Best reefs in the Carribbean?

[hfp75]

My wife and I stayed here:

http://www.bahamasunset.com/sunset/index.html

BEST snorkeling ever, just below the house off a private landing.....

bring your own snorkel gear.... it is a SMALL island.

AMAZING place that is affordable & rent his jeep to get around.

[Craigdillman]

Just got back from cozumel 2 weeks ago me and my wife logged 14 dives each was pretty good id say, Lots of drift diving and sea fans and swim throughs
? is there really a bad dive site?

[saltcreep]

neoh...that's a pretty loaded question. Destinations will be dependent on your budget. Prices vary all over the Caribbean as do the quality of the diving/snorkelling. That leads to the second part. Are you diving or snorkelling or both? Some areas have fantastic diving, but I wouldn't even bother with snorkelling (not that I'm a fan anyway).

[Treebeard]

Same here. Sharks just love snacking on surfers and snorkelers.

Originally Posted by saltcreep

Some areas have fantastic diving, but I wouldn't even bother with snorkelling (not that I'm a fan anyway).

[Snappy]

It depends on what type of diving you want to do and what you want to see. Grand Cayman & Belize have a good variety of sites.

[FishingGoalie]

We've gone to Grand Cayman for many years (8 or 9). My uncle lived there so we went for a couple months a year. The diving is phenomonal for fish but as for coral not the greatest. The cartography is unlike anywhere else in the world and they have some super sweet wrecks to dive(USS KITTIWAKE). Although corals aren't that great, the Caribbean is not known for corals and no matter where you go the ocean is not going to look like some peoples fish tanks. It would help to know if your going to be diving or snorkelling.

If you go to Grand Cayman i suggest you also take a little trip to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac(Sister islands of Grand Cayman Cayman and much smaller). The diving is equivalent maybe even a little better. Little Cayman is known for its cool dive sites. When we went there was a site where there were 2 Tagged Nassau groupers that you could cuddle with and pet. The fish would even snuggle up to you if you didn't continually pet them Lol. (keep in mind these groupers are 3-4 feet long and are extremely endangered. ) If you go to little cayman get a guide to take you to Tarpon Lake. It is a brackish water lake that was created by a hurricane and tarpon got carried in there during a hurricane. The fishery is crazy, even if you don't fish its a cool thing to see the tarpon school chasing all the fish.
Cayman Brac is more known as a party island. I have never been there so have no personal experiences.

[neoh]

I plan on snorkeling, and diving if time were to allow it. I've never been, though it's something I've always wanted to do.

I do understand that the Caribbean has been on a rapid decline. I've watched numerous documentaries on the subject.

Don't worry about price. I want to see a diverse fish population, and hopefully some decent coral. I would also consider Hawaii. Though, anything further than that is out unfortunately.

From the videos and pictures I've seen, Belize is definitely the way to go. I'll have a look at some of the other suggestions!

[hfp75]

seriously... this is one of my top 2 places....

I have been to Hawaii and Belize...

http://www.bahamasunset.com/sunset/index.html

[saltcreep]

Originally Posted by neoh

Don't worry about price.

Unless you have an unlimited budget price does matter. Prices vary from country to country in the Caribbean. Both for resorts and for overall cost. You can do cheap like Cuba or DR or hit the more expensive places such Turks or St Vincent.

Another thing is that some places don't have great snorkelling from resorts (although beaches are fantastic) so you have to do excursions to get in the water. Keep that in mind.