Good snorkeling places in Aruba

[Jwerking]

Will be at the Marriott in October. Any suggestions on snorkeling places we can reach from shore via a boat trip?

 

[gmarine]

Great snorkeling right from shore at Baby Beach.

 

[Bucky]

We took a great all day trip on the Tranquillo for our first Aruba snorkeling trip. What a great day with a wonderful crew.

Here's a link to snorkeling in Aruba from the shore http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/Aruba/index.htm

We're looking to return in May and do it all again.

 

[Jwerking]

We took a great all day trip on the Tranquillo for our first Aruba snorkeling trip. What a great day with a wonderful crew.

Here's a link to snorkeling in Aruba from the shore http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/Aruba/index.htm

We're looking to return in May and do it all again.

Wow, Bucky, thank you for the link. Great site. Does concern me a bit about leaving anything in the car or the person that had their entire rental car stolen. Ugh!

JOyce

 

[Bucky]

Not to worry. Just remember to never leave anything in your vehicle. No different really than the same common sense you would use going to a mall at home. Don't leave your packages out for everyone to see. You're going to love this trip. We're looking forward to having our welcome "Sliders" at Champions in the MAO.

 

[riverside]

The best place we found was Arashi Beach. (I hope I spelled that right). There was a small place to park there and some little shade huts. Not many people and it seemed to be mostly locals. We've gone there 2 different trips and the snorkeling was fantastic. It was on the way to the lighthouse.

 

[debraxh]

I agree with the baby beach recommendation. Also, DePalm island was great. We took the ferry twice, we liked it so well and it was fairly inexpensive (around $10?). They also offered a "tour" or "all inclusive" that did not appear to be worth the extra money ($50?).

 

[xzhan02]

The best place we found was Arashi Beach. (I hope I spelled that right). There was a small place to park there and some little shade huts. Not many people and it seemed to be mostly locals. We've gone there 2 different trips and the snorkeling was fantastic. It was on the way to the lighthouse.

I agree with Arashi beach. It's much closer than baby beach. There is another area close to it but I can't remember the name. You'll often see snorkling trip boats anchor there, so you gets to do the same thing without paying the fee. Just like the locals.

 

[Bucky]

I agree with Arashi beach. It's much closer than baby beach.

But, if you don't do Baby Beach how are you going to stop at Rogers Beach Bar and have their wonderful garlic shrimp and ice cold beer???

 

[Jwerking]

Not to worry. Just remember to never leave anything in your vehicle. No different really than the same common sense you would use going to a mall at home. Don't leave your packages out for everyone to see. You're going to love this trip. We're looking forward to having our welcome "Sliders" at Champions in the MAO.

Hi Bucky:

We will be at the Marriott surf club in late Oct - our first time to the island - sounds like a mess still with the construction. Are there separate palapas for Surf and Ocean Club and are we limited to our respective ones??

I was really looking forward to just sitting under a palapa, having a wonderful view of the ocean and reading my book. This is was why I fell in love with the Royal Resorts in Cancun and was hoping for the same in Aruba.

Joyce

 

[Bucky]

Sorry Joyce,

We really aren't beach people. We enjoy laying around the pool and reading our books. Plenty of shade around the MAO pool. I'm not sure about the Surf Club. I've heard raves about their lazy river. That sounds like a cool way to spend the afternoon reading a good book. They were still building it last time we were there and it wasn't open for business yet.

I will tell you that the beach at MAO is far better than the one at the Royal Caribbean. The sand is hotter but the beach is much wider and the ocean is swimable. Not quite sure about the Surf Club. When we were there they didn't really have a beach but a dock in front of the units. I understand they were/are/have already made arrangements to have this moved. We're not going until May of next year so we haven't really started reading the Aruba forums board yet to catch up.

You're really going to love Aruba. Rent a car for the week and just drive around and have fun. That's another major difference from Cancun. You can rent a car in Aruba and not feel like your taking your life in your hands everytime you start the engine. Try the Ling and Sons grocery store. We found it the nicer of the bunch and very well stocked. Sorry, no Walmarts.

 

[2hokies]

We got back yesterday after a delightful 2 week stay in Aruba. Our favorite snorkel spots were Malmok, Boca Catalina and Arashi. They're a 5 minute drive from the Marriott.

We left nothing of value in our car and left it unlocked. We have a waterproof bag that we put our keys and ID in and I swam with that. We left our towels, flip flops and empty equipment bags on the beach and they were left alone.

If you want to take a snorkeling trip on a boat, try the Tranquilo or the Octopus. We did both in December and they were great! And, they went to different places so we didn't do the same snorkel twice.

We stayed at the Ocean Club our second week but went to the lazy river at the Surf Club a couple times. I didn't notice much noise from the construction while we were there so hopefully it won't interrupt your trip.

Have a great time. I need to get working on our next trip!!

 

[Jwerking]

We got back yesterday after a delightful 2 week stay in Aruba. Our favorite snorkel spots were Malmok, Boca Catalina and Arashi. They're a 5 minute drive from the Marriott.

We left nothing of value in our car and left it unlocked. We have a waterproof bag that we put our keys and ID in and I swam with that. We left our towels, flip flops and empty equipment bags on the beach and they were left alone.

If you want to take a snorkeling trip on a boat, try the Tranquilo or the Octopus. We did both in December and they were great! And, they went to different places so we didn't do the same snorkel twice.

Do the boat trips go somewhere different than the reefs off of Malmok, Boca Catalina and Arashi beaches? While it is nice to be off of a boat - $47 is alot on the Octopus for the Brunch trip - esp. when we do not take advantage of the open bar. And I would prefer to go in the morning because the sea is usually calmer.

 

[siki]

Do the boat trips go somewhere different than the reefs off of Malmok, Boca Catalina and Arashi beaches? While it is nice to be off of a boat - $47 is alot on the Octopus for the Brunch trip - esp. when we do not take advantage of the open bar. And I would prefer to go in the morning because the sea is usually calmer.

Most of the boat trips do go to this area. When we did the Tranquilo in April we went on the other side of the island near the Spanish Lagoon. It was a great trip. The first stop was an easier snorkel. After that they did a drift snorkel. We actually got on a small boat and they took us out further in the water. Only 5 of us did that.

Don't worry about getting a palapa at the Surf Club. We never have a problem getting a palapa. We always go in off-season.

Have fun! We leave next Friday for our 6th trip to Aruba!!! :whoopie: :whoopie: :whoopie: