Best places for birding AND snorkeling (1 Viewer)

Eilat Israel might be worth exploring.

Larry Sweetland said:

some good snorkelling off Lifou (part of New Caledonia), a small island that itself has 2 endemic white-eyes.

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Definitely some excellent suggestions throughout this thread. New Caledonia has a been a highlight for me. Lifou as well as Isle de Pines are both great for snorkeling and birding. The main island shouldn't be discounted either - with the chance to see Kagu and an amazing barrier reef it's definitely worth spending some time.

Vanuatu and the Solomons definitely deserve a spot on any birding/snorkeling list as well.

The Caribbean is beautiful and has some easy endemics near great snorkeling too. Bonaire is known for some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean but the reefs have possibly been under-protected - and you won't find the same level of endemism as some of the other islands.

Belize is also a great option with plenty of phenomenal birding and great snorkeling - I'd included a trip to Tikal in Guatemala as well as it's an amazing archaeological site.

Let us know where you end up going; I'm jealous just thinking of the options!

Cheers,
Benji

If New Caledonia then not only Lifou.
Ovea has nice beaches, I do not find places for snorkelling, but endemics Ouvea Parakeet.

On mian island at Yate on beach of Gite St. Gabriel, snorkelling is possible.
Endemics also there like Imperial Pigeon.
Kagu is better in Parc Riviere Bleue e.g. at walk near Kauri Tree.
Craw Honey Eater ist best near Point German and walk back to next turn.

jc122463 said:

Let us know where you end up going; I'm jealous just thinking of the options!

Cheers,
Benji

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If you check my initial post in this thread, you will see I started it two years ago. But it was a general request for information, so happy to see any updates. Since I started it, I squeezed in a too brief bit of snorkeling on the great barrier reef during a bird tour of Australia. Next month I am traveling to Madagascar, and hope to have more time to snorkel there. I tried to squeeze in some snorkeling on a trip to the Dominican Republic last year, but the reports of the snorkeling there weren't very glowing and it was complicated, so I decided to skip it. Another possibility I considered but also proved too complicated to mesh with my other travel plans is fresh water snorkeling in some of the clear water rivers in Brazil. Hope to do fresh water snorkeling in the neotropics at some point.

Happy to see the recommendation of New Caledonia, since that is in my travel plans in the future.

Thanks,
Jim

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia - birds of paradise in the morning, snorkelling in the afternoon!