Before we left on our trip, Lee and I invested in our own snorkel gear.  The few times we've gone before, we have rented gear and the experience has never been flawless.  Since we knew we would be snorkeling most every day from the beach, we determined it was worth it to buy our own and bring them with us.  We made the right move.

The snorkeling on St. John is better than most places I've ever been to (although nothing quite competes with the Red Sea).   The water is crystal clear and surprisingly calm.  It is also a perfectly pleasant temperature.  Nearly the entire island is surrounded by coral reefs, all of which are protected by the national park, and home to thousands of fish.  All of these factors make for pretty perfect snorkeling.   We most certainly enjoyed it.

We snorkeled at nearl y every beach we visited (except for those that we arrived at only for sunset) and saw so many fish!  Our #1 spot was probably Perkins Cay, a collection of rocks and coral within swimming distance from Denis Beach.  There we saw our first turtle and chased a school of beautiful tang fish.  But those were just some of the hundreds of fish we saw there.  And in water that just was perfect in every sense of the word.  Our #2 spot was our last snorkel spot on our last day, and it was on the west side of Honeymoon beach.  There we saw a barracuda, juvenile damsel fish and hundreds of grunt fish.

Perkins Cay and Honeymoon were are top two places, but we had a couple of additional stops that rivaled them - but those weren't accessible from the beach.  We reached those during the best day of them all - the day we were on the Hobie.  (see separate post)

As for all the fish that we saw, I can name just a few.  I know we saw more, but my memory fails me and so does my expertise. But here's the list....

• Four Eye Butterfly Fish
• Angel Fish
• Barracuda
• French Grunt
• Yellow Tail Snapper
• Sergent Major
• Damsel Fish
• Fairy Basslet
• Parrotfish (all kinds - and I mean ALL kinds)
• Trumpt Fish
• Smooth Trunk Fish
• Sand Diver (or a stone fish)
• Squirrel Fsh
• Tangs
• Sting Ray
• Turtles