North of The Settlement on Anegada, the snorkeling at Loblolly Bay is considered the best dive site on the island. The waters on this north shore snorkeling site are usually calmer than other places on the island due to an offshore barrier reef. While snorkeling Loblolly Bay, you may encounter butterflyfish, angelfish, damselfish, wrasse and southern stingrays. The water depths range from surface down to 20 feet deep, and the visibility can be up to 60 feet on very calm days.
To reach the Loblolly Bay snorkeling, just park at the Big Bamboo Restaurant and head to the beach. Just offshore are plenty of coral heads to explore and the primary reef is just beyond them. As you snorkel to the left, you will discover caves and caverns teeming with marine life. Snorkeling in Loblolly Bay should only be attempted on calm wind days when you can expect visibilities up to 100 feet. In case you come by boat, there are no moorings in Loblolly Bay.
Anegada Island is known for its numerous reefs and ship wrecks. Due to its remote location in the Caribbean, the Anegada snorkeling is a private adventure -- you may not see any other people around.
To reach Anegada Island, there is a ferry from Tortola, or you can take a private air charter.
To reach the snorkeling in the British Virgin Islands by air, you will need to fly into either Virgin Gorda Airport (VIJ) or nearby St Thomas Airport (STT) in the US Virgin Islands. Virgin Gorda Airport is served by inter-island flights from San Jose, Puerto Rico (SJU) by Cape Air and Seaborne. St Thomas Airport has flights from mainland US and also from San Jose. There are several regular ferry services connecting St Thomas with Tortola and Virgin Gorda. In addition, there are BVI inter-island ferries interconnecting Virgin Gorda, Tortola, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada. When leaving BVI, there is a $20USD depature tax that must be paid in cash.
Overall, Loblolly Bay is the 1st most popular snorkel dive spot of all 27 snorkeling dives in British Virgin Islands.
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For snorkeling at Loblolly Bay in British Virgin Islands, our printable snorkeling dive guides offers dive descriptions, maps, lodging suggestions, driving directions, levels of difficulty and points-of-contact.