thanks bluewater!

any chance a person could kayak from the beach, land the kayak on the Cay, and then snorkel around it? my daughter is a strong swimmer but I think she might be too intimidated to swim from the beach out to the Cay.

I don't see why not. Except, where is she going to get the kayak?

If you hike as far as you can, the swim out to the cay is about 350-400 yds. There is a sandy point on the cay that you can stop & rest if you want or she could pull the kayak up there.

Really, it's less than half that distance--about 500 feet to the sand bar, by my fairly careful measurement on Google Maps.

If you are taking a kayak, though, assuming you're hauling it on your vehicle, you'll want to put it in the water near where you park (well west of the island) to avoid lugging it all the way out the road.

wpsaukee - I'm terrible about estimating distance. If Google says it's 500 feet, it must be true...

Well, I had been thinking we could take a kayak from Caneel Bay, but after looking at the map again, I'm realizing that it is way too far of a trip by paddle.

Couldn't do 400 yards, but 500 feet we can do.

Bump, because Sunday's was the second death at Waterlemon since July. Let's remember these people who've died and warn perspective snorkelers to bring a floatation device of some sort, and a buddy.

Some people don't research much before their trip. They could stumble upon these post, note a laissez faire attitude and head out like it's well-guarded Trunk Bay. I'm so very sad to think about these people and their families :(

We did Waterlemon back in early January. Rented a dinghy in town and drove it out to the tie-ups right near the island. It made the trip a lot easier. We also purchased a noodle from Cruz Bay Watersports and my teen used it for extra support.

Counterclockwise, there is very little current to fight this way.

Part of the problem is that if it's a very calm day on the day that you were there, then comments like " there's very little current if you go counterclockwise" could lead someone to think that it's true all of the time.

We've done this at least twenty times, and there are days that it's like swimming in a pool and days that the current had me concerned about getting back to shore!

Ask others that are there, swim with a buddy, pay attention to the current, and don't feel foolish about calling off the snorkel if you feel at all uncomfortable.

Excellent advice Augiegator. I wish everyone was as common sense as you.