Snorkeling comparison - Virgin Gorda to St. John

CaribSoul · Post by **CaribSoul** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:59 pm

Greetings! I think this has been asked before, but it may be on the old forum, and pardon me please for straying just a bit off-topic.

We have visited several Caribbean islands, including two visits to St. John. We loved the snorkeling there. We are considering 7-10 days on Virgin Gorda this winter. Is anyone able to give me a comparison on the snorkeling available off the beaches of VG as compared to STJ?

Will we be as happy on VG with the snorkeling? We like to snorkel two sites every day...

Any other VG thoughts I should keep in mind? PM is fine, considering this is mostly a BVI question...

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:05 am

CaribSoul - On the south end of VG, snorkeling at the Baths, Spring Bay, Devil's Bay isn't as good as on St. John, though climbing down and around the Baths and over to Devil's Bay and hiking up or down to Devils Bay is way fun as is snorkeling in the ocean swell near the rocks (you sway back and forth with the fish). Great bar at top of the Baths called Mad Dogs.
Elsewhere, on the west side of VG there is good snorkeling to be had along the reefs off of Little Dix Bay, Savannah Bay, Pond Bay, Mahoe Bay, Nail Bay, and Long Bay. The road is very rough above Mahoe so you definitely need 4WD.
However, when we were on VG in April, the coral bleaching was much more noticeable than what we saw in St. John the week before. Hopefully it has continued to recover because ocean temps haven’t been as extreme as they were last summer.
Up over Gorda Peak to the North Shore, you can take a free water taxi over to the Bitter End resort and snorkel with one of their 2-3 hr trips from there to some of the reefs off shore in and around the North Sound - $10 each for non-guests.
Another big advantage of staying for an extended time in VG would be the ease of a daysail to great snorkeling offshore spots in the BVIs near VG like The Indians or Cooper, Ginger, or Dog Islands.
A lot of daysails from St. John don’t do those areas of the BVIs because of the distance and time/effort involved with customs.
Bottom line is “from the beach” snorkeling isn’t as good as in St. John (where is?), but “offshore” opportunities are better (it is well known for its offshore diving for a reason).
JMQ

CaribSoul · Post by **CaribSoul** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:13 am

I'm sure it is your posts about VG that I remember. Thanks for the reply, very valuable info.

We were lucky enough to snorkel the Indians last January. Amazing! Saw lots of big fish, and a 5-ft reef shark cruising below us.

But as you say, if off-the-beach snorkeling is not as good as St. John, we may reconsider our destination. We just love Waterlemon, Trunk, Cinnamon, Little Lameshur, Honeymoon/Salomon, Salt Pond(geez this list goes on and on...)

Thanks again for your comments!

(p.s., love your avatar)

patr · Post by **patr** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:26 pm

Here is a link to the BVI forum, don't know if you've been there, but there's alot of info available:

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/ ... &Board=bvi

bill · Post by **bill** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:33 pm

i totally agree with jmq. we spent 2 weeks last july on virgin gorda and loved it. i do think the snorkeling is better on st john overall. that said, we rented a house on Mahoe Bay and it was great to be able to walk a few feet to the beach and have a great reef to snorkel. virgin gorda is different than st john. has its own charms. probably our second favorite island, but we did return to st john this july. can't resist. maybe you could split your vacation in half and spend time on each. good luck!!!!

Bluwater · Post by **Bluwater** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:23 pm

bill, what house on Mahoe did you rent? I am really interested in those beachfront villas on Mahoe Bay - at least for 1 week! Any ideas would be most appreciated!

bill · Post by **bill** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:40 pm

hello bluwater

we rented a villa called Open Deck through Virgin Gorda villa rentals. GREAT! it was just the two of us, so we only used one bedroom. The house looks just as it does on the website, if not bettter. view is to die for! you are maybe a 2 minute walk from the beach. I looked at a few other houses on Mahoe Bay, but in my opinion, Open Deck is the best. the price is the best too. Also Mahoe Bay is centrally located on VG so it is easy to get to the Baths or the North Sound. We will definitely stay there again on our next visit. If i can be of any further help, let me know. p.s. you definitely need to rent a car on vg

Bluwater · Post by **Bluwater** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 11:22 pm

Bill,

Thanks so much! I will have to check out Open Deck and consider it for my next visit. I had been looking at homes on Mahoe Bay and was most interested to see that I could have a beachfront villa - but they were out of my budget. Maybe Open Deck will offer me a way to make it happen if it is less expensive than the others.

Thanks-
Blu

bill · Post by **bill** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 10:46 am

hello again bluewater

i too wanted direct beachfront but wasn't in the budget. upon talking to the rental agency, they told me that you actually have a better view slightly above the beach. this was true. when i got there i looked at some of the houses directly on the beach, and from the house you looked at the pool but couldn't actually see the beach due to the hedges put up by the owners for privacy. open deck is one house up and on enough of an incline to have a view of the water and reef. really wonderful, just thought i would pass some valuable info along,

usvi-on-line