A fringing reef and drop-off begin a short swim out; turtles and reef fish are common.
27 beaches
Reef beaches you can snorkel from the sand
A living fringing or barrier reef lies close enough off the beach for a swimmer to snorkel it without a boat.
A narrow reef-walled inlet where juvenile turtles rest under coral ledges near shore.
Kauai's longest fringing reef shelters this beach, keeping its lagoon calm and shallow.
Volunteer reef guardians patrol this beach's living coral reef, among Maui's healthiest.
Isla Mujeres' reef park protects coral just offshore, the island's longtime snorkel site.
Tide pools and a nearshore reef lie along this former runway's Hawaiʻi Island beach park.
A rocky point reef separates this beach from Mokapu next door; both are snorkeled from the sand.
Bora Bora's lagoon coral lies within swimming distance of this white-sand point.
A coral reef lies a few strokes off the pink sand inside Komodo National Park.
A volcanic crater bay enclosing a reef with hundreds of fish species, snorkeled from the sand.
Three flat reef slabs break the surface at low tide here, giving this Oahu beach its name.
Named for the reef offshore on Oahu's North Shore, snorkelable only in summer's smaller surf.
A reef just offshore is a documented winter gathering site for reef sharks, visible from the sand.
Reef patches lie close to shore on Hawaiʻi Island, snorkeled on the bay's calmest days.
Part of the Palancar reef system, inside Cozumel's protected Mesoamerican Reef park.
A protected Marine Life Conservation District reef sits just off the sand here on Lanai.
One of Kauai's largest reefs sits offshore, named for lava-tube caverns divers find below it.
Coral gardens just off the beach hold a resident Maori wrasse and reef fish year-round.
Named for the coral patch just offshore, reached by swimming out from this island cove.
Rocky reef at both ends of this Maui bay holds coral and reef fish close to shore.
A fringing reef lines the bay, exposed as a shallow flat at low tide, swimmable at high tide.
Hawksbill and green turtles shelter under the reef ledge a few meters from the sand.
Ningaloo Reef sits a short swim from shore, one of the few reefs reachable on foot.
A calm reef bay near Kralendijk, with coral beginning a few meters off the beach.
A sheltered cove in Washington Slagbaai park with reef and fish close to the rocky shore.
Part of Cozumel's reef strip, with a shallow coral shelf starting close to the beach.
A fringing coral reef meets the sand; swimmers reach the reef flat without a boat.