***BE AWARE OF WHERE YOU PURCHASE YOUR SNORKEL TOUR***
We learned the hard way. There is a little shop just before you get to the John Pennekamp State Park, that offers snorkel tours.
They are advertising as John Pennekamp snorkel tours. This IS NOT the state park tour. So just beware. The crew were very helpful, but the water was very very choppy and made it hard to snorkel. We saw a few fish, but nothing to brag about. It could have been better. From reading all the other reviews, it seems that we should have gone with the actual State Park tour. Since I live only an hour and a half away, next time I will. But for those who are on vacation or live far distances, just be careful.

Took the snorkeling trip to the reef and it was nice. The boat ride was 40 minutes. Depends on the weather and the number of boats out there, the captain can go to different location on each trip. We didn’t see the statue but we saw nice coral reef and fish. We saw a huge barracuda, a sting ray and many fish. It was a fun trip and don’t need to go down to the Caribbean for snorkeling.

We drove down from Fort Lauderdale for a day trip to snorkel. We chose to use the park's tour as it seemed about the same price as others. It cost $3 a person to enter the park from the road, then more than $120 for three to snorkel and use the equipment. It was worth it to me. The boat was large and stable, although it was packed pretty full (49 people plus the 2 co-captains). One captain gave a snorkel lesson when we arrived at the reef after a 30-minute ride out; he covered basics such as how to wear the mask and what to do if you get water in your snorkel. He did a good job of keeping folks calm, reminding them to go slow, etc. so this would be a great tour for a 1st snorkeling trip.

At first the water was crowded when all 49 of us entered the same area, but in a few minutes we spread out and stopped bumping each other with our fins.

The reef is SO AMAZING! I could have stayed out much longer than the 1.5 hour tour! Next time I will find a longer tour, maybe one less crowded. I think my review is so high because of the reef itself, not particularly the rest of the park or the tour. The reef was great for us, as we have only snorkeled a few times before in Hawaii where you just walk into the water to snorkel.

After the tour we had a picnic from our cooler in the car. The park has tables set up at the swimming beach (adjacent to the gift shop). This is called "Cannon Beach" because there are some cannons and an anchor sunk in fairly shallow water. Kids and others new to snorkeling were practicing there, although the water seemed a bit murky to me. There were some cool fish hanging out also. My son wore his regular swim goggles and dove down to look around - he loved it!

BEWARE - if you go to Cannon Beach you will need shoes or your feet will be cut! It's so rocky, like walking on glass shards on the beach and in the water! Just bring your water shoes and you will be fine.

We rented kayaks here, and paddled through the mangrove trees. It's a great way to experience the nature here. The park is a bargain at $3 a person entry, and the kayaks very reasonable. We also did the glass bottom boat. That was not worth the money in my opinion. A fair number of people got sea sick and it was crowded. We really didn't see much, although the narrator did his best to make it sound like we did.