It's All About the Snorkeling!

Time for a new video! We have been sailing around the US and British Virgin Islands for a little over two months, and we have had some fantastic snorkeling experiences. Check out the short video I put together to see some of our favorite shots. David and I have taken a lot of footage, but we are still new to filming underwater so much of it was unusable. We are learning how to get better though!

While we have been here, we usually haven't gone more than two or three days without snorkeling. It is pretty awesome to just be able to jump off the boat anytime we want and swim a short distance to see interesting sea life. Snorkeling has become a favorite pastime of mine!

Whenever I go somewhere new, I always look on-line to find the top things to do in that area so I thought I would make a list of my favorite snorkel spots in the USVI and BVI.

Here you go, from most favorite to least favorite.

1) The Indians, BVI - The Indians are four tall, protruding rocks close to Norman's Island, and the only way to get there is by boat. You snorkel in about 50 feet of water, but the water visibility is great. You can see all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Lots of tropical fish, sea fans, and elkhorn coral. It reminded me of being in an aquarium.

2) Waterlemon Cay, St. John, USVI - Nearby is the Annaberg Plantation Ruins that are accessible by car, and a trail next to the waterfront runs from the ruins to a spot on the beach where you can swim to the cay. We just jumped in from the boat since we were on a mooring ball that was close by. You snorkel in 5-10 feet of really clear water and then can relax on the little sandy cay before the swim back. There were fewer fish here than at the Indians, but you will see a good variety. I was impressed with the number and beauty of the sea fans. It is definitely worth a stop.

3) Salt Pond Bay, St. John, USVI - This beach is accessible by car, but the best snorkel spot is kind of a far swim from the beach. The depth here is about 10-15 feet, and the underwater scenery was similar to Waterlemon Cay. I loved the pillar coral, which is the finger-like structure in the video. Near the beach there is a lot of sea grass so you have a pretty good chance of seeing some turtles.

4) Cistern Point, Cooper Island, BVI - A great spot in shallow water to see a lot of coral, small fish, and large sea urchins. This is were the big school of blue tang was filmed. We even saw an eel here, which are hard to find because they stay tucked away out of sight.

5) Buck Island, St. Croix, USVI - Buck Island is uninhabited and located a few miles from St. Croix. It has a beautiful beach on the west side, a good snorkel spot on the east side, and a trail up to the lighthouse, which is a hike but worth the view. There was a lot of coral here, but a good majority of it was dead. It was still a pretty snorkel spot, and we saw large schools of blue tang.

The best part of snorkeling is not knowing what you will see until you get out there...whether it is a starfish, bright, colorful fish, a ray, sand dollars, a shark, or turtles. Almost every trip is a cool, unique experience.