TRIPS

/

NORTH AMERICA

The Best Sailing Vacations for Incredible Snorkelling Spots

Glide past parrotfish, spotted eagle rays and green turtles while snorkelling on an unmissable Culture Trip sailing holiday – with destinations including the Caribbean, Seychelles and French Polynesia.
Mark Nayler
18 Mar 2022
From turquoise South Pacific lagoons to plane wrecks in the Bahamas, these eight-day, fully catered sailing trips will take you to some of the best places to snorkel in the world. After a day spent spying on underwater life, resurface to sunbathe on white sand beaches and soak in thermal volcanic springs, topped up with sundowners on deck. Here’s our rundown of the best TRIPS by Culture Trip that pair sailing with snorkelling.
1 . Swim through the renowned Baths on this chartered excursion to the British Virgin Islands
Snorkelling is a daily fixture on this voyage through the British Virgin Islands. Not only will you explore the high-visibility reefs of Sandy Cay and Peter Island, you’ll also head to Virgin Gorda to swim through the Baths, a forest of granite boulders that is flooded with seawater. Other highlights include hiking the birdwatching trail on Sandy Cay, a visit to the pink flamingos of Anegada and swimming with sea turtles off Guana Island, where you may also glimpse leaping dolphins.
From$1,283
Next available from28 May 2022
Secure your spot with a low deposit
View Trip
Chat to Us
2 . Barracudas, reef sharks and rays star in this adventure around French Polynesia
Rising out of a blue lagoon, the volcanic island of Bora Bora is the focal point of this South Pacific sailing holiday. Explore coral gardens on a traditional Polynesian canoe before diving beneath the water to swim with barracudas, eagle rays and blacktip reef sharks (if you’re lucky) in the barrier reef. You can also enjoy snorkelling off the white beaches of Huahine – home to the sacred blue-eyed eel – and Raiatea, where you’ll have the option of touring a black pearl farm.
From$1,117
Next available from28 May 2022
Secure your spot with a low deposit
View Trip
Chat to Us
3 . Spot sea turtles on this Caribbean yachting trip around the Grenadines
Head to the Grenadines for some of the best snorkelling in the Caribbean. This trip will take you to the calm, teal waters of Bequia, the archipelago’s northernmost island, before you swim with sea turtles in the Tobago Cays, an uninhabited atoll within a protected marine park, surrounded by a barrier reef. You’ll also need your swimwear for a dip in the natural pool underneath Saint Vincent’s Dark View Falls, and to soak in the hot springs around the Soufriere volcano in Saint Lucia.
From$1,107
Next available from28 May 2022
Secure your spot with a low deposit
View Trip
Chat to Us
4 . Snorkel in one of the Indian Ocean’s most diverse marine parks in the Seychelles
Snorkelling dominates this Seychelles adventure, which kicks off with a visit to the Sainte Anne Marine Park, established in 1973 as the first of its kind in the Indian Ocean. While swimming over seagrass meadows and coral gardens, you’ll hopefully meet hawksbill turtles, manta and eagle rays and, if luck is on your side, bottlenose dolphins. Further opportunities for snorkelling arise off the white beaches of Grande Soeur and in the luminous waters around St Pierre, a 5sqkm (2sqmi) islet off Praslin.
From$1,730
Next available from6 Jun 2022
Secure your spot with a low deposit
View Trip
Chat to Us
5 . Explore a James Bond film location while sailing around the Bahamas
Encounter technicolour tropical fish in two unforgettable settings on this sailing trip around the Bahamas. First up is Thunderball Grotto on Staniel Cay, a series of underwater caves named after the James Bond film in which they appeared, and inhabited by shimmering shoals of angelfish and yellowtail snappers. Next up is Norman’s Cay, where you’ll snorkel the coral-covered wreck of a plane that crashed in the 1970s on an ill-fated mission for Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
From$1,187
Next available from28 May 2022
Secure your spot with a low deposit
View Trip
Chat to Us