Favorite snorkeling spots around St John?

Snorkeling spot in Solomon Bay, St John

Right up there debating the 'best BBQ on St John' or the 'best beach' on St John is where the 'best snorkeling spot' is on St John'. The bottom line - for us, at least - is that there is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer!  This week the subject is getting a lot of attention on one of my favorite St John travel forums, the

USVI-on-Line

.  So far in just over 24 hours, 30 people have responded (and there has been more than 3750 views) to the basic question of '

best snorkel spot to see a turtle

'. Earlier the same day, on the same forum, Phyl posed the question of '

what are the top 3 snorkel spots on St John

' which has gotten just about the same level of response.

Day or night dives produce amazing finds around the Virgin Islands

What is your favorite snorkeling spot for seeing turtles? Maho, Francis, Salt Pond, Leinster were high on the lists which also included Scott, and Waterlemon. In other words, just about all over St John!

This picture taken at Maho was posted just yesterday by CptnKirk

As to the

'top 3' best snorkeling spots

? While there was vigorous debate as to the top 3, most will admit that the list changes regularly so people should explore new spots each year. Some of the 'must go' spots seem to be: Waterlemon (especially to see starfish), Saltpond, and Chocolate Hole (our guests swear that some of the best snorkeling around St John - or just about anywhere in the Caribbean - is right below our Villa - Great Expectations -  in Chocolate Hole harbor).  Haulover both North and South depending on the weather, Blue Cobblestone, Vie's beach out in the East End also make the list as do the good old standbys of Cinnamon Bay, Maho, Francis, Hawksnest, and Trunk.

The debate is fun to read. People are passionate about their 'favorite' places. The morale of these forum chats for me is that it is hard not to find good snorkeling around St John. Watch the winds though. If the north shore is getting huge waves then head to places on the south shore like Salt Pond, Vie's, and Chocolate Hole.

Some of the best snorkeling around St John is right in Chocolate Hole harbor

All news and fun facts about the Caribbean and Tropics (and St John, of course)

After you have come in from the cold having shoveled the snow that blanketed many of us over the last several days, grab a warm cup of coffee, tea, or coco and enjoy some of these Blogs that focus on the warmth of the Tropics and Caribbean.  

St John, in the US Virgin Islands, happens to be our favorite island so we tend to head to all things St John, however, we thought it would be fun to include some others here as well:

St John blogs:

We encourage you to bookmark some of our favorite St John blogs & Newspapers:

Great Expectations Blog (well, why not read our blog be first? Hope you enjoy it)

News of St John

On-St John 

St John's Full Moon taken by Gerald Singer
author of the See St John blog 

See St John 

St John Source

Virgin Islands On Line/St John - great forum where people bring up just about any topic regarding St John

St John Sun Times monthly free newspaper & website which, sadly, is ending its monthly newspaper as of April 2013

St John Tradewinds monthly newspaper, subscription based & website

Virgin Island Daily News this is the only Virgin Islands newspaper, think of it as our 'New York Times' and 'Washington Post'; published 5 days a week; subscription based & website

There are also great Blogs that focus on Caribbean and Tropical activities, adventures, gifts, places. A couple of the best are:

Tropicalogy: how to be Tropical -  A fairly new blog featuring fun tropical art, gifts including music, photos and ideas about great tropical places to visit. Billy Walsh, the owner of the Blog, is committed to hearing from locals about finding the best of on each island.  He has a passion for the tropics and wants to 'infect' you with his love of the island life. Maybe its because Billy lives in the cold of the northeast United States that he admits his "Tropicalogy is dedicated to those who love the tropics and want to bring it into their lives through travel and adventure or capture it in their homes through decor and other products".

One of his first feature posts happened to be about our favorite island - St John - and he got it right about what makes St John so special. Stay tuned (bookmark his page) for posts about other islands and, hopefully, more on St John as well.  

Trunk Bay beach St John US Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands On Line - features travel information and forums for all of the US Virgin Islands. This is possibly the most comprehensive website about the Virgin Islands and most active forums on anything dealing with life or travel to the Virgin Islands.

Rum Shop Ryan - offers information from almost A - Z in the Caribbean starting with  'A' -Ambergris Cave in Belize to U - Utila, just off Honduras. Sorry, no 'Z' yet to be found.  Ryan has his ear to the conch shell and  has fun tweeting and blogging about current happenings on all the islands.  Ryan calls his blog the Caribbean Escape, and why not!