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Snorkel in Aruba?


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I don't remember which resort it was, but I did a Discover Scuba through the cruise and we took a boat maybe 150 yards offshort to a wreck in about 30 feet of water. Lots of sea life, both fish and coral plus the wreck's intact so very interesting. I think it might have been the Radisson?

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It sounds like only snorkeling off of a boat, not from the beach? Any excursions recommended?

 

Not true at all. In fact, on one of my snorkel ventures I was told by the snorkel leader to get back on the boat. Except I wasn't a passenger on the boat; we were at the same spot that I accessed from the shore.

 

Just not sure about the logistics involved in Aruba from a cruise ship in terms of timing, transportation, etc.

 

www.shorediving.com is a good website for reference. Go through the pages to Aruba. I thought the Boca Catalina and Catalina cove were darn good.

 

But perhaps for the sake of ease go on a boat tour? Via the ship?

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There are plenty of places to snorkel in Aruba from the beach. Book a rental car or grab a cab and drive to Malmok Beach (very small just past downtown) or to Baby Beach I loved Baby Beach sea grass and some coral to the right towards the oil refinery and barrier walls to the left with tons of schools of fish. Baby would be easier with a car. Those were the two best I found. BTW if you head in that direction eat at Charlie's Bar. YUM! Have you tried looking at trip advisor ? Or in the Aruba forums? I remember seeing alot of info there.

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  • 1 month later...

Will second DePalm Island. It's been 19 years since I've been there, but you go in from the shoreline and there is a beautiful reef right there.

 

On the south end of the island is a little lagoon named Baby Beach. While not much on the calm lagoon side, if you go out into the open water there is some nice snorkeling there...however the waves can be rough at that point.

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We snorkeled in Aruba a couple of years ago off Malmok Beach. To this day it is one of the best snorkeling experiences we've had. The catamaran snorkeling excursions pulled up to where we were snorkeling. We took the bus to the beach and back for a cost of less than $4 total. However, there is NO SHADE or vendors. Make sure you bring plenty of sunscreen and water and snacks. You should be able to find all the info you need on these boards. Enjoy!

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Years ago on my 1st cruise I was on Aruba ad took a catamaran snorkeling trip. It was an excursion and it was the best snorkleling I had ever done. The one thing I can say is they take care of their reefs...they are beautiful.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi fellow cruiser!

 

My family snorkeled last summer from the beach in Aruba. We took the local bus which was only a couple dollars for the entire day. It was clean and extremely safe. A lot of tourists use the public bus. We asked the locals where the best snorkel beach was and the bus dropped us off right in front of it. I don't remember the name of the beach but we could see the Catamarans that people paid big bucks to get there on. They were swimming right next to us! Best day ever! Just ask at the info desk at the port, they were happy to help us. Good Luck!:)

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Just returned from Aruba, snorkelled right from the beach at the end of the #10 bus line (Malmok? near the California Lighthouse). All the snorkel catamarans were there too. Great day, great value, $2.30us fare each way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just got back from a cruise to Aruba and we went with "Aruba Bob" to snorkel. Let me tell you, this was the HIGHLIGHT of my 12 day cruise! We were in the water for 1 1/2 hrs and it was Bob and Stuart who took us out. Our group was 4 people and it was the best! We used "scooters" so we got to cover more area and swam over some beautiful reefs. The other thing is that Bob and Stuart took pictures and when I got home I received an email with hundreds (no kidding) of pictures from our day snorkeling. I can not say enough about this adventure!!! Check out his site and see for yourself!!

Let me know if you have any questions and I will see if I can answer them for you.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that this is from the beach too.

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It sounds like only snorkeling off of a boat, not from the beach? Any excursions recommended?

 

Some of our best snorkeling in the Caribbean has been right off the beach at Boca Catalina. We always take a cab there (I think about $20) but quick ride, and then the public bus back. You can see the bus heading past you up to the light house and then you have about 10 minutes to get up there and it does the loop and comes back. Watch out though, we were there on a Sunday once and the bus didn't run!

 

We have seen turtles, squid, octopus, and tons of fish there. Great snorkeling and easy to get to. Highly recommend it.

 

Should also mention - try to go early. If you get there before all the snorkel boat tours start showing up you are more likely to see the good stuff. The turtles we saw took off as soon as the boats showed up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I second the recommendation for Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove. All of the catamarans go there but we snorkel right from shore--very easy entry at Boca Catalina. If you take the bus, the driver will tell you where to get off. When we were there in March there were lounge rentals ($5) but I didn't need one since I was in the water the whole time. The fish are sometimes overly friendly because the excursion people feed the fish. A large queen angelfish was practically in my face.

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