Snorkelling advice - should we bring our gear?

[nutz4travel]

Doing 10 day split between the cliffs and the beach. Wondering if it's worth bringing our snorkel gear? Is there anything to see close to Negril beach or around Catcha?

Thanks!

[Mr. Twister]

The best snorkeling is, without a doubt, at the cliffs. There isnt anything in the beach area other than sand and a few small fish. There are some really nice reefs on the cliffs. Samrara has an awesome protected house reef. Xtabi has a nice snorkeling area with easy access from the sunning rock and has a small sandy beach area to the side. Not sure about Catcha but I'm sure someone else can tell you. Most the cliffs have nice snorkeling areas. I always bring my own gear. I'm sure you can find some gear to rent or borrow but if it doesnt fit right...then you have a leaky mask and thats no fun. You'll also be sticking a used snorkel in your mouth....not my thing either.

If you plan on doing this several times and may use the gear in the future.....go buy a decent set.....and be sure the mask fits correctly. You can get some awesome deals now that it is the end of the summer season.

[Mike_D]

Definitely worth bringing your own gear. My wife and I picked-up a couple good sets at our local warehouse club for ~$35 each. Both sets fit in a 29 inch suitcase, along with all of our clothes.

We stayed at Home Sweet Home and the snorkeling off their cliffs was amazing. Some guests were saying that snorkeling off the cliffs was better than the snorkeling they did when took a glass bottom boat ride out to the reef.

[rinakim]

If nothing else, bring your own mask and snorkel. We did the Wild Thing cruise a couple of years ago and the gear that they had was not the greatest.

Last year we did a snorkelling tour with Famous Vincent ..... best snorkelling experience that I've had (not the best reefs, clarity, variety of fish, etc.) but Vincent made it awesome. He actually goes right into the water with you and leads you through the reef pointing out creatures and even diving down to bring up a few for us to check out.

Rina

[nutz4travel]

Thanks everyone - we already have our gear (we took dive classes a few years back). Will definitely bring the masks and snorkels, just not sure about the fins.

I've read a lot about famous Vincent - where / how do you find him?

Anyone have any pics taken snorkelling around the cliffs? We stopped once on a booze cruise and there was nothing to see...

[Mr. Twister]

Anyone have any pics taken snorkelling around the cliffs?

I've uploaded lots of photos taken in the waters around the cliffs....mostly at the house reef of Samsara. The link is below. Pretty much what I photographed is what you'll see at 20 to 35 feet.

http://negril.com/forum/album.php?albumid=47

[STRIPER]

If nothing else, bring your own mask and snorkel. We did the Wild Thing cruise a couple of years ago and the gear that they had was not the greatest.

Last year we did a snorkelling tour with Famous Vincent ..... best snorkelling experience that I've had (not the best reefs, clarity, variety of fish, etc.) but Vincent made it awesome. He actually goes right into the water with you and leads you through the reef pointing out creatures and even diving down to bring up a few for us to check out.P

Rina

I second that,we had a great time with him earlier this month,I joked that Gerry g had made him famous and he assured me he was already famous great guy,his son ls awesome also ,showed my son around they had a great time out there

[rinakim]

His number is 876-473-6910

Your hotel can call him or if you just watch for him, you'll see him go by the cliffs quite often every day. He charged us $25 each and we just took along a small cooler bag with cold red stripes and water for the ride.

I'm hoping to go out on a trip with him next week. Also going to be getting my open water certification completed with Ken at Dream Team Divers and getting in some scuba too!

[RockRobster]

We always bring our masks and snorkels, but never fins. Vincent has a selection of very used, but serviceable fins on board. We like the snorkeling around Xtabi and make a point of snorkeling there at least once each reach. No need for fins there unless you want to snorkel around the point to the South. We do the jump off the cliff with our gear and that makes for a fun way to start your snorkel! Just be sure to buy a drink or two!

[Mike_D]

We were iffy about bringing our fins, but they fit in our suitcase without any problem so we brought along anyway. Most of the time, if we were staying close to the HSH sun decks, we didn't even use the fins. But if you're going out with Famous Vincent you'll want a pair, even if you borrow some of his.