klg

Has anyone heard of a reef off of Peter Bay between STJ and Tortolla called Indian Reef?

soggydollar

perhaps do you mean the Indians? it is a snorkeling spot. i just looked at the map and it is in the area of peter island and stj and tortola. we snorkeled there on a day trip and has great snorkeling.

klg

Yes, that's it. We have been visiting STJ for years and have never heard of it unitl recently. YOu mentioned a day trip. We'd like to go snorkleing there on our trip in June. Suggestions??

nanorran

The four Indians - 4 large rocks sticking out of the ocean. We snorkeled there when staying in Tortola. Took a snorkle excursion. It was pretty good there and didn't take too long from Tortola. Not sure how far from St John

soggydollar

we used flyaway charters located in coral bay.
have not been to STJ since 2005, but if you look at the VIonline site, they will have the boats that do assorted day trips. you won't need the whole day for it so you can go to have lunch at the Willie T, snorkel the caves at norman island, etc.
others who have been more recently may have the company names.

ejcrowe

Can someone here compare the snorkeling around the Indians to other daysail destinations within the BVI? My husband, granddaughter and I are strongly considering a daytrip from Virgin Gorda to the Indians this summer. Any input or advice on companies available from VG is much appreciated.

Thanks!

owa

ej, We are going to Tortola and VG 1 May. We are going to take as many snorkeling trips as possible. I will gladly let you know what we experience.

We have been to the Indians to snorkel. It was not the best of days because of waves and visibility, but I definitely think it is worth a trip.

In a little over a week we take our grandkids to Chicago, and then May will come fast. Can't wait. Owa

ejcrowe

Owa, Chicago with the grandkids sounds like fun. Will you fly or drive there from SD?

I look forward to any tips you can send my way, especially daytrips originating from VG. When I was researching my trip to Tortola back in 2005 I remember that most daysails seemed based there rather than VG...

owa

ej, We will fly to Minneapolis, meet the Bemidji crew there and be in Chicago in an hour.

I think you are right about most day trips leaving from Tortola. I think Double D is out of VG. Also, I've been reading about snorkel trips leaving from Bitter End. Will let you know. Owa

klg

thanks for the charter info. CHecked out their website-looks promising. We did a Virgin Gorda charter a few years ago on Stormy Petral with our captains Chris and Andy. Was excellent!!! Have not done a day trip since. How does snorkeling around STJ compare to the BVI's?

soggydollar

I have to admit that I did not snorkel while visiting the BVI"S, except for the Caves and the Indians. I had researched snorkeling on Tortola and there did not seem to be as many spots to snorkel there as we did on STJ, which has almost unlimited snorkeling spots!

klg

unless I hear otherwise may be we'll keep our snorkel trip around STJ-thanks.

cawhite

We are going to the Virgin Islands for the first time this summer. The research I did on www.scubaboard.com seemed to indicate that there is slightly better marine life in the BVI, than the USVI, but that could be from a diving, not snorkeling, perspective. We're going to do combo. scuba dive / snorkel trips in both the USVI and BVI (we're also staying in both locations).

We're doing our BVI combo. dive / snorkel trip with Dive BVI (www.divebvi.com). They were very helpful in answering all of my questions via email. Maybe you could ask them about snorkeling opportunities in the BVI vs. the USVI.

soggydollar

When I said the snorkeling options were greater on STJ, I meant from the beach. There are more beaches and almost all of them have good snorkeling. the Indians and the Caves are BVI territory, but about equal distance from STJ. Also I just remembered snorkeling/diving at Flanagan Island out of Coral Bay. You would need a boat trip to do that one as well. The fish were much bigger out there!!

StanKase

cawhite; The research, not just my opinion, supports thae fact the the areas around St. John are far healthier in terms of coral, fish, etc. than VG or other islands immediately around VG.
A recent article in Skin Diver magazine suggests that 60-70% of the coral is bleached in the B.V. I.s vs, 40% in U.S. V.I.s.
As for diving below 40 feet the conditions are still quite good in and around VG.

soggydollar

StanKase:
You seem to be very knowledgable about the coral reefs. Not sure if your interests are just VI based or all over, but I was just reading in the San Juan Star that the coral reefs around Culebra are very damaged, I forget the numbers, even worse than Vieques.

They also talked about a project to something manmade down to provide a new growing place for coral to help bring it back, in Vieques.

StanKase

soggydollar; I heard about that as well. They did that in Key West several years ago but it takes years for coral to grow and if the waters stay as warm as they have the past 4-5 years the coral will not grow unfortunately.
Just back from the Bay Islands of Hondurad-Roatan. The coral is about 80+% ALIVE and snorkeling was very good almost as good as Caneel was until early 2004. Having not been to Belize in 5 years but based on its location, I would assume the coral, fish, anenomes are in very good shape there as well.
But snorkeling/diving is not for everyone.