Awesome snorkeling adventure with a great crew!
Brett_B, Apr 2022
Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritaville
For those who complained about this, I am sure there are some private charters that will serve you bacon, omelets, English muffins and such).
We signed up for the Snorkeling tour to St. John from Margaritaville for April 11th, 2022. According to the website the excursion could have up to 70 people which made me wonder if it would be too crowded. However, when we arrived it turned out the excursion was split up between two boats. Our boat, the Jonny Quest, had only 14 passengers plus the crew of Capt. Dan and Mike as the First Mate/Cook/bartender and everything else. We boarded a bit late but because of the speed of this craft we easily were able to get to the first snorkeling spot.
First off, Dan and Mike were super friendly, helpful, and funny guys. They took us to 3 different sites to snorkel which were very nice.. My wife is not a real strong swimmer but with the salty water and the snorkeling vest she had no issues in the water and both the Dan & Mike helped her out immensely. For instance, we brought our own fins, mask and snorkel but my wife's fin strap broke. Dan spent some time trying to fix it from his kit but fortunately he had a spare set of fins that fit my wife well with her wearing her water shoes. So she did not miss out on the snorkeling so many thanks to Dan! Turns out Dan is also a Scuba Divemaster, like myself, plus worked in the IT industry before retiring to this job....which I also work in and am also a divemaster so we bonded over that.
Ok, for the tour itself. The spots you stop at are based upon how many other ships are currently tethered at different locations and also determined by water conditions. Since the ships have to use buoys to anchor to so as not to drop anchors on coral there is a limited number of spots at each location. But from them talking it sounds like they do some research before we head out and make decisions on the fly based upon what they hear. As for the snorkeling itself, if you have never done it, you of course wear fins that you put your whole foot into so you do not need water shoes. You then wear a snorkeling vest which you can inflate using a mouthpiece. However, do not think you will need to tread water that much as you will float like a cork with just a little bit of air in the vest. And for the mask and snorkel, it is very easy to clear and they provide anti-fog spray for the mask each time you enter the water. I loved swimming around and seeing the different coral and underwater features. We did not see a whole bunch of sea life but we wonder if it was because of all the other boats in the area. As for the water, it was pretty clear with the 3rd stop being the clearest(see the picture of some coral that I took at that spot).
During the tour, we were fed a continental breakfast of pastries and fruit. It was nothing really fancy and helped get us the carbs we would need for the snorkeling. (For those who complained about this, I am sure there are some private charters that will serve you bacon, omelets, English muffins and such).
The lunch was very nice with shrimp cocktail, bread, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, mixed vegetables with dressing(really tasty!), and a few other items including some desert type brownies...no not those brownies, this isn't Jamaica :) So again, nothing real fancy but you are on a small boat and you really don't need to have a large meal if you are snorkeling.
They also had alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks they provided too. I just had the Painkillers which trust me, after getting out of the water with salt water in your mouth they are very tasty(and go down WAY too easily!) They also had some beer and other drinks but mainly rum based ones. And even though they were unlimited, nobody on our boat got stupid from drinking. Also for those reviews complaining about them not making margaritas or other non-rum based drinks there are some private tours that I am sure could accommodate you.
One other thing if you were not aware, when you get to the dock they will have you put your shoes into a bin and is secured until you return. The reason for this is to keep people from getting sand on the boat and cushions and also to avoid tearing up where you sit, at least on our boat, you actually climbed down onto the seating area. Also be aware that you should NOT bring spray on sunscreen as that will cause a hazard to everyone on the boat as it can create a slick surface. Additionally, if you were not aware, you need to only use Reef Safe sunscreen. This isn't the tour group but rather the USVI can fine you up to $1000 for using a non-safe version.
Also for our boat, about half to 2/3 of it was shaded but I am not sure if the rest or like that. If you are like myself and burn easily, make sure to use that Reef Safe sunscreen frequently...especially if you are in an unshaded area. I noticed that Captain Dan actually put on quite a bit of a tan from when he first picked us up and when we returned.
But we had a WONDERFUL time on our first excursion on the USVI and Cpt. Dan and Mike really made it memorable for our first adventure there!
Thanks guys!
EN
