Bahamas Snorkeling thoughts

[DisneyByMarriage]

Looking for snorkeling reviews for Nassau day. We are going on the Disney Wish in summer (next year, super far away I know) and wanted to get thoughts on the snorkeling options, specifically Pearl Island snorkeling package versus the Catamaran package. I’ll have three boys, aged 12, 10 and 8, and we offered Atlantis water park but they all said they wanted to snorkel and see fish in their natural habitat. I did the catamaran one awhile back and I remember thinking the water was deep, but we would rather pay for a snorkeling excursion and see corals and fish than just do snorkeling rentals alone. Kids will all have finished proper swim lessons by this time, so while mom will be nervous, I know they will be safe.

TIA.

 

[Dug720]

I've not been to Pearl Island, but I did the catamaran several years ago. I thought they had noodles that those who were not as confident in the water could use.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I want to start with I love snorkeling and have many times over the years from everything to rivers with big alligator gar, sounds with manatees, and various tropical places like Hawaii and the Bahamas.

First, I just want to talk about the excursion you're talking about. At Pearl Island (I've never been but I have been researching for my next cruise) generally I've seen they give you a life jacket you can put around your waist and you go out and snorkel. The staff there are feeding the fish drawing them in so usually there is TONS of fish to see. There is some really good videos on YouTube where you can see people snorkeling there.

Snorkeling can be a struggle when you're on a "tour" like that because you need to keep up with the pace. So for someone like me its no problem but on one of my last cruises I took my 8 year old son (strong swimmer) and my 11 year old nephew (decent swimmer) out in Cozumel. We all had life jackets but it was a disaster. My son did perfectly fine to the point I had to try to slow him down but my nephew really did not have a great time. He seemed to panic and worry about everything which meant 95% of the time he was bobbing around in the water with his head out not looking at anything. Keep in mind, my nephew is all about nature, fish, outdoorsy stuff, etc. I think the part that really got him is that we were on a tour so it made him feel rushed which made the whole situation worst.

He is coming on our November cruise and we've opted to snorkel in Castaway Key instead. They don't feed the fish (at least not that I've seen) so there isn't as many but you see more acting naturally in the area. Plus some of the "reef" is Disney items! Its at your own pace so it'll be a much better experience for him (and some younger siblings that are coming and will do it for the first time) -- Also I wanted to add, with all this happening in Cozumel I was working with him the whole time which meant I also didn't get to really enjoy the experience.

So for a first time I'd really consider doing it at castaway key.

 

[Nickel78]

I want to start with I love snorkeling and have many times over the years from everything to rivers with big alligator gar, sounds with manatees, and various tropical places like Hawaii and the Bahamas.

First, I just want to talk about the excursion you're talking about. At Pearl Island (I've never been but I have been researching for my next cruise) generally I've seen they give you a life jacket you can put around your waist and you go out and snorkel. The staff there are feeding the fish drawing them in so usually there is TONS of fish to see. There is some really good videos on YouTube where you can see people snorkeling there.

Snorkeling can be a struggle when you're on a "tour" like that because you need to keep up with the pace. So for someone like me its no problem but on one of my last cruises I took my 8 year old son (strong swimmer) and my 11 year old nephew (decent swimmer) out in Cozumel. We all had life jackets but it was a disaster. My son did perfectly fine to the point I had to try to slow him down but my nephew really did not have a great time. He seemed to panic and worry about everything which meant 95% of the time he was bobbing around in the water with his head out not looking at anything. Keep in mind, my nephew is all about nature, fish, outdoorsy stuff, etc. I think the part that really got him is that we were on a tour so it made him feel rushed which made the whole situation worst.

He is coming on our November cruise and we've opted to snorkel in Castaway Key instead. They don't feed the fish (at least not that I've seen) so there isn't as many but you see more acting naturally in the area. Plus some of the "reef" is Disney items! Its at your own pace so it'll be a much better experience for him (and some younger siblings that are coming and will do it for the first time) -- Also I wanted to add, with all this happening in Cozumel I was working with him the whole time which meant I also didn't get to really enjoy the experience.

So for a first time I'd really consider doing it at castaway key.

not sure I would want to snorkel where they are feeding the fish, I mean that seems like it could attract sharks. Is that at Pearl Island or the Catamaran snorkel excursion?

 

[Calantha]

I'm going to throw in my 2 cents on snorkeling. I have 1 son, who is now 8. He is an okay swimmer (better than he was last year for sure).

Last year (when he was 7), we went on a group tour like @OpieDoodle but on St. Thomas. It was a disaster. He hated it, I hated it. The water was rough, and we basically had to get back on the boat. There were 70 people jammed on it too. Never again.

This year, I booked private off-the-shore snorkeling in Bonaire and Curacao, and he had the best time and can't wait to go back. I have already booked a semi-small group for Tortola in October, and I'm working on an off-the-shore and/or small group for Cozumel in January. Also, planning to snorkel on CC of course. We haven't done it before, but I've heard it can be far, so life jackets for sure.

We aren't going back to Nassau for some time, but I'd likely try to do the same, at least until he's a few years older.

 

[Marthasor]

Snorkeling, in general, in the Bahamas, isn't great and there is no guarantee you will see anything. For Pearl Island, do you snorkel from the beach? If so, I would probably do that one with younger kids. I have snorkeled all over the world with DS since he was fairly young, but I have always been able to offer him one-to-one supervision (and even had a guide who decided to stick close to him when we snorkeled in incredibly deep water in French Polynesia). I, personally, would feel more comfortable snorkeling from a beach if I had 3 younger kids to supervise. It sounds like the Pearl Island excursion offers more than just snorkeling as well so, if the snorkeling is a bust, there are other things you can do. If you want a great snorkeling experience, go to Bonaire!

 

[DisneyByMarriage]

Thanks all. So to be clear my husband and I and quite possibly another adult will be with us, and when we do snorkel the kids will be 12, 10 and 8 (so not too young, able to swim and at most 1:2 ratio). I think we ruled out the catamaran since that leaves you on a boat if you don’t like the area of snorkeling; and we are planning on doing castaway cay as well but my kids specifically want to see decent sized fish. It does look like pearl island leaves from a beach so if one of the kids hates it one parent can bail or we can take him shallower. Our other option is Blue lagoon, which I think will be a longer boat trip to and slightly more money, but if we do opt for that we can do a sea lion or dolphin encounter. I know a lot of people will opt to stay on the boat but we want to take them off the boat, so the excursion and of course get some conch!