Snorkeling Palm Beach
You don’t have to go scuba diving to explore Florida’s waters. Snorkeling can give you a fun underwater experience without all the training and equipment! When you want your beach vacation to go beyond sunbathing and swimming, snorkeling is ideal. While it might seem silly, visitors and locals have a great time snorkeling to see what’s underneath the water’s surface. It’s a fun water activity for kids, although adults can have a blast snorkeling as well! Palm Beach and the surrounding area gives you beautiful beaches with clear water, perfect for snorkeling fun. You could also head to exciting snorkeling sites that are part of The Palm Beaches’ Snorkeling Trail, including the 800-foot artificial reef in Riviera Beach. You might even spot a manatee under the water near Peanut Island! When you look beneath the water, you might be surprised at the beauty of the multi-colored sand with seashells scattered within it seen through the window of the pretty blue-green ocean. Maybe you’ll spot a special conch shell or a sea star on the ocean floor. You might even catch a glimpse of fish swishing past your legs or a crab crawling by. And you can make silly faces under the water to your friends and capture what you see with an underwater camera. Snorkeling provides plenty of fun while also keeping it simple. No matter what you spot beneath the waves, you’ll be relaxing, enjoying what the water has to offer and making the most of your Florida vacation!
Do You Offer Guided Snorkel Tours?
Yes! We offer guided snorkel tours daily. We have two options for our guided tours, either a guided paddle snorkel tour or a guided catamaran boat snorkel tour. Our guided paddle snorkel tours leave from a local marina as we paddle across the Intracoastal Waterway to Peanut Island where we snorkel and then paddle back to the marina. Our Catamaran snorkel tours either go to Peanut Island, The Palm Beach Snorkeling Trail, or out in the ocean at a couple local spots (if the ocean conditions allow). All of our intracoastal snorkeling trips are tide dependent and are scheduled based on high tide times which change daily.
How Deep is the Water?
Depending on where you are in Palm Beach waterways the depth of the water will vary. Peanut Island, a popular snorkeling destination water depths range from about 4ft-15ft depending on where you are. It is a great spot for those who are not incredible comfortable in deeper water but what to see a lot of pretty fish. It is a great spot to accommodate the experience levels of all snorkelers. The famous Palm Beach Snorkeling Trail located under the Blue Heron Bridge will have a little bit deeper water ranging anywhere from about 4ft to 25ft. A big bulk of the actual snorkel trail is in about 10-20 ft of water. Although if you hang out in the shallower water you may come across quite a few big sea stars! On our ocean snorkel trips, the depths vary, but are anywhere between 8-20ft deep.
What Types of Fish Will I See?
The Palm Beach Inlet is the closest inlet to the Gulf Stream on Florida’s eastern coast, which means it brings warm currents with thousands of tropical fish. Certain times of the year attracts different species of marine life. In the Winter months, starting at the end of November running through March is manatee migration season. During these months, the likelihood of you encountering these beautiful creatures are much greater than in the summer months. Some common fish that are visible in large quantities year round include Atlantic Spadefish, Parrot Fish, Sergeant Majors, Grey Angelfish.