St. john: how to gauge good snorkel spots on a given day?

[roadnottaken]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has some advice on how to learn or predict which beaches or parts of the island (e.g. north/south) will have the best visibility on a given day. I read a lot of reports that the waves at a certain beach made the water too murky for a good snorkel, but it might be much better elsewhere. Are there any rules-of-thumb for predicting this sort of thing at particular times of year/day? Any websites that track it? Any tips?

Thanks!

[Exit Zero]

If you can see the spot you are considering - even from an overlook - white water on the rocks or shore will make it less likely the visibility is good.
You can look at Johnsons Reef and gauge that the N. shore will be good -- no or little swell -- or murky - white line on reef.
Most of the weather sites will give the wave heights - over 5' - may be troublesome - give the wind direction and intensity - onshore over 15 Kts is troublesome.
Magic Seaweed - a surfers site
Buoy 41043 - NDBC
Weathercarib.com
stormsurfing.com
Villa Amorosa webcam
All of these will help from off premise ideas.