I'm looking for suggestions for awesome shore snorkeling from around the globe. A spot where you can set up for the day - close to accommodations and swim / snorkel all day! We love Hawaii but it's hard getting around without at car and accommodations and rental cars are $$$$.

Following!

My home. Cayman Islands.

ILden I was surprised no one said Grand Cayman! Definitely some of the best snorkeling I've ever had!
https://snorkelaroundtheworld.com/.../grand-cayman.../
SNORKELAROUNDTHEWORLD.COM
15 Grand Cayman snorkeling beaches | Snorkel Around The World

https://fb.watch/73Ney5FoUa/

Huatulco, Mexico. Several lovely beaches for all-day enjoyment.

Marlene yes, our best snorkeling since the Great Barrier Reef!

Lady Elliot Island, Australia

West bay beach Roatan

Darren I second WEST Bay …check out Infinity Bay resort ….amazing snorkeling right off your beach .

Darren I third that. Best I have experienced!

The island of Culebra (is a very short flight on a little plane) near Puerto Rico. Lots of tiny and big beaches. We snorkeled with turtles one day. It was awesome.

I second what Darren said, West Bay, Roatan.

Lissenung Island, Papau New Guinea
https://www.papuanewguinea.travel/.../lissenung-island...
PAPUANEWGUINEA.TRAVEL
Lissenung Island Resort | Papua New Guinea

Cheyanna
Indonesia

Misool eco resort in raja ampat villa flora coral on Gili t

San Pedro, Belize!! Check out Casa Nova Cabanas.
Nova Parel is an awesome hostess! You won’t be disappointed!!! And the whole island drives golf carts. Feel free to message me with any questions!!

Tammy looks amazing - with covid the cancellation policy is tough - which is fair - but with world uncertainty risky now. Will put it on the list for "normal times" !

Donna what’s their cancellation policy? I’m sure it’s been modified with covid?
Nova Parel?

Denise Boniface recommendation?

Roatan or Little Corn

Akumal north of PV has amazing snorkeling

Laurie I second Akumal

Gili trawangan in Bali, Indonesia. Otherwise known as Gili T! It's an island and you can get around it by bike or horse carriage. It's so beautiful, so much to do and see. There are other islands close by which you can do for day trips via boat.

CAYE CAULKER, BELIZE! tiny island, look up Carlos snorkeling tours, we had an awesome day swimming with the sharks on his yach

Ras what airport do you fly to?

Caroline

Caroline it's a 25 min bus ride to the ferry, then another 20-30 min boat ride to caye caulker Island

Cook Islands....many beaches where you can just swim 50 ft out to the reef or rent a sup to get out further...

And Belize is cheap af

Roatan, Honduras. You can walk to off shore snorkelling that is first class. Check out the
Reservations Splash Inn hotel. Owned by Canadians, super clean, great food, they have a dive shop on site for those who Scuba, or want to learn to Scuba.
You can also book Fishing w them.
They have recently opened up after months of closure due Covid.
DURING the entire closure, all of their staff were provided w weekly groceries - as there are no social programs like in Canada.

Ps... once you get to your hotel, you can walk almost everywhere you want to go, or a short water taxi ride.

Snorkelling off the dock in Roatan was my favourite holiday ever!

Amber Cammish
Red Sea, Egypt. Dahab, sharm, nuwieba, marsa Alam all have amazing shore dives

Roatan. St Lucia.

Aruba, Bonaire all walk off the beach.

Little corn island. Nicaragua

Ambergris caye, Belize. Stayed in a hostel on the beach for 8 bucks us per night. Snorkelling tours everyday to different spots. Mexican rocks, swim with sharks, turtles, rays....incredible.

Los Cabos has place you can snorkel right off of the beach. Also, Cozumel has a hotel (used to be Plaza Las Glorius) where you could step off of the dock at the hotel and the snorkeling was amazing.

Fitzroy island australia

Belize!!! San Pedro 2nd to Australia and direct flights from Calgary

Chantel when are the direct flights? I can't find them for Jan.

Donna San Pedro isn’t on the mainland (North America). We flew to Cancun; took bus to Chetamul and spent the night. Took 21/2 hour water taxi next day. Note there’s a water taxi every day going there @ 3 pm.
There’s small local planes from the area; very expensive and getting the information from here is complicated.
FYI San Pedro and Caye Caulker are $$$. We enjoyed our 10 days there, but wouldn’t go back.
PS We flew out of Edmonton to Cancun.

Robbin can I ask, what’s the benefit of flying into Cancun vs Belize city? Is it cheaper?

Kristy it’s not quicker and travel agents and friends advised against going to Belize City. They’re not in “tourists” as much of the rest of Belize. Crime very high…. So we just took advice from YEGDeals travellers
.
PS; I think the flight wasn’t direct to Belize City. We would have had to change planes @ Houston. There were more cons flying into Belize City.

Donna we went in Dec 2019. Direct from Calgary to Belize city then a small plane to San Pedro which is on Ambergris Caye

Robbin We drive into Belize City when we stayed in Placentia. I got very bad vibes from the looks of the city folks. We left without getting out of the car. I am not usually in tune with that type of feelings but they were strong that day

Shirley yes.

Belize for sure. Ambergris caye

Roatan. West Bay area. Definitely!

I know you said no Hawaii but this resort is right on the beach and turtles post up on the resort beaches here all the time!
https://www.turtlebayresort.com/?_aiid=13108&teng=go&beng=b&deng=m&keng=turtle%20bay%20oahu&meng=e&peng=&ieng=71895375549&kieng=kwd-40825313&cieng=519368709494&cpieng=2047071306&feng=&cleng=CjwKCAjwxo6IBhBKEiwAXSYBs9bHG_hnEf8lK1cnreQ3mE5XF4u-eK0skmvh2lm7hzmMzANpcUcGbRoCt3EQAvD_BwE&utm_source=ggl&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Turtle_Bay_Resort-Brand-Top_Geos
TURTLEBAYRESORT.COM
Luxury Oahu Resort | Turtle Bay Resort

Koh Phi Phi Thailand

Cozumel has some amazing snorkeling too!

Following

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Akumal, Yucatan, MX. Best ever Heron Island, Queensland, Australia

Roatan Honduras - amazing from the shore snorkeling

Philippines

I have an alternative suggestion if you don’t need to see sea life and just want to swim in a beautiful sea. Today I went to Favignana, Sicily. It’s accessible from Trapani, which has a nice, clean, swimmable beach right in town, but here’s a shot of one of the beaches in Favignana! You can stay on the island and get around by bicycle, and just go to whatever beach captures your imagination that day. Today I spent most of the day swimming at Cala Rossa:

Playa del Carmen

Anita Tymburski
Bunaken Island, Indonesia.

Turks, Barbados

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia https://www.australiascoralcoast.com/region/ningaloo
AUSTRALIASCORALCOAST.COM
Ningaloo Reef | Whale Shark | Western Australia | Coral Coast

Raratonga

Donna 1000 times yes!

Donna yes I loved Roratonga

Isla Mujres Mexico

Koh lipe Thailand. Beautiful beach right from hotel and a great reef!

Bit of a trek to get there... but we LOOOOOOVED Ratotonga, Cook Islands. We stayed at the Muri Beachcomber and it was amazing. Property right off the beach, amazing restaurants within walking distance, night markets etc.
Snorkeling, Swimming etc was crystal clear water. About a 9hr direct flight from LA.

Koh Tao Thailand

Perhentian islands Malaysia

Andrew soooo beautiful

Curacao

Ko Samui or Ko Samet or Phuket in Thailand all have amazing snorkeling experiences for much cheaper than other places!

Following

Great suggestions

Perhentian Islands, Peninsular Malaysia. Fabulous snorkeling.

Arceli Cameron
El Nido Palawan Philippines

Maldives and sharm el sheikh Egypt are my top picks.

Thank you all SO much for the wonderful suggestions. I will make a bucket list from them. We chose Roatan ( west jet credit to use up) and found 2 air bnb's on different parts of the island. Looking forward to checking out many more!

Following

Bonaire is great for shore diving and snorkeling. The reef is very close to shore and the amount of fish you will see is unbelievable.

Lady Elliot island- the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Eco tourism at its finest.

San Pedro Belize. Just amazing the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. You don't have to swim out to the reef, You can just snorkel all around where you are and see so so much

Bay of pigs Cuba

Cook Islands, Rarotonga is about 32 kms around. You can rent scooters or bike. Public transit is cheap but on island time (don't be in a hurry). Most hotels are on the beach or across the road from the beach. The island is surrounded by coral reef. You will find sea turtles, manta rays, and all types of sea life closer to the reef which is an easy swim out.

Heather but go to AMA and get your international drivers license first cause trying to pass it on the island is a nightmare! We were in a class group for 10 people and they only passed 2 on the road test... have to pay for the non-refundable scooter rental BEFORE you pass the test

Svetlana

Utila, Honduras and anywhere in Egypt! I’ve been living in Egypt for 4 years and can tell you that the Red Sea has some of the most incredible reefs and marine life I have ever seen. We dive and snorkel out there all the time and always see new things!