Best coral reef snorkelling locations?

[mrbluefox]

Afternoon all - first time poster, long time holiday snorkeller, wannabe free diver and partial scuba diver!

So having snorkelled and dived mainly in the Red Sea (Sharm, Marsa Alam) and Maldives, I’m looking for the next adventure.

Being in the UK and not close to good coral reefs in less than 6 hours by air, research is key as I don’t want it to ruin a holiday!

So does anyone have any recommendations or links to sites that have some good lists? Ideally I’m looking for healthy, colourful reefs, plenty of fish life and a good relaxed holiday destination too.

A cross between Maldives lifestyle and Red Sea coral health would be a good place to start..

 

[Stephan Whelan]

@mrbluefox - fairly tough criteria for now I'd suggest a few options:

1. Indonesia - Komodo National Park is awesome
2. Hawaii
3. Caribbean - lots of options here including British Virgin Islands, Grenada
4. Great Barrier Reef
5. Galapagos - although would be better on scuba
6. I would be remiss in not mentioning the Farnes Islands in the UK - some epic snorkeling there with Grey Seals.

 

[erixsparhawk]

@mrbluefox - fairly tough criteria for now I'd suggest a few options:

1. Indonesia - Komodo National Park is awesome
2. Hawaii
3. Caribbean - lots of options here including British Virgin Islands, Grenada
4. Great Barrier Reef
5. Galapagos - although would be better on scuba
6. I would be remiss in not mentioning the Farnes Islands in the UK - some epic snorkeling there with Grey Seals.

10+ years ago I would have put Hawaii BI on the top of the list, it was spectacular, but between lava flows, and anthropocentric conditions I would drop Hawaii down to number 5 or 6. Galapagos has a lot going for it other than the diving, but agree otherwise that it is better scuba than snorkeling.