This was the second time we visited, and we had such a great experience time we knew exactly what we wanted to do: snorkel Carlisle Bay. Home of Carlisle Bay Marine Park, the day contains 5 sunken ships that were sunk to form artificial reefs. There are a lot of fish and marine life (take some bread or dinner rolls from the cruise ship along to feed the fish. You’ll see lots of them. This is a place where you can dive and snorkel simultaneously, hence the diving videos. A wonderful place to snorkel and dive!
We used a company called The Dive Shop Limited which we used on our previous visit. Fatima, who runs bookings through email was very good at communicating. She was also our driver to and from the dive shop. While I went on the initial dive my wife and friends could have chosen to stay at the beach but instead went along for the ride and some sightseeing. The highlight of the first dive was obviously the sea turtles, which I have included video the video below.
Following the first dive, we headed over to the Marine Park, which was only about a 10-minute boat ride away (actually right near the dive shop). After about a 50-minute dive/snorkel excursion, we headed back to the cruise terminal, where we had conch fritters and tried a local beer at a bar just inside the port gates, then headed back to the ship.
We especially enjoyed Carlisle Bay, and the folks at the dive shop were fantastic! In my opinion, this is one of the best excursion deals in the entire Caribbean. I would highly recommend this excursion if you get a chance to go to Barbados.