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Best places for birding AND snorkeling (1 Viewer)

J

Jim M.

Member since 2007
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United States
Just wondering what places in the world would be a good choice if I were looking to combine a one or two week birding trip with one or two days of snorkeling. Some possibilities that spring to mind are:

Northeast Australia (great barrier reef)
Madagascar
Hawaii (high quality bird species though short on quantity)
the Galapagos

Any others?
 
Own experiences:

Bali Barat. You combine a boat trip to a place where almost no tourists come, with birding (around head quarters of the park and the Myna centre with Black-winged Starling and the Myna, with some of the best snorkeling at Pulau Menjangan (worth the boat trip alone).

Mabul/Sipadan (all from Semporna, Sabah). Around the block is Danum (actually, some hours, but still), and a short boat trip away is some of the best diving in the Indonesian archipelago around Sipadan.

A short trip from Kota Kinabalu is Pulau Manukan. There is nice snorkeling + a good chance for Tabon Scrubfowl, a species you have to see in some place or another on an island anyway. From Kinabalu, the mountain is some hours away.

Actually, you can combine almost any trip to Indonesia ánd the Philippines ánd Malaysia ánd Thailand with some good snorkeling.

Masoala penisnula, Madagascar. There is some snorkeling just at the beach, and the beach is just at where trails starts for e.g. Helmet Vanga, Collared Nightjar etc.
 
I can echo Temmie's excellent response - but I found Palau Manukan rather poor - maybe there are better areas than I tried.

Many places in Thailand on the west coast offer great snorkeling - eg the Similan Islands.
Also the Kenya coast just south of Mombasa I remember with fond memories.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! Had not thought so much about Southeast Asia, but it certainly sounds promising. A trip to Borneo for birds is definitely in my future, so that should work nicely. Sulawesi and the Philippines are also strong possibilities, and I will need to make a trip to either South Thailand or mainland Malaysia to try for rail-babbler (again).

Further suggestions, including other parts of the world, would also be welcome. I was also wondering about New Caledonia or New Guinea, for example. Also, what about more temperate waters, e.g. New Zealand or Southeast Australia. (My hunch is these latter might be good for diving, but less so for snorkeling).
 
Would also confirm Queensland is excellent - Cairns itself has brilliant birding on the Esplanade, and easy access to the GB Reef for snorkling or Diving. Galapagos - only problem is you are constrained in terms of timings - each boat has to follow a pre-planned route.
 
Northern Sulawesi: Snorkelling on Bunaken could be combined with birding Tangkoko. I then flew from there to Halmahera...
 
Some more destinations (besides the one you mentioned, i.e. West Papua which has arguably the best diving in the world):
Fuji (this comes into my mind more for the snorkeling than the birds, as I don't know the birds there very well);
Okinawa (Japan): just check it out, there is some surprisingly good diving to be done there
All around the caribbean: Belize, Nicaragua, Cuba, lesser antilles etc.
 
Lesser Antilles definitely a combination that would be good. Island hopping should give some nice birds, and the more rocky islands have good snorkeling.

Fall migrant birding in Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt combined with some (according to others) excellent snorkeling. Possibly spring would be good too, I have only been there once in September many years ago. I do not know enough about the current safety situation, go at your own risk!

There is good birding on migration in the area around the Israel-Jordan border, and I would be surprised if they do not have decent snorkeling there as well. Safety probably a little better than at Sharm.

Cozumel has good diving and presumably snorkeling, to be combined with a couple of endemic birds.

I believe I have read about snorkeling being possible in both Panama (Bocas del Toro for example) and Costa Rica, but I do not know where relative to the birding locations.

Niels
 
I can second Belize as a nice option - when I went we had close encounters with sea turtles, manatees, and sharks in addition to good fish diversity. Not been snorkeling anywhere else in the Caribbean or anywhere in Asia/Australia for comparison though.
 
Playa Larga, Cuba. Some superb birding and not only fish to look at under water, you can see the wrecks of a couple of American landing craft at the bottom of the Bay of Pigs.
 
Galapagos, Mexico, Pemba

Support Galapagos despite restrictions on timings where else can you snorkel with Penguins and HammerHead sharks.
Also enjoyed Mexico near Tulum, sea and sink holes and on Cozumel.
Tobago also really good with snorkelling near Blue Water and across to off-shore island where you can get really close to tropicbirds.
Best recently was Pemba after Tanzania trip we picked up all the Pemba endemics and enjoyed great snorkelling straight from the beach at Manta Resort in north west of the island.
 
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and info.

BTW, had previously booked a trip to the Dominican Republic next year for birding, but snorkeling there appears to be mediocre. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know.
 
The area around Punta Cana I remember as sandy beaches, so not good for snorkeling. However, I would be surprised if it is all bad, it is a big country.

If going at the right time, take a boat trip out to the area where the humpbacks calve.

Niels
 
Dahab Egypt was a very popular diving and snorkling area with lots of dive sites and diving facilities-not sure what it is like now since the Middle East turmoil.
Brilliant for birds too especially during migration periods.
The Happy Life Hotel was a decent hotel just in the right position for a lot of the diving and snorkling sites and you can hire equipment from there.
The hotel has a wooden jetty built especially for snorkelers on its own beach.
 
Last edited:
As others have said, Indonesia offers world-class snorkelling and diving, with birding close by. The best place I've come across for this is Weda Lodge, Halmahera (it's both a diving and birding resort), and can be combined with Bunaken and Tangkoko on Sulawesi.
Mabul/Sipadan area is great, and combined with birding in Borneo.
Komodo/Flores also offers both.

I find the snorkelling and diving in Thailand poor compared to elsewhere in SE Asia.

You can do Rail-babbler with underwater at Tioman island, in Malaysia.

Regards

James
 
Hello,
I would talk about Madagascar Bird Watching :
It's true that some Madagascar Birds'habitat are out of the road like Masoala, and Bealanana or Lake Alaotra
Somehow, the common itinerary that includes Andasibe National Park, Ranomafana National Park, Ifaty national park, and Ankarafantsika national Park allows to have some days of for beach. There are so many possible combination depending to your list.
The road section to Mahavavy Kinkony are accessible during the dry season from May to December
The indicative price for car rental is 50 to 60 euro with driver speaking English
You must take local people/guide inside national park and to look for the habitat as it may change from one year to the next year
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think the questions has to changed.
Where is still possible after last coral bleech to snorkel.
About 90 % of all coral reefs infected.
Last year on Seychelles most of corals died, even in marine park.
Still snorkelling is possible on all 3 main islands, but is not so nice like with many corals.

Normally coral areas and birding areas should be
Eilat Israel
Southern Thailand, but Thailand is hard infected with coral bleech
Queensland Australia, but also hard infected
Sulawesi Indonesia, because cooler streaming Sulawesi it said is much less infected
Malaysia like Borneo, coral bleech no idea
 
Normally also Diani beach in Kenia is nice for snorkelling, if corals still exists ?
There are birding areas nearby, but I have no idea how to reach them.
near is e.g.
Shimba Hills national reserve

Mombase noth beaches are close to
Arabuko Sokoke forest
 
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