You don’t always need a boat to find the Caribbean you dream about. Some of the region’s clearest water and most colorful reefs sit just beyond the shoreline, close enough that all you have to do is step off the sand, lower your mask and let the sea take over. These are the beaches where the underwater world is immediate — a few kicks from shore, a quiet descent, and suddenly you’re in the Caribbean’s private gallery of parrotfish, sea fans, turtles and coral heads.

This is shoreline snorkeling at its best, where the transition from beach towel to blue water takes seconds and every new bay brings its own version of discovery.

The Baths, British Virgin Islands
At the edge of Virgin Gorda, The Baths feel otherworldly even before you touch the water. Once you wade into Devil’s Bay or Spring Bay, the giant granite boulders give way to calm, glassy pools filled with shafts of sunlight, darting fish and hidden channels between the rocks. It’s snorkeling designed by nature, intimate and endlessly surprising.