Rough Water in Elbow Cay

Jan 08, 2010
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Best TimesTo Snorkel
by: Galen & Nicole

Margot, sorry to hear you could not snorkel. And thanks for your suggestion of adding more info about the best times of year to snorkel at different spots. I do have some general recommendations for some areas, but I will focus on it more in the future.

And for sure, there are better and worse times to visit different areas, and we study up on that before every trip. But even so, we had a few trips where we could not snorkel for a week because of winds. And we have been very frustrated by it. But then again, it is nature, and we love it for what it is.

And some places can be kind of funny. For example when we researched the best times to visit Cozumel, we thought it would be very similar to Belize and some other Caribbean locations, around March and April before the rains and hurricane season starts. But because of a particular wind and current situation in Cozumel, the time divers and snorkelers like the most is July and August, because the water is clearest then. Yes you risk the hurricane season, but you get trip insurance.

The best time to snorkel Hawaii is almost always in the middle of summer. You can snorkel many spots in other seasons, but the winds really pick up on the north and east sides.

Besides wind and rain, there are other considerations that we take in to account. For example we don't like crowds, so we will often go on the edge of busy seasons (it also saves a bit of money).

Another consideration is the water temperature. We like pretty warm water and since we come from Arizona we don't mind hot weather. That is one of the reasons we went to the Florida Keys in May. The water was warm, it was right before the rainy season started, and we missed a bit of the crowds.

Some locations though if you don't go during the busy season the boat companies will often cancel snorkel trips because they don't have enough people.

So picking the right time of year can be kind of a personal decision. For this year we are going to Bonaire in mid to end of April, right after busy season drops off (not a problem for boats because it is almost all shore access). Supposedly Bonaire is good almost any time of the year. And then we are planning on doing Cozumel in July/August for the reasons listed above and are generally planning on fall for Australia because their seasons are opposite of ours (we have to research this more though).

I hope this helps.

P.S. For anyone else lost as to what Bonefishing is click here.

Rough Water in Elbow Cay

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