Snorkeling or excursion tips

My boyfriend and I will be in Aruba May 31, 2017 sailing on the Adventure of the Seas. I want to know some good places to go snorkeling in Aruba or other interesting excursions that we can do. We arrive in port at 8am and don't leave till 11pm.

We have never been to Aruba but want to have an active trip. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

We did a sunset tour on the Black Pearl. It was a great time. I was very impressed with the service, food quality and the fact it's a small excursion. The snorkeling is very average. The water was clear but there wasn't a lot to see. (Well except the fact that the staff managed to find me a sea turtle!! I don't know how they found him but they did!) We also did an excursion with the Jolly Roger. I wouldn't waste your money. Food quality was poor. They did not assist us at all in the snorkeling aspect. In fact one woman struggled to get back in the boat and not a single staff person assisted her. They were more interested in giving you alcohol than anything else. They couldn't understand why I didn't want to start drinking at 10am when I was getting ready to swim. Sigh....

I will say there is a beautiful beach area there by where the Black Pearl and the Jolly Roger are located. There is also a nice small mall with a movie theater if you need a break from the sun. I would just recommend a day on the beach and a sunset tour.

If you are a bit adventurous you may want to do what we did last time on Aruba and will be doing again in a few weeks: take the bus out to the Malmok area for beaching/snorkeling. We have taken a couple sailing excursions for the snorkeling and while they were OK, the snorkeling right off the shore in the Malmok area is just as good. You pick up the bus at the terminal which is about a ten minute walk from the pier. Just be sure to do a bit of research to make sure you get on the right one. There are (I think) four or five circular routes that go to different parts of the island. It is a hop on/hop system with buses making the circles all day with multiple stops, and they will also let you out and pick you up where you desire. Can't beat the cost, which is about $10 per person for an all-day pass. There are a couple of small beaches at Malmok with a few tiki umbrella type shades but not facilities so you need to bring your own snacks and water. These are very popular with people renting or staying in many nice houses in the area. The buses don't run on an exact schedule but you can count on one coming by every half hour or so, but do leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. As I said, this is a bit adventurous and requires a bit of planning but you will be rewarded with some very good snorkeling at a very pretty place.

Gene & Kathy from Cape Cod