slow and no problems.

If you are out by Maho & Waterlemon, make sure you take in Francis Bay and snorkel the RH side looking to the water. Go straight out ~20 yards into the grass and you should start with turtles and then move north along the shore toward Whistling Cay.

[casco]

Thanks for the good suggestions and after some coaxing and a few glasses of wine, the wife came to her senses and we are going to Coral Bay tomorrow. We will plan for Lameshur and I'd like to find this Tektite/Beehive snorkel that sounds really good from the "Seestjohn" website. Any other must do snorkels if we are making the drive?

Also, is it worth swinging up to Leister/Waterlemon or will this weather pattern make those normally calm areas tough to snorkel? We tried Cinnamon and Jumbie today and both had real bad surf so no go on the snorkel there today; makes me wonder what it is like further up in Leister with the wave pattern getting worse through Wednesday

[UF Prof]

It is very likely that all of the North Shore beaches will be similar. Even if the water is calmer, the bottom will be stirred up with poor visibility. Also, it is a good mile hike to Waterlemon, which sucks if the snorkeling is not good.
I would recommend Salt Pond, particularly the left side facing the water. The beach at Salt Pond is one of my favorites but there is a half mile walk from the parking area down to it, and about 2 miles going back! I think the Tourist Trap is closed on Mondays.
Lameshur is a rocky beach but has good snorkeling, little Lameshur is much more sandy and also has some good snorkeling.

Glad to hear you and your wife are taken the venture. It is definitely worth while.
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Its been a hell of a ride, destination still unknown!

[brooklyn]

They may already be booked for this week but try Long Distance http://stjohnlinks.com/Charters/Long_Distance/Index.htm, a 40 foot sailboat that leaves from Coral Bay (sorry) and hits snorkel spots not accessible by car and small islands nearby. We went with Rick and Robin last March for the day and loved it. Best way to Coral Bay from Ditleff area is to take Gift Hill Road over the Centerline Road. Will save 10 minutes or so going through Cruz Bay.

[Diana2]

With the northshore beaches rough with surf I'd head to Miss Vie's Beach out on the east end or Lameshur or Salt Pond.
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[casco]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and the private messages. Today we went to Lameshure and snorkeled from Big Lameshure all the way out to Tektite and around the point to Beehive Cove. It was really good and not choppy. I will say that we were both pooped when we got back to the car. We almost rested at Donkey Bight but decided to suck it up and head back after seeing the car in sight. We then went over to Salt Pond and hiked to Blue Cobblestone for an afternoon snorkel. That was a longer hike than we expected and very HOT on the way back to the car. There were big crowds at Salt Pond Bay today.

Centerline was an easy drive. After driving to our villa in Fish Bay each day through crazy/steep switchbacks, the wife was expecting Centerline to be like the Fish Bay route the entire way to Coral Bay. When the guide books say it is an “adventure”, they should offer up a caveat that if you are staying in a place like Fish Bay or far North Shore, you have seen the worst of the roads. If you want to appreciate steep switchbacks, take a ride out to Fish Bay sometime