Sosua Beach is a sheltered cove about a kilometre long, protected by headlands on both sides that keep the Atlantic swell out and make the water calm enough for easy swimming and snorkelling. The sand is pale and the water a turquoise that gets deep blue further out in the bay. It is not the most pristine beach on the north coast, but it is among the most accessible and the coral starts close to shore.
Vendors line the beach selling drinks, souvenirs, and snorkel gear — prices are firmly negotiable and the opening ask is always aimed at tourists. The snorkel reef begins in the shallow water just off the beach and extends out into the bay; you can see parrotfish, blue tang, sergeant majors, and occasional barracuda without getting far from shore. For more serious diving, several dive operators run boats out to deeper sites in Sosua Bay. The beach gets crowded on weekends and during high season; early mornings are the best time to have the water to yourself.
story: "The calm of Sosua Bay is not entirely natural. The headlands were shaped by a fault system that dropped the seafloor here, creating the sheltered cove — and the same geological activity that made the bay also left the coral reef that draws snorkellers today."