snorkeling while one day in various SoPac ports

Hello,

In March I'll be on a South Pacific cruise with one day in each of several ports. Although it is not the best time of year for water activities, I'm still interested in doing some snorkeling if possible. Preferably independently, but the conditions near the cruise ports are usually poor. So I'm also open to excursions offered by our ship.

I'd appreciate any info you can provide on snorkeling near these ports. Excursion destinations are in ( ).

Nuku'alofa Tonga (or Fafa Island, or Pangaimotu Island, or "dive and snorkel island hop" with various locations near Nuku'alofa including Malinoa Island).

Lautoka, Fiji

Lifou, New Caledonia

Noumea, New Caledonia (or Amedee Island, or water taxi on our own to Duck Island)

I do NOT want a snorkeling tour where I will be led around with a group, and I don't want to go where there is a roped off area that I am confined to. If you've experienced that at any of these places, please speak up!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Aloha,

Ruby

Malinoa in Tonga is beautiful- uninhabited island with quite good snorkelling. Very clear water around it. Pangaimotu is a nice island which is popular with locals on a Sunday. Has a shipwreck which has OK snorkelling around it. Fafa has a really nice resort and OK snorkelling also. Out of all three I would reccommend Malinoa first- more for the beauty of the island and surrounding waters than the snorkelling but hopefully you find the snorkelling OK also. Would definitely reccommend Fafa to stay at and you could always stop off there or at Pangaimotu for some lunch after Malinoa? Hope this helps.

Thank you - I read some mixed reviews of Pangaimotu and Fafa. In particular, people said if it wasn't high tide, you couldn't snorkel. I'd hate to spend the day stuck on the beach, looking out at where I wanted to be! I ended up booking something called "dive and snorkel island hop", 5 1/2 hours from Faua Wharf. It includes several stops for snorkeling or diving, and a stop at Malinoa for lunch. I figure that, if the main point of the trip is diving and snorkeling, I'm more likely to get to a place where the conditions are right on that particular day. Any comments? Thanks again!